Continued court fights could put Harvard in unwinnable position vs Trump

A national justice successful Massachusetts connected Thursday granted Harvard University's exigency petition to block, for now, the Trump administration's effort to prohibition planetary students from its campus, siding with Harvard successful ruling that the assemblage would apt endure "immediate and irreparable harm" if enforced.

The impermanent restraining bid from U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs blocks the medication from instantly stripping Harvard of its certification presumption nether the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, oregon SEVP — a programme tally by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allows universities to sponsor planetary students for U.S. visas.

Burroughs said successful her bid that Harvard has demonstrated grounds it "will endure contiguous and irreparable wounded earlier determination is an accidental to perceive from each parties," prompting her to temporarily artifact the SEVP revocation. 

Still, immoderate spot the bid arsenic a specified Band-Aid, forestalling a larger tribunal combat betwixt Harvard and the Trump medication — and 1 that Trump critics accidental could beryllium unfairly weighted against the nation's oldest university.

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Banners bent extracurricular the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library astatine the Harvard University field successful Cambridge, Massachusetts, connected May 27. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)

"Ultimately, this is astir Trump trying to enforce his presumption of the satellite connected everybody else," Harvard Law prof Noah Feldman said successful a vigor interrogation discussing the Trump administration's actions. 

Since President Donald Trump took bureau successful January, the medication has frozen much than $2 cardinal successful grants and contracts awarded to the university. It is besides targeting the assemblage with investigations led by six abstracted national agencies. 

Combined, these actions person created a wide grade of uncertainty astatine Harvard.

The impermanent restraining bid handed down connected Thursday nighttime is besides conscionable that — temporary. Though the determination does artifact Trump from revoking Harvard's SEVP status, it's a near-term fix, designed to let the merits of the lawsuit to beryllium much afloat heard.

Meanwhile, the medication is astir definite to entreaty the lawsuit to higher courts, which could beryllium much inclined to broadside successful favour of the administration.

And that's conscionable the procedural angle. 

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Harvard President Alan Garber acknowledges an extended circular of applause during Harvard University's commencement ceremonies successful Cambridge, Massachusetts, connected May 29. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Should Harvard suffer its presumption for SEVP certification — a certification it has held for immoderate 70 years — the thousands of planetary students presently enrolled astatine Harvard would person a precise constrictive model to either transportation to different U.S. university, oregon hazard losing their pupil visas wrong 180 days, experts told Fox News. 

Some whitethorn opt not to instrumentality that chance, and transportation to a antithetic schoolhouse that's little apt to beryllium targeted by the medication — adjacent if it means sacrificing, for certainty, a definite level of prestige.

Regardless of however the tribunal rules, these actions make "a chilling effect" for planetary students astatine Harvard, Aram Gavoor, an subordinate dean astatine George Washington University Law School and a erstwhile Justice Department attorney, said successful an interview.

Students "who would different beryllium attending oregon applying to Harvard University [could be] little inclined to bash so, oregon to marque alternate plans for their acquisition In the U.S.," Gavoor said. 

Even if the Trump medication loses connected the merits of the case, "there's a constituent to beryllium argued that it whitethorn person won arsenic a relation of policy," Gavoor said.

People locomotion done the gross connected Harvard Yard astatine the Harvard University field successful Cambridge, Massachusetts, connected June 29, 2023. (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, immoderate fiscal fallout the schoolhouse mightiness spot arsenic a effect is different substance entirely.

Though the uncertainty yielded by Trump's combat against Harvard could beryllium damaging to the school's precedence of maintaining a divers planetary pupil body, oregon by offering fiscal assistance to students via the federally operated Pell Grant, these actions unsocial would improbable to beryllium financially devastating successful the near-term, experts told Fox News. 

Harvard could simply opt to capable the slots erstwhile taken by planetary students with immoderate fig of eager, well-qualified U.S.-based applicants, David Feldman, a prof astatine William & Mary who focuses connected economical issues and higher education, said successful an interview. 

Harvard is 1 of conscionable a fistful of American universities that has a "need-blind" admissions argumentation for home and planetary students — that is, they bash not instrumentality into information a student's fiscal request oregon the assistance required successful weighing a imaginable applicant. But due to the fact that planetary students successful the U.S. typically necessitate much assistance than home students, replacing their slots with home students, successful the near-term, would apt person small noticeable interaction connected the gross it receives for tuition, fees and housing, helium said. 

"This is each astir Harvard, choosing the champion radical of students possible," Feldman said successful an interview. If the medication successfully revokes their SEVP certification, this would efficaciously conscionable beryllium "constraining them to take the second-best group," helium said.

"Harvard could dump the full 1,500-person entering class, conscionable dump it completely, and look astatine the adjacent 1,500 [applicants]," Feldman said. "And by each measurables that you and I would look at, it would look conscionable arsenic good."

Unlike nationalist schools, which are taxable to the vagaries of authorities budgets, backstage universities similar Harvard often person margins built into their budgets successful the signifier of effect wealth that allows them to allocate much wealth towards things they've identified arsenic goals for the twelvemonth oregon years ahead.

This allows them to run with much stableness arsenic a effect — and inoculates them to a larger grade from the administration's fiscal hits. 

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"Uncertainty is atrocious for them," Feldman acknowledged. But astatine the extremity of the day, helium said, "these institutions person the capableness to resist."

"They would alternatively not — they would alternatively this full happening spell away," Feldman said. But the large takeaway, successful his view, is that Harvard "is not defenseless."