Washington- A graduate day resolved Harvard The annual this year is in unprecedented circumstances, as the university has lived for months on the impact of an open confrontation with the administration of the US President Donald TrumpThe accusations of the university’s Republican officials began with “tolerance with anti -Semitism”, and exacerbated with explicit threats of federal financing.
Contrary to the graduation ceremony, which focuses on farewell to the new graduation batch, the “graduate day” tradition aims to re -communicate between different generations of university graduates and celebrate what is supposed to be their continuous impact on their societies and sites around the world.
Despite the festive and longing atmosphere to the past that prevailed on Friday, political issues were not lost on thousands of graduates from various colleges and payments who gathered on the university campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In the Tersenri Square, hundreds of organization sat under the shadows of ancient trees, and after a traditional procession led by graduates from previous batches, the university president, Alan Garper, rose to the podium amid a warm applause, to deliver a word that was not without clear political messages.
An announced confrontation
In his speech, Garber did not hide his concern about what he described as “deliberate distortion of Harvard’s representation,” and said, “We are defending the university against the distortion of what we are and what we are doing, and we do not accept the revenge of the federal government from us because of our refusal to abandon our rights.”
He added that the university administration is working to face legitimate criticisms, but it “refuses to bow to political pressure that threatens freedom of expression and intellectual pluralism on the campus.”
Garbar’s speech was met with a remarkable welcome from the graduate audiences, especially in light of the university’s recent media attacks and investigations on the university’s policies related to freedom of expression and financing some student activities.
Observers believe that the undeclared goal of these investigations may be to impose financial and legislative restrictions on the university in an attempt to pressure it to change its internal approach in managing discussions and controversial issues.
In his speech as a president speaking during the day of the graduates, Dr. Atul Jawandi, the surgeon and the well -known writer, criticized President Trump’s administration, accusing her of undermining public health, scientific research and higher education.
Joysi reviewed his experience as a former official in American Agency for International DevelopmentNoting that the new administration carried out “an electric saw” surgery that led to the dismantling of the agency, and the layoff of 86% of its programs, which caused “maximization of human suffering, loss of lives, and waste of taxpayers.”
He also pointed out that the research center founded at Brigham Hospital and Harvard College of Public Health has been funded, and that international students may be prevented from enrolling in the university next year, and that the university’s accreditation itself may be threatened.
“What are the basic values that Harvard should seek to preserve it?” Jojandi asked.
His speech was turned into an explicit invitation to the university and its graduates to stand up to what he described as a “coordinated attack” on education and scientific research institutions, stressing that silence or retreat is not two options at this stage.
Escalating
These statements come against the background of a series of measures taken by the Trump administration, which included a suspension of a federal grant for Harvard and the threat to cancel the visa programs of international students, especially from the countries that the administration classifies as “a security threat.”
Among the most prominent aspects of escalation between the university and the current administration is the decision of the Ministry of Internal Security to cancel the visas of international students studying in universities that provide educational programs completely.
This decision was considered a direct attack on liberal universities, and Harvard has prompted Harvard to file a joint lawsuit with the MIT Institute in 2020 in a symbolic judicial precedent. Although the administration of the former US president جهني The decision later nullified, as the controversy returned to the interface again after Trump’s second term victory.
Last May, the Trump administration sought to reactivate student visas restrictions from countries that classify it as “unscathed”, which raised fears of depriving hundreds of students, especially from the Middle East and South Asia, to join the next fall semester.
However, a federal court in Boston issued a temporary order to stop the implementation of the decision, considering that it “violates the freedom of academic institutions and directly harm to the reputation of American universities.”
Gaza “the present absent”
Despite the absence of any direct references to the Gaza issue in the official words, the background of the event was not isolated from the charged political climate that the university has been experiencing since the outbreak of the war on the Strip, Harvard has formed during the past months one of the most severe controversial arenas on the position on the Israeli aggression.
The university faced repeated accusations of “leniency with anti -Semitism” against the background of student protests in support of Palestine on the campus, which led to an escalation of confrontation between the university on the one hand, the Trump administration and a number of members Congress RepublicansThose who consider that the university was “turned into an arena for incitement”, and demanded that disciplinary measures be taken against students and review the Federal University’s funds.