US govt revokes Harvard’s right to enroll foreign students

Kathmandu: Donald Trump’s administration has revoked Harvard’s right to enroll foreign nationals, more than a quarter of the student body in an escalation of the president’s fight against the prestigious university.

The university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, quickly slammed the move as “unlawful” and said it would cause “serious harm” to both the campus and the country as a whole. President Trump is furious at Harvard, which produced 162 Nobel Prize winners, for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.

“Effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Program certification is revoked,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to the Ivy League institution, referring to the main system by which foreign students are permitted to study in the United States.

Harvard, which sued the government over the raft of other punitive measures has taken against it, quickly fired back, calling the move “unlawful.” ‘We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars,’ it said in a statement.

‘We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.’ said in statement.

RSS/AFP