Trump vs Harvard: The Battle Beyond the Headlines

Harvard University, a leading American research institution, has lately been making headlines for less-than-glamorous reasons.

President Donald Trump and his team have unleashed a barrage of allegations against the school, from racial discrimination to anti-Semitism, and its alleged dubious ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Among the moves are efforts to curtail Harvard's intake of international students altogether.

Faced with external pressures, Harvard is fighting back. Unlike some schools, the university is mounting legal challenges to block federal funding cuts and immigration restrictions, and has even notched some victories.

But beneath the daily drama and media theatrics looms a bigger question: What's really driving this showdown?

America First in Academia

Perhaps the most contentious aspect of Trump's policies involves drastically reducing the number of international students beyond Harvard. Proposals under consideration include capping foreign student enrollment, revoking existing visas, and ending work authorization after graduation.

While these measures have invited considerable criticism, they are resonating with a growing segment of the American population.

"MAGA voters who supported Trump are largely those who did not attend these elite, leftist universities," said one professor at a top American university, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"But it's the lower and middle class and even upper middle class who can't get their children into these universities who are subsidizing them (including international students) through their tax dollars."

*Supporters posing after a rally for US President-elect Donald Trump, January 19, Washington. (©Kyodo)*

At a recent Financial Times forum, former White House strategist Steve Bannon argued that curbing foreign competition was essential to give American graduates a fair shot at jobs. "To protect African Americans, Hispanics, working-class and middle-class people, we ought to halt all visas into the country, at least temporarily," he said.

Reinforcing Bannon's stance, another professor at an Ivy League University said, "Foreign students should be required to return home immediately after graduation and face tighter restrictions on political activism while in the US."

"Working Americans should be educating the sons and daughters of American citizens, not of foreigners," the academic added, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

The China Factor

Another key issue driving the administration's crackdown is Beijing's growing influence in American academe. Federal investigators have flagged undisclosed payments, covert research ties, and intellectual property theft linked to Chinese institutions and individuals.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal provides an account of Harvard's extensive relationship with the CCP. With Chinese students constituting a significant portion of its international cohort, Harvard has emerged as a central figure in the debate over foreign influence on American campuses.

*Campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in April. (©Reuters via Kyodo)*

South Korean attorney and Harvard Law alumnus, Kang Yong-suk, shares these concerns. "Beijing's infiltration of academic institutions is a global problem," he said. "The risks to national security and technological competitiveness are very real."

Kang pointed to a June 2024 incident in which South Korean authorities arrested three Chinese students closely tied to the CCP for secretly recording military sites at Busan port.

*Lawmaker Kim Min-jeon shares a photo of an alleged Chinese student wearing a Tsinghua University jacket participating in an anti-Yoon rally in South Korea. (©Kim Min-jeon FB)*

Chinese nationals and students were also reported to have participated in political rallies during President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment, prompting the Chinese embassy to issue a formal warning. This came as Yoon took a notably hawkish stance toward Beijing during his tenure, aligning his country closely with the West.

"Such incidents reflect a broader trend, with countries uncovering similar cases of covert surveillance involving Chinese students," Kang added. "Given China's deep-seated sway at institutions like Harvard, Trump's policies appear inevitable."

An Ideological Battleground

For years, critics have accused elite American universities of veering sharply to the left and stifling intellectual diversity on campus. Even Harvard's own president, Alan Garber, recently acknowledged his school's noticeable ideological tilt.

The Harvard Crimson's 2023 survey is a telling indicator. In its annual poll of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 77% of respondents identified as either liberal or very liberal, while fewer than 3% identified as conservative.

J. Mark Ramseyer, a tenured Harvard Law professor, attests to this imbalance. "The humanities and some social sciences have become extremely intolerant," he said. "A few of us are trying to strengthen intellectual freedom, but progress remains slow."

Ramseyer himself faced backlash in 2021 after publishing an 8-page hot-button paper on Japanese history. Hundreds of students and faculty at his university and beyond signed petitions demanding an apology and calling for the withdrawal of his work. The article ultimately survived the controversy.

Part of the Trump administration's strategy is to rein in universities perceived as ideologically rigid and academically unaccountable.

"University activities, even in science and medicine, have become so corrupted by 'woke' ideology that meaningful change is unlikely without decisive action," said the same Ivy League professor, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Given the iron grip of far left faculty and administrators, the only real hope is to use the leverage of withdrawing government funding."

By cutting federal funding, the Trump administration seeks to course correct institutions increasingly viewed as out of touch with the larger American public and core academic principles.

Will Trump Win?

So, can Trump prevail over Harvard? Perhaps not in the immediate term. Harvard, like many of its elite peers, is fortified by massive endowments, legal autonomy, and institutional inertia.

That said, the cultural tide seems to be shifting. Already, some top-tier universities are challenging sacred cows and rethinking their entrenched practices and norms. And it's not just the institutions. Prospective students are also questioning whether the traditional educational path is worth it.

"Conservatives, especially young men, are eschewing college altogether for better-paying vocations, without college debt," said the same professor from a top US university, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Even if Trump's policies fall short of remaking the ivory tower, some academics and experts agree they have succeeded in forcing long-suppressed debates into the global limelight. Among them are equity in admissions, national interest, and the core mission of higher education.

Author: Kenji Yoshida