CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) 鈥 For students around the world, an acceptance letter to Harvard University has represented the pinnacle of achievement, offering a spot among the elite at a campus that produces Nobel Prize winners, captains of industry and global leaders.
That allure is now in jeopardy. In its intensifying fight with the White House, Harvard was dealt its heaviest blow yet on Thursday, when the government blocked the Ivy League school from . The move threatens to undermine Harvard鈥檚 stature, revenue and appeal among top scholars globally.
Even more than the government鈥檚 , the administration’s action represents an existential threat for Harvard. The school summed it up in a lawsuit the action: 鈥淲ithout its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.鈥
Within hours of the decision, the consequences started becoming clear. Belgium鈥檚 , who just finished her first year in a Harvard graduate program, is waiting to find out if she can return next year, the palace said. The Chinese government whether Harvard鈥檚 international standing will endure.
鈥淭he relevant actions by the U.S. side will only damage its own image and international credibility,鈥 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a briefing in Beijing.
A federal judge on Friday as the lawsuit plays out, but the order is only temporary.
Students say their hopes and dreams are at stake
On the Harvard campus, international students said they were stunned, confused and deeply concerned about for their degrees, future plans and legal status in the United States.
Walid Akef, a Harvard graduate student in art history from Egypt, said the Trump administration action would cost him 鈥20 years of my life.鈥
鈥淐oming to Harvard 鈥 I鈥檓 not exaggerating 鈥 I planned for it for 15 years,” Akef said. He earned two master’s degrees and learned multiple languages before arriving at the university. He also worries what the changes will mean for his family, since his wife is pregnant and will soon be unable to travel.
鈥淭his is absolutely disastrous. I鈥檓 going to lose not just stability, but I also lose my dreams and then lose, I don鈥檛 know, my beautiful life.鈥
Akef is cautiously optimistic that Harvard “will take care of this,鈥 but he is also considering other options as U.S. policy becomes increasingly .
A graduating law student from Asia said he had planned to stay in the United States and find work, 鈥渂ut not anymore.鈥
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what I鈥檒l do, but my future doesn鈥檛 appear to be here,鈥 said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Changes could erase a quarter of the student body
With a $53 billion endowment, Harvard can weather federal funding losses that would cripple other institutions. But this new sanction strikes at the heart of its campus.
Already, the change is causing disarray, as thousands of students consider whether to transfer or risk being in the country illegally. It could wipe out a quarter of the university鈥檚 student body, while halving some of its graduate schools and threatening students who work as researchers and teaching assistants. Some would be left nearly empty.
For many, it has been a time of panicked calls home and huddles with fellow international students. For Kat, a data science student from China, the news comes as she prepares to graduate. Foreigners set to receive degrees from Harvard next week .
鈥淢y biggest fear is whether I would get deported immediately” after graduation, Kat said. She spoke on the condition that she be identified only by her first name out of concern about retaliation. “We鈥檙e not sure about our status.鈥
If the government鈥檚 action stands, Harvard would be banned from admitting new international students for at least two school years. Even if it regains its place as a global magnet, top students may shy away for fear of future government reprisals, the school said in its lawsuit.
The university enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston. Roughly 30% of those come from India and China.
Asked if he was considering restrictions on other universities, President Donald Trump said Friday: 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking a look at a lot of things.鈥
鈥淗arvard鈥檚 going to have to change its ways. So are some others,鈥 the president told reporters in the Oval Office. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want troublemakers here鈥 from other countries.
A time to weigh other opportunities
In its court filing, Harvard listed some of its most notable alumni who enrolled as foreign students. The list includes Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia; Empress Masako of Japan; and many leaders of major corporations.
Many of the world’s top students spend years preparing for their college applications, sometimes working with admissions consultants such as Crimson Education, a company named after Harvard’s school color. Crimson clients recently admitted to Harvard were shocked by the government’s action, said Jamie Beaton, a Harvard alumnus from New Zealand who founded the company. But rather than looking for other options, many students quickly shifted to finding a way forward with Harvard, he said.
Still, some current students and those bound for the university in the fall were weighing other opportunities. Two universities in Hong Kong on Friday extended invites to affected students.
鈥淚t feels like my world has exploded,鈥 said Fang, a Chinese student who was accepted to Harvard for a master鈥檚 program. She also spoke on the condition that only her first name be used out of fear that she could be targeted.
Her student visa was approved just this week. 鈥淚f America becomes a country that doesn鈥檛 welcome me, I don鈥檛 want to go there.鈥
The recent developments forced Aleksandra Conevska, a Canadian graduate student researching climate change, to cancel her summer research and briefly look for jobs in Canada. But her thinking has since shifted, and she says she plans to remain at Harvard.
鈥淚鈥檝e already invested in this country, and I鈥檓 not going to give in,” she said.
The U.S. government’s action against Harvard has dominated news in countries around the world, said Mike Henniger, president and CEO of Illume Student Advisory Services, which helps colleges in the U.S., Canada and Europe recruit international students. He is traveling in Japan and awoke to the news Friday with dozens of emails from colleagues.
The reactions from the international community, he said, were incredulous: 鈥‘Unbelievable!鈥 鈥極h My God!鈥 鈥楿nreal!鈥”
For incoming freshmen who just got accepted to Harvard 鈥 and already committed 鈥 the timing could not be worse, but they are such strong students that any top university would want to offer them a spot, he said.
鈥淭he bigger story is the students around the country that aren鈥檛 a Harvard student, the students that scraped by to get into a state university and are thinking: 鈥楢re we next?鈥欌 he said. “The Harvard kids are going to be OK. It鈥檚 more about the damage to the American education brand. The view of the U.S. being a less welcoming place for international students.鈥
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Binkley reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Annie Ma and Fu Ting in Washington, Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco and Bianca V谩zquez Toness in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and researcher Shihuan Chen in Beijing, also contributed to this report.
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