'Treating our country with great disrespect...': Trump, as Harvard readies for graduation day 2025
Harvard’s annual commencement comes just as President Trump escalates his campaign against the university, aiming to slash its multi-billion-dollar grants, revoke its tax-exempt status
- May 29, 2025,
- Updated May 29, 2025 11:26 AM IST
As Harvard prepares to celebrate its 2025 graduation ceremony on Thursday, the event is unfolding under a cloud of political and legal uncertainty.
A federal judge is set to review sweeping punitive measures imposed by US President Donald Trump, including a proposed foreign student ban, cuts to federal funding, and threats that now loom large over the festivities, according to AFP.
Trump has accused the Ivy League institution of disrespecting the country, enabling ideological bias, and failing to tackle anti-Semitism. Harvard is contesting all actions in court, in what has become a defining standoff over academic freedom and political influence.
Harvard’s annual commencement comes just as President Trump escalates his campaign against the university, aiming to slash its multi-billion-dollar grants, revoke its tax-exempt status, sever government contracts, and block its ability to host foreign students.
"Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper," Trump said on Wednesday.
The university is challenging these measures in court, with a Boston judge scheduled to hear arguments Thursday on the federal order targeting Harvard’s participation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The ruling could impact the nearly 27% of Harvard's student body that comes from abroad.
Harvard President Alan Garber, speaking on NPR, admitted the university is grappling with anti-Semitism and viewpoint diversity, but questioned the rationale behind Trump’s measures. "What is perplexing is the measures that they have taken to address these [issues] don't even hit the same people that they believe are causing the problems," Garber said.
Civil rights icon and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, addressing students during Class Day on Wednesday, praised Harvard’s resistance. “When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard... Dr. Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures the way Rosa Parks declined—” he said, drawing applause.
As students walked through the streets of Cambridge in black academic gowns, some hinted at subtle forms of protest. “The atmosphere [is] that just continuing on joyfully with the processions and the fanfare is in itself an act of resistance,” said graduating student Madeleine Riskin-Kutz.
Outside Harvard Yard, retired immigration judge Patricia Sheppard staged a protest in her judicial robe, holding a sign that read “for the rule of law.” She called Trump’s actions “retribution,” adding, “It does not seem to me seemly that a president would engage in certain actions as retribution.”
(With agency inputs)
As Harvard prepares to celebrate its 2025 graduation ceremony on Thursday, the event is unfolding under a cloud of political and legal uncertainty.
A federal judge is set to review sweeping punitive measures imposed by US President Donald Trump, including a proposed foreign student ban, cuts to federal funding, and threats that now loom large over the festivities, according to AFP.
Trump has accused the Ivy League institution of disrespecting the country, enabling ideological bias, and failing to tackle anti-Semitism. Harvard is contesting all actions in court, in what has become a defining standoff over academic freedom and political influence.
Harvard’s annual commencement comes just as President Trump escalates his campaign against the university, aiming to slash its multi-billion-dollar grants, revoke its tax-exempt status, sever government contracts, and block its ability to host foreign students.
"Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper," Trump said on Wednesday.
The university is challenging these measures in court, with a Boston judge scheduled to hear arguments Thursday on the federal order targeting Harvard’s participation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The ruling could impact the nearly 27% of Harvard's student body that comes from abroad.
Harvard President Alan Garber, speaking on NPR, admitted the university is grappling with anti-Semitism and viewpoint diversity, but questioned the rationale behind Trump’s measures. "What is perplexing is the measures that they have taken to address these [issues] don't even hit the same people that they believe are causing the problems," Garber said.
Civil rights icon and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, addressing students during Class Day on Wednesday, praised Harvard’s resistance. “When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard... Dr. Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures the way Rosa Parks declined—” he said, drawing applause.
As students walked through the streets of Cambridge in black academic gowns, some hinted at subtle forms of protest. “The atmosphere [is] that just continuing on joyfully with the processions and the fanfare is in itself an act of resistance,” said graduating student Madeleine Riskin-Kutz.
Outside Harvard Yard, retired immigration judge Patricia Sheppard staged a protest in her judicial robe, holding a sign that read “for the rule of law.” She called Trump’s actions “retribution,” adding, “It does not seem to me seemly that a president would engage in certain actions as retribution.”
(With agency inputs)