Latest news with #HarryElkinsWidenerMemorialLibrary
Borneo Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Borneo Post
US federal judge allows Harvard hosting foreign students
People enter and exit the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2025. – AFP file photo NEW YORK (June 21): A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's efforts to keep Harvard University from hosting international students, reported Xinhua quoting local media. US District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that Harvard preserves the ability to host foreign students while the case is decided, local media reported Friday. US Department of Homeland Security on May 22 revoked Harvard's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme, forcing roughly 7,000 foreign students at Harvard to transfer or risk being in the United States illegally. Harvard sued the department, calling it illegal retaliation for rejecting the Trump administration's demands to overhaul Harvard policies around campus protests, admissions, hiring and other issues. Burroughs temporarily halted the action hours after Harvard sued. In early June, President Donald Trump blocked foreign students from entering the United States to attend Harvard, citing a different legal justification. Harvard challenged the move and Burroughs temporarily blocked the effort again. Addressing conservative complaints that Harvard has become too liberal and has tolerated anti-Jewish harassment, the Trump administration has cut more than US$2.6 billion in research grants for Harvard, ended federal contracts and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status. – Bernama-Xinhua donald trump federal judge Harvard University international students
Newsweek
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Trump Threatens To Revoke $3B in Harvard Grants To Give to Trade Schools
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump has threatened to take away $3 billion in federal grants from Harvard University and redirect the money to trade schools, escalating a months-long battle with the Ivy League institution. "I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land," Trump posted Monday on his social media platform, Truth Social. "What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!" Newsweek reached out to Harvard for comment on Monday. Why It Matters The move is the latest in a series of attacks by Trump and his administration against Harvard. Last week, the government barred the university from enrolling foreign students and previously froze more than $2.2 billion in federal grant money and $60 million in contracts. Officials accused Harvard of ignoring demands to clamp down on student protests, overhaul diversity and governance policies, and disclose more information about international students. People in front of the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library (c. 1915), with Harvard VERITAS shield banners hanging in front of building. People in front of the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library (c. 1915), with Harvard VERITAS shield banners hanging in front of building. Getty Images What To Know On Monday morning, while many Americans were offline for Memorial Day, Trump took to social media to launch a renewed attack on Harvard. In a follow-up to his earlier $3 billion funding threat, Trump wrote in a second post: "We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine... how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country." The administration's campaign against Harvard began in April, when it issued a list of demands that included banning protest face coverings, auditing diversity programs and enforcing campus policies aimed at fighting antisemitism. Harvard President Alan Garber rejected the demands, citing free speech and constitutional concerns. Harvard has since filed lawsuits in federal court, arguing that the administration's actions are unlawful and pose a serious threat to academic freedom. In court documents, the university warned that blocking foreign enrollment would have an "immediate and devastating effect" on more than 7,000 international students. While other elite institutions, including Princeton and MIT, have also been targeted, the administration has made Harvard its primary focus. Trump's push to redirect funds comes as part of his 2024 campaign messaging around "rebuilding America" and supporting vocational education. In a separate post, he called the trade school plan "a great investment" and accused Harvard of becoming "a liberal mess." Harvard is well positioned to resist the administration's demands, according to former university President Larry Summers, who told students and alumni last week that the school's financial strength gives it a unique advantage. With an endowment of $53.2 billion in 2024—the largest of any university in the country—Harvard drew $2.4 billion from it that year, covering about 37 percent of its $6.4 billion in operating expenses, according to a university financial report. What People Are Saying President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Sunday: "Nobody told us that! We want to know who those foreign students are—a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. But Harvard isn't exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries." Harvard President Alan Garber, in a post on X, formerly Twitter: "No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, or which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue." Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, in a post on X on Monday: "Congratulations to Harvard for refusing to relinquish its constitutional rights to Trump's authoritarianism. Other universities should follow their lead. And instead of doing pro bono work for Trump, cowardly law firms should be defending those who believe in the rule of law." What Happens Next A federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration's ban on foreign student enrollment at Harvard, while other legal battles are underway. If Trump follows through on his $3 billion threat, it will likely face additional challenges in court.
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Trump's Attack On Harvard Could Have Unexpected Consequences
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - May 22, 2023: Students in graduation gowns and families in front of ... More the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library (c. 1915). Harvard VERITAS banners hang in front of building. The library houses some 3.5 million books in its stacks and is the centerpiece of the Harvard College Libraries. It honors 1907 Harvard College graduate and book collector Harry Elkins Widener. If Donald Trump's political reasons for attacking Harvard don't make any sense, then the historic angle of this story should make it clear how completely off the wall this is. America's growth, progress, and leadership have always been driven by its unequaled partnership of its universities and businesses. America didn't become the world's leader and unparalleled power in science, engineering, research, and innovation – and in business, for that matter – by accident. It happened as a result of plentiful support for higher education by the federal government, state governments, and private enterprise that blossomed in the 19th century, together with an unlimited flow of highly educated college graduates to meet the increasing needs of the workforce. Here's another very big point. These colleges and universities not only educated America's population; they attracted talent from abroad to come here and teach, run laboratories, lead research, and so on. Richard Florida, sociologist and economist, wrote in his 2002 landmark book The Rise of the Creative Class that America's colleges and corporations constituted the 'first stop for students and the last stop for scientists.' Three years later, in The Flight of the Creative Class, he presented expansive data showing that we were unfortunately reversing that position, losing talent to places like Helsinki, Eindhoven, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Vancouver, and Wellington. Donald Trump's misplaced aggression will only serve to accelerate the trend all the more, and one thing that will be impossible to measure is how much talent never considers coming here to begin with if America defaults on its support of and love affair with higher education. The United States has never had a national university, as many other countries do, but it's not that we haven't tried. George Washington first proposed the idea and offered to donate some of his land to the effort. Years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson proposed the idea – along with plans – but it went nowhere. The states couldn't agree on what such an institution would be like. However, there are today 3,931 institutions of higher learning in the Unted States: 1,892 public and 2,039 private. Only eleven existed before the Industrial Revolution began (using 1764 as the year). The confluence of American business with higher education is one of the easiest sets of dots to connect. For instance, there are 109 land grant universities, at least one in every state, and they have always been directly tied to the commitment to mutual growth. Albert Einstein first visited the United States in April 1921, when he was 42. Here was his first impression: 'What strikes a visitor is the joyous, positive attitude to life. The American is friendly, self-confident, optimistic, and without envy.' Not a decade later, after winning the Nobel Prize in Physics and becoming the most famous person in the world, he chose to live the rest of his life in Princeton, New Jersey. He was appointed the first faculty member at the nascent Institute for Advanced Study, an open, expansive campus tucked nearby – but independent of – Princeton University. He bought a house on Mercer Street, equidistant and walking distance from the two great institutions, one that had been for almost 200 years already, the other that has been for nearly 100 years since. Fleeing the Nazis, Einstein was heavily courted by universities in Zurich, Leiden, Paris, Budapest, Oxford, and others, plus heavy come-ons from Caltech and Princeton. Albert Einstein was at home here. You may not recognize the name Mikhail Brin, or his son Sergey, but Mikhail's arrival in the U.S. set the stage for one of history's greatest transformations. A brilliant mathematician in the Soviet Union, Mikhail and his family felt the anti-Semitic wrath in the USSR that, among other things, limited his academic and professional opportunities. After a protracted effort to leave, the family was granted emigrate status from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1979, when Sergey was just six years old. Once in the United States, Mikhail Brin became a mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, while Sergey eventually went on to do graduate work at Stanford University and to eventually co-found Google with Larry Page. As we see, the higher education environment was welcoming, kind, and supportive. Mikhail wanted to come here and nowhere else. The son of Polish Jewish immigrants, Jonas Salk grew up and was educated in New York City and earned his medical degree from NYU in 1939. While his fellow graduates pursued lucrative private practices, Salk went into research, situating himself at the University of Pittsburgh and was ultimately running a lab where he developed his polio vaccine in 1954. The university was highly supportive of his work, which he acknowledged often. Trace our world of computers back, and it doesn't take long to come to the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1930s and 1940s, In huge, cavernous rooms up to 1,800 square feet, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) were designed for military and commercial purposes respectively. ENIAC went into operation in 1945 and UNIVAC followed in 1951. The times, the temperature, and the atmosphere were all just right. The message Donald Trump is sending now is not the same message that our universities sent out to Einstein, Brin, Salk, and millions of others. Harvard, with growing support from many other institutions, has taken up the fight. Place your bets.
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Trump's Attack On Harvard Is A Horrible Idea.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - May 22, 2023: Students in graduation gowns and families in front of ... More the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library (c. 1915). Harvard VERITAS banners hang in front of building. The library houses some 3.5 million books in its stacks and is the centerpiece of the Harvard College Libraries. It honors 1907 Harvard College graduate and book collector Harry Elkins Widener. If Donald Trump's political reasons for attacking Harvard don't make any sense, then the historic angle of this story should make it clear how completely off the wall this is. America's growth, progress, and leadership have always been driven by its unequaled partnership of its universities and businesses. America didn't become the world's leader and unparalleled power in science, engineering, research, and innovation – and in business, for that matter – by accident. It happened as a result of plentiful support for higher education by the federal government, state governments, and private enterprise that blossomed in the 19th century, together with an unlimited flow of highly educated college graduates to meet the increasing needs of the workforce. Here's another very big point. These colleges and universities not only educated America's population; they attracted talent from abroad to come here and teach, run laboratories, lead research, and so on. Richard Florida, sociologist and economist, wrote in his 2002 landmark book The Rise of the Creative Class that America's colleges and corporations constituted the 'first stop for students and the last stop for scientists.' Three years later, in The Flight of the Creative Class, he presented expansive data showing that we were unfortunately reversing that position, losing talent to places like Helsinki, Eindhoven, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Vancouver, and Wellington. Donald Trump's misplaced aggression will only serve to accelerate the trend all the more, and one thing that will be impossible to measure is how much talent never considers coming here to begin with if America defaults on its support of and love affair with higher education. The United States has never had a national university, as many other countries do, but it's not that we haven't tried. George Washington first proposed the idea and offered to donate some of his land to the effort. Years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson proposed the idea – along with plans – but it went nowhere. The states couldn't agree on what such an institution would be like. However, there are today 3,931 institutions of higher learning in the Unted States: 1,892 public and 2,039 private. Only eleven existed before the Industrial Revolution began (using 1764 as the year). The confluence of American business with higher education is one of the easiest sets of dots to connect. For instance, there are 109 land grant universities, at least one in every state, and they have always been directly tied to the commitment to mutual growth. Albert Einstein first visited the United States in April 1921, when he was 42. Here was his first impression: 'What strikes a visitor is the joyous, positive attitude to life. The American is friendly, self-confident, optimistic, and without envy.' Not a decade later, after winning the Nobel Prize in Physics and becoming the most famous person in the world, he chose to live the rest of his life in Princeton, New Jersey. He was appointed the first faculty member at the nascent Institute for Advanced Study, an open, expansive campus tucked nearby – but independent of – Princeton University. He bought a house on Mercer Street, equidistant and walking distance from the two great institutions, one that had been for almost 200 years already, the other that has been for nearly 100 years since. Fleeing the Nazis, Einstein was heavily courted by universities in Zurich, Leiden, Paris, Budapest, Oxford, and others, plus heavy come-ons from Caltech and Princeton. Albert Einstein was at home here. You may not recognize the name Mikhail Brin, or his son Sergey, but Mikhail's arrival in the U.S. set the stage for one of history's greatest transformations. A brilliant mathematician in the Soviet Union, Mikhail and his family felt the anti-Semitic wrath in the USSR that, among other things, limited his academic and professional opportunities. After a protracted effort to leave, the family was granted emigrate status from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1979, when Sergey was just six years old. Once in the United States, Mikhail Brin became a mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, while Sergey eventually went on to do graduate work at Stanford University and to eventually co-found Google with Larry Page. As we see, the higher education environment was welcoming, kind, and supportive. Mikhail wanted to come here and nowhere else. The son of Polish Jewish immigrants, Jonas Salk grew up and was educated in New York City and earned his medical degree from NYU in 1939. While his fellow graduates pursued lucrative private practices, Salk went into research, situating himself at the University of Pittsburgh and was ultimately running a lab where he developed his polio vaccine in 1954. The university was highly supportive of his work, which he acknowledged often. Trace our world of computers back, and it doesn't take long to come to the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1930s and 1940s, In huge, cavernous rooms up to 1,800 square feet, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) were designed for military and commercial purposes respectively. ENIAC went into operation in 1945 and UNIVAC followed in 1951. The times, the temperature, and the atmosphere were all just right. The message Donald Trump is sending – one of hostility, intolerance, and authority – is not the same message that our universities sent out to Einstein, Brin, Salk, and millions of others. Harvard, with growing support from many other institutions, has taken up the fight. Place your bets.
Forbes
28-03-2025
- General
- Forbes
The Results Are In—Here Are Ivy League And Top College Admissions Rates For The Class Of 2029
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - May 22, 2023: Students in graduation gowns and families in front of ... More the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library (c. 1915). Harvard VERITAS banners hang in front of building. The library houses some 3.5 million books in its stacks and is the centerpiece of the Harvard College Libraries. It honors 1907 Harvard College graduate and book collector Harry Elkins Widener. Yesterday marked the 2025 'Ivy Day,' when students across the globe received their admissions results from Ivy League and select top schools. Though students received their individual results, many Ivy League schools, including Cornell and UPenn chose to withhold much of their institutional admissions data, as they did in previous cycles. These institutions are seeking to distance themselves from the negative stigma associated with hyperselectivity and elitism. Meanwhile, schools that were once considered 'safe' or 'match' options have become just as competitive as schools in the Ivy League, signaling that shifts in the current admissions landscape require new strategies to succeed. Beyond the numbers and data, this admissions cycle revealed important shifts in institutional priorities, as colleges reaffirm the importance of academics through the reinstatement of standardized testing requirements, place growing emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, and push for greater socioeconomic diversity following the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling. Here's what this year's results reveal about elite college admissions today—and what students need to know as they prepare for the upcoming cycle: Students Are Flocking to the 'New Ivies' The Ivy League schools have faced significant criticism in the last few years as a result of their admissions practices, as well as public backlash regarding the institutions' handling of pro-Palestine protests. Recent funding hits from the Trump administration seem to promise further scrutiny and turmoil for these elite institutions. As the Ivy League schools continue to come under fire, other prestigious institutions have become increasingly desirable—and competitive—amongst talented applicants. Rice University, for instance, saw a 13% increase in applicants this year, with 36,749 students applying across the Early Decision, Early Decision II, and Regular Decision and Questbridge programs. NYU had a record-breaking year, receiving over 120,000 applicants, a 3% increase over last year and the largest pool in its history. Notre Dame, meanwhile, saw a record-breaking pool of REA and RD applicants, accepting 9% of those who applied—down more than two percentage points from the prior cycle. Students anticipating future admissions cycles should take note—these schools are no longer back-up options for the Ivy League; they are reach schools in their own right. Rachel Rubin, CEO of Spark Admissions 'As hard as it may be, families should recognize that the idea of a 'safety school' has changed dramatically,' says Dr. Rachel Rubin, CEO of Spark Admissions, a top college consulting firm based in Boston. 'Many of these once more accessible institutions now have acceptance rates in the single digits. This means students must take a more strategic approach—crafting strong applications tailored to each school's values, demonstrating authentic interest, and building a balanced college list that accounts for this heightened selectivity.' Interdisciplinarity is 'In' For years, elite colleges have prioritized students with deep, singular academic passions. Now, rather than accepting well-rounded students, these top schools want to admit well-rounded classes full of singularly focused students. While universities maintain focus on admitting applicants with distinct core interests, they also reinforced the value of interdisciplinarity amongst applicants this admissions cycle. MIT, for instance, notes that accepted students have interests in 'cosmology and cosplay, quantum and quilting, agriculture and archery.' Cornell, likewise, highlighted admitted applicants whose interests braided together cryptography and disaster relief runs, air pollution research and Habitat for Humanity volunteer work, Crohn's Disease research and efforts to save local pollinators. 'Students who can make unexpected connections between their interests stand out in today's admissions landscape,' advises Dr. Rubin. 'Rather than simply listing multiple activities, applicants should articulate how their passions intersect—whether it's using computer science to solve public health challenges or blending an interest in literature with artificial intelligence. Colleges are looking for thinkers who bring fresh, interdisciplinary perspectives to a variety of fields.' Elite institutions like MIT and Cornell are not looking for students who excel at everything, but they do not want a student's specialization to come at the expense of a dynamic personality or perspective. While top schools like Harvard or Princeton might receive hundreds of applicants interested in robotics, they are more likely to remember an applicant who combined their interest in robotics with their interest in ethics and philosophy. Finding innovative intersections in seemingly unrelated interests or hobbies showcases a student's creative perspective, their distinct voice, and the way in which their experiences will shape their contributions in and outside of the classroom. Standardized Test Scores are Back Even at schools that maintained test-optional policies, applicants to the Class of 2029 submitted standardized test scores in large numbers. For instance, 74% of students applying to Boston College submitted standardized test scores, as did 65% of students applying to Tufts, a school in its fifth year of a six-year test-optional trial. Research compiled by top schools that reinstated their testing policies indicates that submitting scores—regardless of institutional requirements—is a more strategic move. M.I.T. Dean of Admission Stuart Schmill notes, for instance: 'Just getting straight A's is not enough information for us to know whether the students are going to succeed or not.' Contrary to pandemic-era assumptions about the potential for standardized testing to exacerbate inequalities in the admissions process, Dartmouth's study on standardized testing found that 'these test scores better position Admissions to identify high-achieving less-advantaged applicants and high-achieving applicants who attend high schools for which Dartmouth has less information to interpret the transcripts.' 'With the return to standardized testing, families should make a thoughtful decision about whether to submit scores,' explains Dr. Rubin. 'For students whose scores align with or exceed a school's middle 50% range, submitting them can provide a clear academic signal. But even those who opt not to test should ensure the rest of their application—especially coursework and teacher recommendations—demonstrates their academic readiness.' Colleges Are Admitting More First-Gen Applicants Since the Supreme Court's ruling on Affirmative Action in 2023, colleges have struggled to buoy the diversity of their student bodies while also abiding by the parameters set in place for consideration of race in admissions. A number of schools have seen noticeably shifts in the makeup of their student body since affirmative action—Harvard, for instance, saw a dip in Black student enrollment for the Class of 2028 (demographic data for the Class of 2029 will be released when this admissions cycle concludes). As they strive to combat this impact, many schools are hopeful that increasing socioeconomic diversity will lead to greater diversity overall. Amherst College, for example, announced that a record-breaking 25% of their incoming freshman class will be first generation students. The institution also noted that as a result of their participation in the STARS Network, the number of accepted students hailing from rural areas increased by 37%. Georgia Tech, likewise, noted that 17% of their incoming class are first-gen, and 15% from rural Georgia. Brown, too, touted that 19% of their admitted class will be first-gen students, and 73% of admitted students intend to apply for financial aid. 'There are a variety of resources that first-generation applicants can leverage to help them navigate the process,' says Dr. Rachel Rubin. 'From community-based programs to university-led initiatives, there are increasing opportunities to receive support. In addition, these students should feel empowered to highlight their unique perspectives in their applications.' Early Pathways Are More Desirable Than Ever Before Given the emphasis on yield rate at top schools, early admissions pathways are becoming increasingly desirable options for top students, as early admissions rates at top schools tend to be significantly higher than Regular Decision rates. For instance, Brown's early application acceptance rate was 17.95%, compared to its overall rate of 5.65%; Emory accepted nearly one-third of early applicants, with early admits typically accounting for roughly half of the student body; meanwhile, Northwestern announced that more than half of the students admitted to the school's Class of 2029 were admitted in the early application cycle. Given these numbers, it is no wonder that early pools are swelling at many top institutions, with around 58% of students applying early action or early decision, according to Vox. 'With early acceptance rates often double or triple those of Regular Decision, it is critical for students to carefully evaluate whether an early application strategy makes sense for them,' suggests Dr. Rachel Rubin. 'Applying early requires having a well-researched school list, strong grades, and a compelling application that is ready by the fall deadlines. For those prepared, it's one of the most effective ways to improve their chances of admission.' Admissions Rates for the Class of 2029 Below are admissions statistics for top institutions that have released data by March 28th, 2025: Amherst College Boston College Brown University Columbia University Cornell Dartmouth Harvard University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Princeton Tufts University University of Virginia University of Pennsylvania University of Notre Dame Williams College Yale University
