Wall Street Journal slams Trump admin for 'short-sighted attack' on Harvard

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

05/24/25 11:03 AM ET


The Wall Street Journal slammed President Trump’s administration for delivering a “short-sighted attack” on Harvard University after banning the Ivy League institution from enrolling international students this week.

The editorial board wrote that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to rescind Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification on Thursday has thrown all of the school’s foreign students’ futures “in disarray.”

“It’s also a short-sighted attack on one of America’s great competitive strengths: Its ability to attract the world’s best and brightest,” the board wrote in an editorial on Friday.

“Most of Harvard’s foreign students are enrolled in graduate programs. Many assist with scientific research and teaching undergraduate courses,” the editorial board added. “Driving them out of Harvard will disrupt research projects and might cause some professors in the sciences to leave for other universities. This seems to be a goal of freezing Harvard’s research grants.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5317429-wall-street-journal-donald-trump-harvard-university/

[FirstLight]

1. It's interesting he's chosen Harvard... and hasn't gone after any other big schools?

I was just thnking this morniing how weird he picked Harvard...did they slight him somehow long ago? I'm REALLY surprised he hasn't gone after the 'woke' Stanford or UC Berkeley schools in CA.
Or maybe he has, just not as loudly...?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. He went after some others - notably Colombia

A bunch may have pre-capitulated. But Harvard decided to fight and they actually have the largest endowment (and of course churn out the famous "Harvard lawyer" ).

The NYT had a list -

Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?

By Alan Blinder
May 2, 2025

(snip)

Which schools have been targeted?

So far, seven universities have been singled out for punitive funding cuts or have been explicitly notified that their funding is in serious jeopardy. They are:

Harvard University, which has approximately $9 billion at stake. The government has already canceled more than $2.2 billion in retaliation after Harvard publicly rebuffed the Trump administration’s demands. Harvard quickly sued the administration, and the case is pending. The president has also threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

Brown University, which the Trump administration said stood to lose $510 million.

Columbia, which is hoping to regain about $400 million in canceled grants and contracts after it bowed to a list of demands from the federal government.

Cornell University, the target of a cut of at least $1 billion.

Northwestern, which Trump administration officials said would be stripped of $790 million.

The University of Pennsylvania, which saw $175 million in federal funding suspended in response to its approach to a transgender athlete’s sports participation in 2022.

Princeton University, which said “dozens” of grants had been suspended. The White House indicated that $210 million was at risk.

(snip)

Colombia got so much press because they DID get a lot of media attention during their student protests and obviously Harvard because they told 45 to go pound sand.

The one thing about some of the California schools *could be* a techno/crypto-bro thing (just like MIT isn't on the list as far as I have seen).

[twodogsbarking]

3. Jealously, revenge, sure to get press, hatred toward education at the highest level. Any or all and more.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/11/obama-joins-list-of-seven-presidents-with-harvard-degrees/