Trump government always takes the next step to break the prestigious Harvard University

It started as a demolition ball, but now the tactic of the Trump government to get Harvard on his knees is more like a strangle snake. With new, unprecedented requirements and interventions from Washington, the elite university must be exhausted and broken.

Last week the stranglehold was tighter again, now by Minister Kristi Name of Interior Security. She announced on Thursday that Harvard is no longer allowed to register foreign students. An unprecedented intervention of the state and a serious blow to the world -famous private institution, which has 6,800 international students, a quarter of the total.

According to Name, who threatened with the measure a month earlier, Harvard earns the sanction because the university has created an unsafe situation for Jewish students in protests against the Gaza war, promoted sympathy for Hamas and pursues a « racist » diversity policy. The university in ‘coordination’ with the Chinese communist party would also have facilitated militant activities against the UyGors. A spokesperson for the White House called Harvard in a reaction a « hotbed of anti-American, anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist agitators. »

Harvard, which immediately took legal action, speaks of an unconstitutional procedure in which the required procedures are ignored. Name sanction is « the culmination of an unprecedented revenge, » said the university’s board.

Measure suspended

A federal judge equalized Harvard on Friday and temporarily suspended the measure. A federal judge in California had already forbidden the government shortly before that hundreds of students whose visa has been withdrawn as long as their case is under court.

Much is still unclear about the legality and scope of NEMENTS. It is a bureaucratic sanction against the institution as such, not against individual students. American universities must register foreign students in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which falls under the Ministry of the Ministry. They need a certificate from the department – and that offered an opening for the government to put pressure on the university. Name the Harvard certificate, so that the institution can no longer register foreign students.

Students who are already registered – and whose progress in the system is followed until their exam – would end up in a gray area. According to Name, they retain their visa, provided they register at another university that still has a certificate. Those who do not, violate the conditions of stay and can be deported. Whether the distinction makes a lot of difference is the question. Not only does switching means great uncertainty and delay for students, there is a fear that other universities will receive the same treatment.

The attack on Harvard is about more than keeping foreign students who hate « America » ​​(Trump said). The oldest and richest University of the US has been under fire from a state apparatus in all sorts of ways that has declared the war on ‘unpatriotic’ institutions for higher education. Last month Trump froze 2.2 billion dollars on federal subsidy and research assignments for Harvard. The university has to intervene on its ability, he thinks. The president sees the Ivy League university as the symbol of everything he detests: « left » science, « woke » diversity policy and « anti-Semitic » Gaza protests.

Around the same time, mid -April, the first name that Harvard would provide information from any foreign student who did not follow enough education, was guilty of misconduct or criminal offenses. Because, according to her, Harvard did not cooperate sufficiently, she wants to withdraw the university certificate. Moreover, it now requires even more information, such as video images of students in protests on campus and beyond.

At the same time, an investigation into Harvard from the Ministry of Justice, which also demands access to the admission and evaluation of new students and in all internal communication of employees about measures from the Trump government.

Foreign financiers

The Ministry of Education also claims data, in particular about foreign financiers (information that the university has already provided). In addition, studies from various government services are conducting into the diversity policy of the university. Trump himself has repeatedly threatened to delete the tax exemption for Harvard as an educational institution.

With that whirlwind of requirements and threats, the conflict between Harvard and Trump is more than a struggle for academic freedom. Harvard lawyers point to the threat of freedom of expression and the privacy of personal data. Harvard is at the front of the Trump revolution, his attempt to bring about a social and ideological revolution with state power. It must deal with the ‘elitist’ liberal order whose Ivy League Univesty is the flagship.

Whether the escalation can be stopped is the question. At Trumps taking office, Harvard had already started reforms-fighting anti-Semitism and promoting academic ‘position diversity’-but now the university is directly and in principle opposed to Trump. Minister Name has lost the first battle for foreign students in court, but not yet the war. The president, in turn, cannot return to all threats at the address of the university without showing off.

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