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The Harvard Undergraduate Association, the College’s student government, released a statement Friday condemning the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Harvard’s ability to host foreign students.
“The Harvard Undergraduate Association stands in complete solidarity with members of our international community and strongly condemns the explicit targeting of Harvard’s international population,” the HUA wrote in a statement, which was posted on the association’s Instagram account.
The statement is the first by the newly-elected student government co-presidents, who have promised to speak out on student issues. The co-presidents, Abdullah S. Sial ’27, an international student from Pakistan, and Caleb N. Thompson ’27, have regularly spoken out against the Department of Homeland Security’s ultimatum to turn over international students’ records or face the revocation of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday that Harvard’s SEVP certification had been revoked “effective immediately” in a letter addressed to Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76.
The HUA’s statement comes five hours after Garber announced that Harvard had sued the Trump administration and filed a temporary restraining order to stop the revocation. Shortly after, United States District Judge Allison D. Burroughs agreed to temporarily halt changes to Harvard’s SEVP status.
Sial and Thompson ran on a platform that the HUA should not be “the administration’s mouthpiece.” When entering office, the pair said that they planned to make official statements on behalf of their constituents about “student issues.”
“We said, if something happens that is affecting the students on campus, we’re going to say something. And so that’s what we’ve done,” Thompson said.
Noem initially threatened the revocation in April, when she demanded that Harvard turn over international students’ disciplinary records or risk the University’s certification, sparking a series of large-scale protests in solidarity with foreign students. Sial, an outspoken critic of the Trump administration, co-authored a letter to the editor in The Washington Post Friday in defense of international students.
Thompson said that the HUA waited for Garber to publish his response before releasing its own. Thompson also said that the HUA ran its statement by Assistant Dean of Student Engagement and Leadership Andy Donahue before releasing it.
“It’s important that we have a united front, and we didn’t want to say anything preemptive that was in disagreement with what the College said,” Thompson said.
But in the case that Harvard and the HUA did not agree, Thompson said the HUA still would have released a statement offering its support to international students.
“If the administration were to say something that was, unfortunately, not in the best interest of the students, then we would have had to disagree,” he added. “Because, again, I think that we have a mandate to defend the right of our international students to come to this college.”
The HUA’s announcement, which was unanimously agreed upon by its executive board, used similar language to Garber’s morning announcement — with both condemning the Trump administration, offering support for foreign students, and underscoring that international students are vital Harvard affiliates.
In the hours after Noem published her order, international students anxiously waited for further guidance from Harvard’s central administration and international office. Both Garber’s and the HUA’s statements followed the outpouring of support on Thursday from House faculty deans, academic departments, and other student organizations.
Thompson said the HUA would also work with College administrators to publicize helpful information for international students.
“On our Instagram page and our website, we’re wanting to have detailed information being released regularly,” Thompson said. “The admin has really good information. Students need information. We can help bridge that gap and connect students that way.”
—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at claire.simon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.
