It’s Harvard reunion week. Some alumni are using the gathering to fuel resistance to Trump

This year marks Jack Mills’ 50th Harvard class reunion — an occasion he has looked forward to celebrating during a week of festivities that will culminate Friday in the annual tradition known as Harvard Alumni Day.

But the Boston resident said he's missed events and left panels early so far in order to hand out stickers around campus promoting a cause known as "Crimson Courage," formed by a coalition of Harvard alumni in April.

Mills and fellow alumni hope to drum up support for Harvard's academic freedom in the face of the administration's ongoing assault against the school, which has included freezing nearly $3 billion in federal funds and most recently, trying multiple ways to ban international students from entering the U.S. to attend the institution. (A judge has temporarily blocked the efforts.)

“There are volunteers from every class from 1970 … to the one that just recently graduated,” Mills said.

Crimson Courage sprung up shortly after the Trump administration demanded Harvard enact a long list of changes that would impact its curriculum, hiring and admissions. The group now counts several hundred volunteers. Last week, it hosted a webinar where thousands of attendees tuned in to hear from high-profile graduates, including Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.

"This is about more than Harvard. I want to underscore that point," Healey said during the webinar. "People are making decisions to go outside the United States, including United States citizens, because of the actions Trump has taken.

"I hope you continue to support with your voices, I hope you support with your resources," she appealed. "Support by sharing your story and getting as many alums to talk to as many in Congress as possible and within the administration to put the brakes on this."

The Harvard alumni community counts more than 400,000 graduates, an influential network that includes leaders in politics, science and the law. Crimson Courage organizers hope that tapping into this network will be another line of defense against the administration’s attacks on Harvard.

The volunteer-led group has quickly ballooned in size, and drawn alumni across generations from different parts of the world, according to organizers.

“In a very short amount of time, I'm talking about dozens of alums who literally have never met each other,” said Jessica Tang, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts and a 2004 graduate of Harvard College. “I don't even think we know each other's last names.”

And that momentum will likely be felt across Harvard's campus Friday, as graduating classes gather for panels, a parade, guests speakers and other festivities on Alumni Day, which is taking place a week after the university's commencement.

Anurima Bhargava, now a civil rights attorney, graduated from Harvard College in 1996. She has attended past reunions, and said the mood feels different this year.

“I don’t think we've seen this kind of energy and this kind of pride in Harvard, at least in any of my [reunion] years,” Bhargava said.

One of Crimson Courage's goals has been to raise money. Tang helped organize a drive this past spring to leverage donations to the school to spur Harvard leadership to stand firmly against the Trump administration’s demands. Volunteers created a donation system where alumni pledged financial support to Harvard, under the condition that the university not yield to government pressure.

Tang said the group raised over $10,000 in the first 24 hours of its campaign, and thousands of dollars more since then.

Tang said many alumni have been horrified as the Trump administration cut funding to life-saving cancer research and other projects and attempted to revoke the school's ability to enroll international students.

These moves intensified fear on campus among current students, she added. But for alumni, they’ve also ignited a sense of defiance.

The coalition has also reached out to other universities and collected alumni signatures to append to an amicus brief in the pending federal suit Harvard brought against the Trump administration to challenge the several billions of dollars withheld in frozen federal funds. Organizers said the effort had amassed 7,500 signatures by Wednesday morning.

Some Harvard alum didn’t necessarily think drumming up support for the university would be their next big cause. But they think this effort is about more than just their alma mater.

“This is very much a fight for higher education," Bhargava said.