When Harvard refused to comply—unlike other American universities—with the demands set forth by Trump under the pretext of combating antisemitism, the president threatened to use taxation and the revocation of residence permits for foreign members of the academic community as weapons. And he did exactly that. Those who have followed his politics should not be surprised. Trump has done—or attempted to do—everything he had announced: from imposing tariffs to renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And he will continue to do so, whether it concerns Greenland or the permanent expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
The denial of student visas for foreigners who wish to study at Harvard will, like many of Trump’s other measures, be decided in court. But the significance of this ban is far broader.
First, it constitutes a direct assault on academic freedom—that is, the right of universities to choose their students—as well as on the very essence of academic life. Since the emergence of universities in the Middle Ages, academic communities—at least in the Western world—have never been monoethnic, neither in terms of faculty nor of students. Forcing a university to select students based on their nationality is a manifestation of obscurantism, unthinkable in the 21st century.
Second, the ban on studying at Harvard, when applied indiscriminately to all foreign students, is itself an act of obscurantism. It is a form of collective punishment, and its victims are not the universities—they will not go bankrupt from the loss of tuition fees—but rather all the foreign students who possess the qualifications (and the financial means) to study at the university of their choice.
Third, the ban represents a legally dubious instrumentalization of the Department of Homeland Security, which was established in November 2002 to effectively address terrorism. When this department enforces a blanket ban on foreign students attending Harvard, it either considers them all, indiscriminately, as potential terrorists—or it is clearly overstepping its mandate.
The issue now, after Trump’s record in both his first and second terms, is not what he says, does, or attempts to do. It is how those who continue to live in the illusion of safety—because they have not yet fallen victim to his arbitrariness—will react. How will the other major, wealthy, non-state American universities respond? How will the American Jewish community—especially the Jewish students and alumni of Harvard, in whose name this attack on academic freedom is being carried out—respond? And how will the political leaders of the traditional Western allies of the United States react? Some of them are Harvard alumni. If they were young today, they would be among the victims.
How much longer will they cling to the illusion that cooperation with Trump is possible—cooperation founded on the moral and legal values shaped by the West in the aftermath of the tragic experiences of the 20th century?
The battle of Harvard is not about just one university.
Angelos Chaniotis
Professor of Ancient History, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Originally published in Kathimerini on May 25, 2025
Disclaimer:
The “Opinions” column features personal perspectives and reflections by contributors. Komvos encourages open dialogue, though it does not necessarily endorse every opinion expressed.
