[By GuanchaNet Columnist Yixian]
On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the revocation of Harvard University's "Student and Exchange Visitor Program" (SEVP) certification, prohibiting the school from accepting international students. Approximately 6,800 international students currently at Harvard were given 72 hours to transfer, or they would lose their legal status. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem accused Harvard of "fueling violence, anti-Semitism, and coordinated cooperation with China," and demanded detailed information about foreign students suspected of "illegal" activities over the past five years. Although Secretary Noem granted Harvard 72 hours to submit documents to restore its certification, will Harvard compromise?
Interestingly, prior to this, in April 2025, the Trump administration froze over $2.2 billion in federal research funds and $60 million in contract funds for Harvard University in response to Harvard's refusal to comply with a series of reform demands proposed by the government. These demands included: auditing academic programs and departments; reviewing the political views of students and faculty members; modifying the university's governance structure and recruitment policies; dissolving certain student organizations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and strengthening management and restrictions on campus protest activities (especially pro-Palestinian speech).
September 6, 2024, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: People walk through Harvard Yard towards Harvard Square. This was the first pro-Palestinian protest event held at Harvard University this academic year. Visual China.
All of this is clear: this is not just a policy dispute but a systematic siege against Harvard University. After cutting off funding, visas were frozen, and after freezing visas, came the trial of academic freedom. Trump is not "reforming" Harvard; he is personally reshaping the spiritual landscape of American universities.
Trump Is Destroying American Education
One side is represented by a conservative president whose core主张 is "America First" and whose highest demand is national security; the other side is long associated with liberal values, advocating openness and rationality, represented by an Ivy League institution. On issues of academic freedom, campus governance, and international social responsibility, the two have reached opposite ends of the value spectrum. This is not just a disagreement over higher education governance but also a confrontation regarding the spirit of America.
Higher education has always been an important part of America's global influence. Universities like those in the Ivy League not only disseminate knowledge but also spread specific cultural values and academic ideas worldwide. Harvard advocates an academic community spirit emphasizing independent exploration and rational dialogue. However, President Trump openly posted on social media that "Harvard is a joke" and that "Harvard is no longer considered a decent place to study and should not be listed among any world-class universities or colleges." It is unprecedented for a president of a major world power to mock his country's most famous university so extensively.
For this reason, these actions by the Trump administration have drawn significant attention internationally, seen as not just targeting one university but redefining the global impact of American universities—no longer emphasizing platforms for knowledge and cultural exchange but more focused on national security considerations. If this precedent is set, the inherent independence and openness functions of American universities will face unprecedented challenges.
The Demystification of the "Harvard Complex"
International students account for 27% of Harvard's total enrollment, with the largest number coming from China. In 2022, there were 1,016 Chinese students. According to data from Harvard's Global Support Services Office, approximately 1,800 to 2,300 Chinese students and scholars study or conduct research at Harvard each year. This policy will directly affect Chinese students' studies and lives, many of whom will face the pressure of transferring schools or being forced to leave the country. Additionally, the government's decision will have a long-term impact on the international reputation of American higher education, weakening its ability to attract global talent.
Campus scenery of Harvard University. Visual China.
Chinese international students, who constitute the largest group of international students at Harvard, are facing real challenges in this incident: unstable status, interrupted research, increased pressure to transfer, and even the possibility of being forced to leave the country. Meanwhile, a cultural-level psychological change is quietly occurring in China.
The "Harvard complex" has long existed in the hearts of many Chinese parents, representing both a longing for a globally prestigious institution and a projection of elite identity. For many parents, Harvard represents not only academic excellence but also symbols of elite status, social respect, and upward mobility in social class. At the same time, the high-pressure domestic educational competition and the desire for free and diverse educational concepts make Harvard a psychological outlet for exam-oriented education anxiety.
For example, Liu Yiting, the well-known "Harvard girl" in 2000, became a model for many Chinese parents to inspire their own children. She entered Harvard University with excellent grades, becoming the pride of her family. Her parents published *The Harvard Girl Liu Yiting* in 2000, which became a "biblical" guide for many people, making the "Harvard complex" a synonym for countless parents' and children's educational dreams. However, in recent years, this complex has quietly undergone transformation. The tension in Sino-American relations, tightened visa policies, and the controversy surrounding Harvard itself have led some parents to reconsider the idea that "Harvard equals the ideal endpoint." Meanwhile, with the rise of elite educational resources domestically and the diversification of international education cognition, the "Harvard complex" is experiencing a degree of demystification and reassessment.
Especially in this incident where Harvard's "Student and Exchange Visitor Program" (SEVP) certification was revoked and the ban on the university's acceptance of international students caused a rift in the equation of "Harvard equals success." Formerly proud Harvard Chinese international students have become symbols of vulnerability under political manipulation. Many Chinese parents were shocked and began to reevaluate the value and significance of the "Harvard complex." In an educational parent group, a parent lamented: "The risk of studying in America is now too great." Various factors are causing this overly symbolic enthusiasm to gradually cool down. More and more Chinese families realize that while American elite universities are indeed outstanding, they are not always neutral or absolutely safe. In the current situation of dramatic political changes, entrusting children to a university institution that may become the frontline of power struggles means potentially bearing additional uncertainties and huge costs in unpredictable political winds.
What Lies Ahead for Chinese Students
The fate of Harvard's Chinese international students is worrying. Whether Harvard can legally reverse the unfavorable situation for international students remains unknown. Harvard's Chinese international students are facing unprecedented difficulties. Their student status has suddenly become unstable, and many may be forced to transfer schools or leave the country within a short period, significantly impacting their learning, future careers, and academic research prospects.
Harvard University is filing a lawsuit. President Gayle stated that Harvard will not yield and will initiate litigation, arguing that the Trump administration's decision was arbitrary and capricious, severely infringing on the university's constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment. Will Harvard win the case? American lawsuits often take a long time. During this period, what lies ahead for Chinese international students? Even if Harvard wins the lawsuit against the U.S. government, allowing them to complete their studies, they may still face dual pressures in the current campus political atmosphere: on one hand, they might be misinterpreted or marginalized due to the political sensitivity of this case; on the other hand, they bear high domestic attention and expectations, enduring multiple pressures from cultural differences, academic intensity, and political instability.
Compared to the highly revered and concentrated imagination of Harvard in Chinese society, public opinion in the U.S. is more diverse. In the Chinese context, Harvard almost symbolizes the "world's top university," embodying all projections of success, glory, and social mobility, becoming an idealized and commercialized cultural symbol. In the U.S., although Harvard holds a high position, it is not the "only" irreplaceable institution. MIT, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and numerous top liberal arts colleges each have their unique reputations and followers. American society values "suitability" and "personal growth" more than blind worship of prestigious institutions. Additionally, some conservative groups criticize Ivy League universities for being elitist, viewing them as breeding grounds for "political correctness," believing they represent the reproduction of privileged classes. Trump's mockery of Harvard is proof. One could say that in China, Harvard is a symbol of the pinnacle, while in the U.S., it is a coordinate that evokes both admiration and controversy. This is something worth considering by Chinese parents and students.
Harvard University graduation ceremony. Visual China.
Clearly, compared to the diverse attitudes of American students and parents toward Ivy League universities including Harvard, Chinese society may have once placed excessive symbolic weight on them. In the current geopolitical and policy-changing background, the former luster is gradually fading, and today's "demystification" is inevitable. Of course, "demystification" does not mean total negation but rather based on a more mature judgment: Harvard deserves respect, but it is no longer the only path or ideal state.
For Chinese international students, they are not only passive recipients of this policy storm but are caught at the most sensitive intersection of structural conflicts between China and the United States. Their individual destinies are intertwined with global gamesmanship. This includes issues such as visa applications for sensitive majors and the decisions of international students, which are no longer purely educational matters but extensions of national relations, institutional distinctions, and cultural identity conflicts.
In this increasingly fragmented world, even American universities, once considered to possess transcendent independence and openness, are difficult to remain outside the tug-of-war of politics and ideology. From the conflict between the Trump administration and Harvard, we can see that American higher education is being drawn into the vortex of geopolitics and cultural division. Once beautiful imaginations of freedom, academia, and distant horizons are now caught in the gaps of political storms, intertwining personal fates with political currents, causing sighs. The "beacon" once admired by countless people now wobbles incessantly in the wind and rain, losing its luster and highlighting the confusion and fissures of an era.
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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7507846809964888587/
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