Kristi Noem has threatened to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students unless it hands over information on all of its student visa holders’ disciplinary records and protest participation.
In the latest salvo of President Donald Trump’s war against the Ivy League university, the homeland security secretary “wrote a scathing letter demanding detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities,” DHS said Wednesday in press release.
If the university doesn’t comply by April 30, 2025, it will “face immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification,” according to the press release.
The SEVP certification allows universities to issue the forms students need to apply for visas to enter the U.S. International students made up more than 27 percent of Harvard’s enrolled students for the 2024-25 year, according to the university’s data.
A Harvard spokesperson told the The Harvard Crimson that despite the letter, the university stands by its previous statement that the university “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
“We will continue to comply with the law and expect the Administration to do the same,” spokesperson Sarah E. Kennedy O’Reilly said.
Noem’s letter accused Harvard of creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students and said, “It is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee,” the Crimson reported.
The letter specifically demanded information on visa holders’ “known threats to other students or university personnel,” “obstruction of the school’s learning environment,” and any disciplinary actions “taken as a result of making threats to other students or populations or participating in protests.”
The Trump administration sent Harvard a list of demands last week that was so onerous that even The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial board slammed the move as “unprecedented” and “unconstitutional.”
The five-page letter demanded a complete overhaul of the university’s governance, hiring practices, admissions, teaching, and research programs.
Harvard would have to hire an “external party” approved by the U.S. government who would “audit” the student and faculty for “viewpoint diversity.” Any department or field lacking the acceptable level of “diversity’ would have to either hire new, more diverse faculty or be abolished altogether.
At the same time, all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs were to be abolished.
Harvard shot down the demands less than 72 hours later.
“No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Harvard President’s Alan Garber said Monday in a statement.
Trump retaliated by freezing more than $2.2 billion in federal funding and threatening to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status.
Responding to the fresh round of threats, Kennedy O’Reilly said, “If federal action is taken against a member of our community, we expect it will be based on clear evidence, follow established legal procedures, and respect the constitutional rights afforded to all individuals.”
