Harvard Can't Embrace the ‘Hillsdale Model'

In 'Harvard and the View From Hillsdale' (Weekend Interview, April 19), Tunku Varadarajan writes that Hillsdale President Larry Arnn 'believes the real problem—a moral crisis, even—was that 'Harvard and Columbia couldn't define a reason to stop' ' protests that disrupted their campuses.
Even worse were the affirmative responses, such as that of Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan, where protesters violated multiple university rules to establish a 'Wesleyan Liberated Zone,' defaced sidewalks and buildings and issued demands. Mr. Roth announced he wouldn't clear the encampment even while acknowledging it violated the rules. A week later, he wrote that he had received many notes from alumni, parents and others criticizing his failure to enforce the rules, but that 'context matters' and 'cops don't always give people tickets for going a few miles over the speed limit.' 'I admire that they're not entirely taken up with grades or lining up their credentials,' he wrote of the protesters, before entering into an agreement with them, granting various demands.

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Mahmoud Khalil vows to continue protesting Israel's war in Gaza after coming back home

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Los Angeles Times

5 hours ago

• Los Angeles Times

Mahmoud Khalil, back home after release from prison, vows to continue protesting Israel's war in Gaza

CONCORD, N.H. — A Palestinian activist who was detained for more than three months pushed his infant son's stroller with one hand and pumped his fist in the air with the other as supporters welcomed him home Saturday. Mahmoud Khalil greeted friends and spoke briefly to reporters Saturday at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey a day after a judge ordered his release from a federal immigration facility in Louisiana. The former Columbia University graduate student, a symbol of President Trump's clampdown on campus protests, vowed to continue protesting Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. 'The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,' he said. 'This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention. Even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.' Khalil, a legal U.S. resident whose wife gave birth during his 104 days of detention, said he also will speak up for the immigrants he left behind in the detention center. 'Whether you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone in this land, you're not illegal. That doesn't make you less of a human,' he said. The 30-year-old international affairs student wasn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. However, the Trump administration has said noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the U.S. for expressing views it deems to be antisemitic or 'pro-Hamas,' referring to the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Khalil was released after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. The government filed notice Friday evening that it is appealing Khalil's release. Joining Khalil at the airport, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said his detention violated the 1st Amendment and was 'an affront to every American.' 'He has been accused, baselessly, of horrific allegations simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech,' she said. 'The Trump administration knows that they are waging a losing legal battle,' Ocasio-Cortez added. 'They are violating the law, and they know that they are violating the law.' Ramer writes for the Associated Press.

Yahoo

8 hours ago

• Yahoo

Trump administration: international students will face strict social media review

WASHINGTON — International students applying for visas to study in the United States will be subjected to stricter social media screening moving forward, the Trump administration says. Their entire online presence will be reviewed, including their social media media activity, during the visa application process for indications of hostility toward the country's citizens, culture, government, institutions and democratic principles. The State Department announced the policy on June 18, following the release of leaked guidance in May that signaled the changes were coming. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told embassies then about the enhanced social media vetting protocols, as he halted new student visa application interviews. The added screening initially affected students who applied to Harvard, which the administration has been fighting with over allegations of antisemitism. But in a message outlining the new screening measures that was obtained by multiple outlets in late May, Rubio said the review process was intended serve as a pilot program. At the time, the State Department told USA TODAY it had required visa applicants to provide social media identifiers since 2019 and that it continuously vets all visa holders for the duration of their stay. In a statement announcing the resumption of student visa interviews and the new online screening policy on June 18, the State Department said that under new guidance, consular officers will be conducting a comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants. Visa applicants who fall under these guidelines will be asked to make their social media profiles to public. Failing to do could be interpretated as an intent to hide activity or evade the policy and could lead to rejection, the administration signaled. The Trump administration previously yanked, and then reinstated, visas at an array of universities for more than 4,700 students this spring. The removal of their visas had sparked more than 100 lawsuits and many visa cancellations were blocked in court. The Trump administration has been aggressively introducing visa restrictions — fully or partially barring travelers to the United States from 19 countries, students from China and foreign nationals seeking to study at or visit Harvard over the last month. A judge has since stopped the administration from blocking Harvard's ability to enroll international students. The travel restrictions went into effect on June 9. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Foreign students will face stricter social media screening, U.S. says