Trump administration renews pressure on Harvard over foreign students, accreditation
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People walk past the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library on Harvard's campus on June 5. Photo: Heather Diehl/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The Department of Education threatened Harvard's accreditation on Wednesday, while the Department of Homeland Security sent the school a subpoena for information on its international students.
Why it matters: The Trump administration is continuing its multi-pronged squeeze on the Ivy League university, which it has singled out in a tirade against higher education institutions.
State of play: The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS) notified Harvard's accreditor that they found the university in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.
- On June 30, the HHS announced that Harvard violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by "acting with deliberate indifference towards harassment of Jewish and Israeli students" after the Oct. 7 attack.
- The Trump administration said Harvard "may no longer meet" the New England Commission of Higher Education's "non-discriminatory policies" in recruitment, admissions, employment and disciplinary action.
What's next: The commission and university should work together "to establish a plan to return the institution to compliance," the administration said.
- If Harvard doesn't comply within a specified period, then the accreditor must take further action against it.
- The university said it has continued to comply with accreditation standards. "Harvard is far from indifferent on this issue and strongly disagrees with the government's findings," a spokesperson said.
Zoom out: Also on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed Harvard for information regarding the enforcement of immigration laws since 2020 concerning foreign students.
- The administration previously requested this information via non-coercive methods.
- "If Harvard won't defend the interests of its students, then we will," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
- "While the government's subpoenas are unwarranted, the university will continue to cooperate with lawful requests and obligations," a Harvard spokesperson said in a statement.
Behind the scenes: The university's international students en masse have asked about transferring out of Harvard after the Trump administration targeted its ability to host students on visas.
- "The administration's ongoing retaliatory actions come as Harvard continues to defend itself and its students, faculty, and staff against harmful government overreach aimed at dictating whom private universities can admit and hire, and what they can teach," Harvard said on Wednesday.
What we're watching: A hearing is set for July 21 in the lawsuit concerning the administration's threats to Harvard's federal funding.
Go deeper: Ivy League squeeze: How the Trump administration has hammered Harvard
