Harvard grads celebrate commencement in shadow of Trump's threat
發佈日期: 2025-05-30 19:28
TVB News
Harvard University held its commencement ceremony and won a reprieve in its legal battle over U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign student ban.
The judgment came after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would give Harvard 30 days to challenge the administration's revocation of its right to enrol non-U.S. students.
The president of Harvard University took to the podium to address new grads who came to Cambridge, Massachusetts from across the country and around the world to study.
"Around the world. Just as it should be."
The crowd burst in cheers, showing camaraderie at a tumultuous time when the oldest university in the United States comes under sustained attacks from the federal government.
A graduate speaker at the commencement pointed to the leadership that Harvard manifested throughout its history and urged the school to stand strong.
"I am proud to stand today alongside our graduating class, our faculty, and our president with the shared conviction that this ongoing project of Veritas is one worth defending."
Also addressing the event was Yurong "Luanna" Jiang, a Chinese student who studied international development.
Stressing the importance of teaching students from around the world, the 25-year-old shared moments in a culturally diverse community "when global challenges became personal."
"But today, that promise of a connected world is giving way to division, fear and conflict."
The U.S. government had already revoked Harvard's tax-exempt status, frozen billions of dollars in research funding and sought to block the university's ability to enrol international students.
A defiant Harvard called the move a violation of academic independence and the right to free speech.
In a Boston federal courthouse miles away, a judge on Thursday extended a temporary restraining order on the foreign-student ban.
The decision is a relief for the 6,800 international students at Harvard, but some are still concerned about academic disruptions and lingering uncertainty, especially students from China.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce emphasised that the U.S. will not tolerate so-called "exploitation" of American universities and research by the Chinese Communist Party to "grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition."
Authorities earlier announced that Chinese students who study in critical fields or have ties with the CPC will have their U.S. visas revoked.
