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More than 180 Harvard Kennedy School affiliates called on HKS Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein and Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 to reject President Donald Trump’s demands in a Thursday morning open letter.
The letter outlines its own broad demands — nearly a line-by-line rebuke of Trump’s — for Harvard to defend academic freedom, protect international students, and maintain the independence of the University. It responds directly to last week’s ultimatum ordering Harvard to impose protest restrictions and end diversity programming in order to keep $9 billion in federal funds flowing.
Kennedy School affiliates signed the letter only with the initial of their first name and their position at the school, which organizers said was in order to protect the identities of non-citizen and international students.
“The decisions and actions you take in the coming weeks and months will not just drastically alter our experience as students, it will change the greater meaning of free intellectual pursuit within higher education across the country, and the world,” the letter stated. “To you, the leaders of this institution, we say: do not capitulate.”
So far this month, 12 Harvard affiliates — including seven current students — have had their student visas revoked. The University was not notified of or given reasons for the revocations, but more than 600 students nationwide have lost their visa status for reasons ranging from traffic violations to pro-Palestine statements.
According to four HKS student organizers, the main priority of the open letter is to increase protection for international students at a school where 59 percent of students are not from the United States.
The letter specifically requested that Harvard limit cooperation with law enforcement and only share personal information with federal agencies if “absolutely required by law.”
The students also expressed broader concerns about protections for free speech on campus, calling on Harvard to reject Trump’s demand for a mask ban, resist changes to “time, place, and manner” policies for student advocacy, and refuse to centralize disciplinary authority under administrative control.
“Over the past year, Harvard has preemptively instituted changes to university policies in a manner that has contributed to the atmosphere of fear and frustration on campus,” the letter stated. “We acknowledge that university policies should be continuously updated and improved. However, changes must be led by the University, not dictated by the government.”
Students titled the Thursday letter “Our Resolve” in a parody of Garber’s March 31 message to all Harvard affiliates, which struck a conciliatory tone toward the Trump administration.
As Harvard’s funding remains in limbo, the Trump administration has continued its assault on universities, slapping freezes on federal money to Cornell University and Northwestern University this week. On Thursday, reports surfaced that Trump plans to place Columbia University — the first school targeted for a massive funding cut — under the oversight of a federal judge.
Columbia acquiesced to key demands from Trump in March, banning masks and placing several regional studies programs under administrative supervision. But so far, Harvard has given no indication how it plans to respond to Trump’s demands — though the topic was discussed at a meeting of the Harvard Corporation last weekend.
Although the student letter was addressed to both Weinstein and Garber, HKS students said the letter was not intended as an attack on the dean’s leadership — instead, they hoped it would serve as leverage for Weinstein in conversations with Garber.
“We are really trying to help him better advocate for us and for the protection of HKS students internally,” said Daniela Schulman, a first-year master’s student in public policy.
According to the student organizers, the letter is part of a larger effort across graduate schools to coordinate their advocacy, following a similar letter from students at the Harvard School of Public Health.
“I think we also see ourselves as part of this broader coalition, and we’re doing this letter campaign and solidarity with all the other ones,” Schulman said.
HKS students met to coordinate next steps with students from other graduate schools on Thursday. Their next meeting is planned for Sunday with representatives from Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and likely Harvard Law School.
—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.
—Staff writer Tanya J. Vidhun can be reached at tanya.vidhun@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @tanyavidhun.
