After Blocking Foreign Student Enrollment Cancellation, New Demands Follow
"An Attempt to Undermine the Autonomy of Major U.S. Universities"
After previously taking the drastic step of revoking foreign student enrollment eligibility at Harvard University, President Donald Trump has now called for the disclosure of the names and nationalities of foreign students.
On May 25 (local time), President Trump stated on his social media platform, Truth Social, "Why doesn’t Harvard disclose that about 31% of its entire student body comes from foreign countries?"
He went on to argue, "Some countries are not friendly to the United States at all, they spend nothing on educating their students here, and have no intention of doing so," adding, "No one has told us how many foreign students there are."
President Trump emphasized, "We want to know who these foreign students are. Given that we have provided billions of dollars in support to Harvard, this is a reasonable demand," and added, "But Harvard is not disclosing this. We want to know their names and nationalities."
He further stated, "Harvard has $52 million (about 71.1 billion won). Use that money and stop asking the federal government for subsidies."
Previously, President Trump had demanded changes to campus policies and government intervention in university personnel decisions, citing reasons such as eradicating antisemitism on campus. However, Harvard refused, arguing that such measures would infringe on academic freedom. In response, the Trump administration escalated its actions, threatening to revoke tax-exempt status, cut and freeze research funding, and, on May 22, took the drastic step of canceling Harvard’s certification for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which is required for foreign student enrollment. Harvard filed a lawsuit to block this measure, and the court granted an injunction, so the measure is currently suspended.
CNN noted that about 27% of Harvard students are international students. Last October, Harvard disclosed the countries of origin of its international students: the largest group is from China, followed by Canada, India, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. For the 2024?2025 academic year, a total of 6,793 undergraduate, graduate, and research students from at least 147 countries and regions are enrolled at Harvard.
The New York Times (NYT) pointed out that these actions by the Trump administration are making universities across the United States uneasy. While Harvard is currently under pressure, the same measures could be applied to other universities at any time.
Sally Kornbluth, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), stated on May 22, "The federal government’s move to ban Harvard from accepting international students is a devastating blow to America’s excellence, openness, and creativity," adding, "To international students, I want to say: Without you, MIT would not be MIT."
John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), commented, "While Harvard is the immediate victim, this is an unprecedented attempt?and a warning?to erode the autonomy of all major universities in the United States."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
