The Trump administration’s recent contentions with Harvard, especially on the topic of attempting to bar the institution from admitting international students only displays the dangerous ineptitude of those currently in power, and their disdain for our higher learning Institutions.

One could even say that President Trump’s rhetoric towards & treatment of international students seeking higher education at an esteemed institution such as Harvard is xenophobic and discriminatory. I believe that singling out certain students just to make a point, or doing so based on their country of origin or supposed lack of financial participation, is inherently divisive and bar-none un-American. If we truly believe that the US is a shining city on a hill in more aspects that one, then why is the leader of the nation in which any person can travel to and become a citizen of (to reference the words of President Reagan), have so much spite in his heart toward those seeking higher education here? Those pieces just don’t fit together.

Trump supposedly wishes to know all the intricate details of these international students, who they are, what friendly or “unfriendly” nation they come from, and what views they have (i.e., if they believe anything different than dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s exactly how he wants them to). An argument could be made that these attacks have very strong undertones that tear down guarantees & liberties enshrined in the First Amendment of our Constitution, particularly on free speech, just to mention one amendment.

I commend the federal judge who blocked the Trump Administration’s attempt to bar Harvard enrolling international students; these are the checks and balances of our government in full and beautiful display. Simply put, the administration’s attacks on higher education, and specifically Harvard, is a childish retaliation against the institution’s rejection of “the government’s demands

to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students. We as Americans cannot simply roll over and accept it when any person in power, even the president, attempts to repeatedly violate our freedoms and pursuit of what makes us great, one of which is our education.