Harvard celebrates new graduates as Trump administration escalates campaign against university

Harvard University's commencement kicked off Thursday morning under overcast skies, capping a tumultuous time for an institution that has come under sustained attack from the Trump administration.

The celebration got underway as a court hearing took place several miles away in a Boston federal courthouse. Harvard sued to block the Trump administration's ban on the university enrolling international students. A federal judge on Thursday said she would grant a preliminary injunction, which extends the temporary restraining order Harvard secured last week.

On campus, meanwhile, the mood was festive and celebratory during commencement. Music played and students and faculty smiled and snapped selfies.

Reminders of the Trump administration's attacks against the school were scattered throughout. Alumni passed out stickers to stir up support for their movement to protect academic freedom. Graduates decorated their caps with messages like "Protect International Students."

Harvard President Alan Garber, who has served as the face of the institution as it battles the Trump administration over its numerous demands, took the podium for a brief opening address to the crowd. He received a minute-long standing ovation from the new graduates and his colleagues on stage.

Garber greeted the graduates and "guests from down the street, across the country, and around the world."

"Around the world, just as it should be," he added for emphasis, as the audience rose to their feet for another ovation.

Several of the graduating speakers on Thursday touched on the challenges facing the school, education and other aspects of American society.

“Now, our university is certainly imperfect, but I am proud to stand today alongside our graduating class, our faculty, our president, with the shared conviction that this ongoing project of veritas is one that is worth defending," Thor Reimann told his fellow graduates.

Yurong Luanna Jiang, a Chinese graduate who studied international development, said she grew up believing that the “world was becoming a small village” and that she would be part of the generation that would “end hunger and poverty for humankind.”

She said at Harvard, she found a global community that included classmates from more than 30 countries, but that she now wonders whether her worldview is under threat.

“The promise of a connected world is giving way to division, fear and conflict,” she told graduates.

“We’re starting to believe those who think differently, vote differently or pray differently, whether they are across the ocean or sitting right next to us, are not just wrong — we mistakenly see them as evil," she said. “But it doesn’t have to be this way.”

This year's graduates receive their degrees amidst an unprecedented attack on the university. The Trump administration cut billions of dollars of the university's federal funding and disqualified the school from receiving future federal grants. It demanded Harvard change aspects of its curriculum and hiring policies, and ban students "hostile to American values.” It revoked the visas of a handful of students, before reinstating them.

Last week the administration announced the school could no longer enroll international students — and Wednesday evening, the U.S. Department of State announced it would work with the Department of Homeland Security to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students."

Allison Scharmann graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is currently a student-teacher who plans to teach full-time in fall at Cristo Rey Boston High School in Dorchester.

"I'm super excited," she said as she headed into the procession. "Being a first-gen student, it means a lot to talk about with my students and show that this is something that is achievable regardless of where you are coming from."

Sydney Rossetti, who earned a master's in public health, said 40% of her graduating class was comprised of international students.

"A key part of our community is under attack for no reason," she said. "I probably learned the most from my international students, so knowing they're under attack has been difficult to watch them go through."

Ultan McCaffrey, from Ireland, is also receiving a master's in public health. He said the day was amazing, and a bit surreal, considering the political environment.

"Today the focus should be on celebration," he said. "I don't think it [the political attacks] should be allowed to taint the day."

Amid the jovial scene, there were some jarring reminders of the harsh focus on Harvard. A "doxxing truck" broadcasting names and faces of some students sat parked by Mass. Avenue at the entrance to Harvard Yard. A group that calls itself "Accuracy in Media" said in an earlier press release that it would "deploy a mobile billboard" showing students who have allegedly "engaged in antisemitic activities or used antisemitic rhetoric on campus."

Last year, hundreds of graduating students walked out of commencement chanting “Free, free Palestine” after weeks of campus protests. Harvard also said some protesters would not receive diplomas alongside their classmates, although it eventually allowed most to get them.

This year, the anti-war demonstrations have largely faded from view, but protesters held a silent vigil a few hours before Thursday's ceremony. Holding signs that read “Ceasefire Now” and “Not Another Bomb,” protesters stood silently along the walls of Harvard.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.