{shortcode-759172574b068d98f18eb6449637167b60652be7}
One day after the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard’s authorization to enroll international students, more than 75 international students gathered for food and company at a Friday evening event co-hosted by the Dean of Students Office and the Woodbridge International Society.
The May 22 revocation, which was temporarily blocked by a federal judge early Friday afternoon, sowed widespread fear among international students — so much that administrators wrote on Friday that the Harvard International Office phone lines were overwhelmed with a backlog of calls.
But the mood at the Cambridge Queen’s Head pub on Friday evening was lighter. Pizza and water in hand, international students conversed among themselves in small groups and with top College administrators, including outgoing College Dean Rakesh Khurana, his successor, David J. Deming, who will take over on July 1, and Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne.
On Friday morning, Harvard sued the Trump administration and filed a temporary restraining order to prevent the DHS from revoking Harvard’s SEVP certification. A federal judge granted the TRO less than two hours after the University requested it.
Woodbridge — a student group representing international undergraduates — announced the event in a Thursday night email to international students after the DHS announced it had revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which Harvard must maintain in order to host international students on its campus.
The Woodbridge co-presidents wrote in a message to the group’s email list that they hoped to provide international students with a place to connect with peers and talk with College administrators “in light of the current challenges facing international students.”
The DHS’ Thursday move sparked widespread fear among international students, leaving them anxious about their future studies and ability to graduate. Department administrators and faculty deans of Houses sent messages of support to students on Thursday and Friday.
Deming, who currently serves as faculty dean of Kirkland House, wrote over the House mailing list that “international students at Kirkland are deeply valued members of our community” on Friday morning.
“We are proud to call you our students and our friends, and we are here to support you during these difficult times,” he added.
Then, in a Friday evening email, Khurana directly addressed the entire undergraduate student body, reaffirming the importance of international students to the College.
“To our international students: you are essential to our College. You bring the world into our classrooms. We will continue to advocate fiercely for your right to be here,” Khurana wrote.
He added that “information moves faster than understanding,” and that administrators “are doing everything we can to obtain accurate answers and to share them as clearly and quickly as possible.”
Khurana wrote that the Harvard International Office would be the most reliable source of information for students, though he told students to “be patient while they work through a backlog of phone calls.”
“They are available 24/7 for emergencies and will respond as quickly as possible,” he wrote.
Because of the backlog of calls, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences told a faculty member to instruct students to only call the HIO “in a truly critical situation (i.e. with Border Patrol),” according to an email obtained by The Crimson.
“The emergency hotline has been inundated with calls,” a GSAS administrator wrote in a message to the faculty member, which was forwarded to students in their department. “Reach out to their HIO advisor or attend Office Hours should they have other questions.”
Spokespeople for GSAS and the University did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.
—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.
