The closing ceremony at Harvard was marked by political pressures
Even at Thursday’s closing ceremony at Harvard, there was a touch of political pressure from Washington, which make it difficult for the university since the president Donald Trump. Harvard, by awarding the former immigrant and current professor, showed that he did not intend to throw a rifle into the corn.
Trump’s administration Under the guise of fighting anti -Semitism, she was running a campaign against this oldest University of the United States – first by stripping of Accreditation for SEVP visa program, which enables the adoption of international students, and then with threats to financing, an assessment of ideological orientation of employees and students, and a request for the University to hand over the documents of all students who participated in Propalestin protests. The court decision has suspended the implementation of the measures, but the fear of further pressure remains.
“Harvard must start to behave better. With current behavior, he digs a deeper hole, « the US president defended the measures.
In nothing pleasant politically colored atmosphere, the central speaker was a doctor, writer and Harvard professor at this year’s closing ceremony Abraham Verghese. Born in Ethiopia Indian parents and who came to the US as a student in the US, it was a complete answer to the government’s pressure: « When people who are legally in this country fear that they will be detained or expelled for no reason, it may be right for someone like me. »
Born in Ethiopia, writer and professor Abraham Verghese. Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters
Despite the fact that Verghese was missing from the Renoms of his predecessors – they had a speech, among other things Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Tom Hanks, Mark Zuckerberg and Steven Spielberg -, his appearance was a clear answer to Trump’s government, which threatens the future of many international students.
There were also protests in the campus during the ceremony. Jewish graduate Jacob Miller He stressed that « anti -Semitism is a serious problem, but these measures are not solved. At most, they were created to distribute us even more. « The Israeli student Eylam was also critical: » It also damages us, immigrants. That doesn’t make sense. «
Most students believe that this is a politically motivated government attack on freedom of speech, the diversity and independence of the university.
