“Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper” President Donald Trump said about one of the most influential universities in the world.
According to Trump, Harvard’s high international student enrollment number is a “great disrespect”.
“They’re taking people from areas of the world that are very radicalized, we don’t want them making trouble in our country,” Trump said, adding that Harvard should cap its foreign students at 15%.
In his eyes, foreigners are suspicious and associated with anti-semticism.
This is an outrageously disproportional accusation of Harvard who strives to cultivate leaders for a better world.
“Our mission to educate future leaders is woven throughout the Harvard College experience, inspiring every member of our community to strive toward a more just, fair, and promising world,” said the front page of the Harvard University website.
Trump’s cut of government funding is only counterproductive to Harvard’s mission.
Starting in mid-March, the Trump Administration has been cutting federal funding from non-profits, as well as universities.
“Government spending on nonprofits is extremely important. It really shouldn’t be the pressure of the individual to make a difference when the people in power are fully capable of doing so and simply choose not to,” junior Charlotte Soliven said.
Soliven works for the Bureau of Fearless Ideas, a Seattle-based non-profit whose mission is to close the achievement gap and provide writing support for underprivileged students – many of whom are first generation immigrants.
Recently, the bureau has been facing harsh financial troubles because of government budget cuts, along with many other non-profit organizations, due to the abolition of the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID).
“What we’re finding is that people are donating less and less, so organizations have to become more dependent on the government or different foundations,” Soliven said, “a loss of funding could mean that the entire organization ceases to exist if that grant is not renewed for the following year.”
But the billionaires don’t see the non-profit cuts as an issue.
“We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” Elon Musk, one of President Trump’s close advisors, said after the dismantling of USAID that used to provide government funding to hundreds of non-profits around the country.
The Trump Administration has not just cut budgets for nonprofits, but also lowered funding for large universities, including Harvard, for claims of antisemitism on campus during pro-Palestinian protests. As of May 27th, Trump has moved to cutting off government funding to Harvard completely, totalling about $100 million – however, this is a developing story.
Senior Rakshya Ravishankar was a witness to these protests during a college tour to another Ivy League, Berkeley. She described the protesters hoping up on stage and peacefully interrupted a student orientation.
“Staff members came and tried to take them off. They grabbed the flag from them, and they grabbed the flag back. Eventually, they were taken off stage,” Ravishankar said.
“At that same event, the protesters had a bunch of members of their student body come out, talking about Gaza and victims and actually reading out their testimonials and stories”.
The New York Times states that the Trump Administration has made pretty severe budget cuts towards the most esteemed universities in the world, including Harvard. The cuts impacted some profound medical research which the administration justifies as a way of solving ill-intent towards the Jewish-American community from the protest.
Trump’s actions are extreme. Contrary to the previous Republican party – who generally are in support of law and advanced medical research – the administration has abolished any chances of future advancements to medical research.
A large portion of this research included studies about veteran suicide rates and toxic particle exposure causing cancer, which, if cut, could be detrimental for people who serve in the military.
Ronald Kessler, a renowned doctor and one of the researchers advocating for veterans, says that cutting government funding to his project could cause more veterans to die.
“It’s been fantastic,” Kessler said about helping physicians of veterans at risk of suicide decide when their patients are ready to be discharged from the hospital.
“American veterans have sacrificed so much to protect our nation, and we have a moral obligation to protect their health in return,” Harvard Medical physician Dr. Nancy Keating said. “Such research can also provide insights that can improve care for all Americans.”
While the Trump Administration signed an executive order to provide better care for veterans, like eliminating student loans for veterans that received permanent physical disabilities in the field, cutting funding to Harvard’s research programs can limit researchers’ understanding of the mental effects of serving in the military and ways to provide help to a soldier after a traumatic event.
The ideas behind the budget cuts also extend to the decertification of students with non-immigrant statuses. As of right now, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared that the Trump Administration has halted Havard’s ability to enroll international students – 27% of the overall student population.
In response to the antisemitic claims, Harvard President Alan Garber empathizes with some of the first-hand experiences from Jewish and Muslim students who had felt socially targeted through the campus protests.
“I’m sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Garber said.
Garber, being Jewish himself, said that he had similar instances to the targeted students even while serving as Harvard president and is determined to right the situation.
Harvard states that they aim to expand a student’s worldview and interests, and argues that, without adequate funding, their goals and research is limited.
