Harvard graduates have a lot to say. In a sign of the times, now isn’t the time to say it.
That much was clear when I sought student opinion at the gates of America’s oldest university. There is a reluctance to talk about Trump.
“He needs to come back to this country,” said a Harvard dad of his son, politely declining an interview on the youngster’s behalf.
The young man, British, falls into the category of international student – a vulnerable species, currently, in America’s elite university system.
For him, saying the ‘wrong’ thing carries the risk of an exclusion order to go with his graduation certificate. Dad knows best.
It is the modern reality at the gates of Harvard – this iconic seat of learning and crucible of free speech and ideas isn’t as free as it was. For now, at least.
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It’s fair to say Harvard had other things on its mind this week, with Thursday’s ‘commencement’ day and graduation parades winding their route through surrounding streets in a ‘town and gown’ spectacle.
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There were bagpipes and brass bands to lead students in their crowning moment. It was an emotional thank you and goodbye to Harvard, with a celebration soundtrack of music and ‘mwah’.
And yet, there was a political undercurrent. There has to be, when a US institution is at war with its president.
Some students wore a white flower on their lapel as a symbol of solidarity with Harvard’s international students.
In giving his speech at the podium, Harvard president Alan Garber was given a standing ovation when he noted that graduates hail from “around the world, just as it should be”.
As graduates and families gathered in Harvard Yard, the university’s defiance against Trump was playing out simultaneously in court, where the latest hearing took place on government efforts to stop the enrolment of foreign students.
Leo Gerden, a 22 year-old student from Sweden, was graduating in economics and government. We chatted while he stiffened himself with a Starbucks for the celebrations ahead.
What were his thoughts, as someone fitting the profile picked on by the government of his host country?
“I feel like the entire Harvard is under attack, because without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard anymore,” he said.
“He’s trying to crush us, but we have shown over the last couple of weeks that he won’t do that easily. The uncertainty itself is going to cause a lot of harm.
“People are definitely reconsidering their plans right now, whether it was coming to America, going to any university, because they might be next on Trump’s target list.”
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The distraction is widely shared across campus, so is the sentiment – not that it’ll trouble the White House.
Places like Harvard don’t lean Trump, and he’ll lose few votes in this fight.
It is a conflict to shape the future of US education – it’s politics, but it’s much more.
