The news arrived quietly on his mobile phone: Harvard University has been barred from enrolling international students. This means his ability to finish his degree at Harvard, the culmination of a lifetime of work, is now in jeopardy.
The student, who declined to give his name given the sensitivities involved, is one of over 150 Singaporeans enrolled at Harvard.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday that Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification has been revoked, effective immediately.
This affects nearly 6,800 international students, who would have to transfer or face deportation.
“(Harvard) has always been a dream of mine and I’m happy to have had the chance to experience it at least, though I don’t know how much longer that’s going to last,” the Singaporean said.
“It’s sad to think that these opportunities might not be available for others.”
Throughout the day, his phone buzzed constantly – professors checking in, classmates offering support. But the university’s guidance has been limited.
“Wait for updates,” students have been told.
Meanwhile, he has cancelled a long-anticipated trip home.
The administration’s decision marked the latest escalation in a broader campaign to reshape the landscape of American higher education by directly targeting one of the country’s most prestigious universities and its ability to draw top talent from around the world.
Trump claims private colleges and schools across the US foster anti-American, Marxist and “radical left” ideologies.
“The current sentiment is mostly just confusion and maybe a bit of nervousness because it’s all quite unprecedented, so nobody really knows what’s going on,” said another Singaporean student, this one at Harvard Law School.
“We’ve tried to get in contact with the Singaporean embassy in DC and they’re working on some sort of solution, I understand, but nothing firm yet, so we’re all waiting out to see what’s going to happen.”
On Thursday, Trump’s administration revoked Harvard’s right to enrol foreign nationals.
Existing foreign students are to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status.
The university slammed the move as “unlawful” and said it would cause “serious harm” to both the campus and the country as a whole.
For now, the gates at Harvard remain open. But across campus, and across the country, a generation of students is holding its breath, uncertain whether the nation that invited them to learn will still allow them to stay. — The Straits Times/ANN
