US EditionHarvard holds commencement while facing Trump administration pressure
- Harvard University held its 374th commencement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while facing significant legal and political pressure from the Trump administration in May 2025.
- The Trump administration took steps to block Harvard’s international student enrollment, froze billions in federal research funding, and insisted on extensive reforms in response to what it described as antisemitic activities on campus.
- Harvard took legal action against the government and successfully convinced a federal judge in Boston to issue a temporary injunction preventing the enrollment ban affecting the university’s international student population, which constitutes a quarter of the total student enrollment.
- Commencement speakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Christiane Amanpour praised Harvard for defending academic freedom, with Abdul-Jabbar comparing President Garber's resistance to Rosa Parks' historic stand.
- The ongoing legal battles and visa restrictions caused distress among Harvard's 7,000 international students, some reconsidered enrollment, canceled travel, or feared attending graduation due to immigration concerns.
125 Articles
125 Articles
Bridging the gap between classroom and community — Harvard Gazette
Campus & Community Certifiably engaged Sophia Scott.Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Nikki Rojas Harvard Staff Writer June 3, 2025 3 min read 67 grads recognized for Civic Engagement Every week, Sophia Scott ’25 travels from Cambridge to the Suffolk County Jail in Boston to teach a high school equivalency class to inmates hoping to get their diplomas. It’s a trip she has made since her sopho…
Helena Independent Record
Harvard’s commencement showcased a united university
A year can make a transformational difference in the life of an institution. That’s what has happened at Harvard, where students and faculty gave President Alan Garber a standing ovation at commencement last week — just a year after protests…
Harvard Chinese student's graduation speech strikes a chord as Trump leads crackdown
A Chinese student's graduation speech at Harvard University emphasising "shared humanity" and calling for global unity has gone viral, days after the Trump administration pledged to "aggressively" revoke the visas of students from China.
No Money? No Problem! Black Harvard Graduates Celebrate For The Cultur
Black Harvard students, alumni, and faculty came together to keep the culture alive, despite pressure from the Trump administration. Source: Boston Globe The robes were pressed, the stoles were draped, and the celebration went on — even if Harvard University tried to shut it down. Despite the school’s decision to strip support from all identity-based graduations, the Harvard Black Graduation still happened — and it was powerful. Held off-campus …
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