Amid the threats and pressure from the Donald Trump administration, the Harvard University is holding its 374th commencement – which includes honouring graduating students – on Thursday, May 29. Abraham Verghese, Physician and writer will be the speaker at Harvard’s 374th commencement.
The Harvard commencement comes as Donald Trump piles unprecedented pressure on the university
The Trump administration has intensified its actions against the Ivy League institution, directing federal agencies to cancel around USD 100 million in contracts.
This follows earlier moves to revoke over USD 2.6 billion in federal research grants, halt the enrolment of international students at Harvard, and challenge the university’s tax-exempt status.
“Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper,” Donald Trump said Wednesday.
Visa interviews for international students admitted to schools nationwide were halted on Tuesday, and Trump said Wednesday that Harvard should reduce its international enrolment from 25 per cent to about 15 per cent.
Sustained by a USD 53 billion endowment, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university is testing whether it can be a bulwark against Trump’s efforts to limit what it calls antisemitic activism on campus, which Harvard sees as an affront to the freedom to teach and learn nationwide.
Ahead of the commencement day, NBA Hall of Famer and activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the “Class Day” speaker, and journalist Christiane Amanpour addressed graduates of Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Both praised Harvard for standing up to the Trump administration, with Abdul-Jabbar specifically calling out the actions of Harvard President Alan Garber.
“When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard, to revoke their academic freedom and to destroy free speech, Dr Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures,” Abdul-Jabbar said to wide applause as he compared Garber’s response to Rosa Parks’ stand against racist segregation.
“After seeing so many cowering billionaires, media moguls, law firms, politicians and other universities bend their knee to an administration that is systematically strip-mining the US Constitution, it is inspiring to me to see Harvard University take a stand for freedom,” he continued.
In response to the administration’s actions, Harvard has filed a lawsuit to challenge the funding freeze and successfully secured a temporary court order blocking the enrolment ban.
