Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem speaks to reporters in the Oval Office on June 10. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
Regarding Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem’s June 24 op-ed, “Harvard flouted the rules. Now, it’s getting a hard lesson.”:
I take issue with Noem’s op-ed, which berated Harvard for alleged antisemitism and threatened to revoke the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification that allows the university to admit and enroll foreign students.
I am a Harvard degree holder, Class of 1964, as well as a Jew and a Zionist who supports a two-state solution. My automobile bears a sticker stating “I support Jewish college students.” By this, I mean I support Jewish students who either support or oppose Israel’s actions and tactics toward Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel proper.
We do not need the federal government telling Harvard how to deal with students — whether U.S. or foreign — who peacefully express their views on public issues, do not threaten others with physical harm, and observe reasonable rules that ensure noninterference with the university’s teaching and other educational procedures. These are the “American values” that matter, not some of those Noem espoused in her op-ed. Some students might be angry or outraged by the views peacefully expressed by their fellow students. That frustration is a part of life, and it is not something from which the government can protect them — though of course colleges and the government have an obligation to keep all people safe from physical harm.
I would add two thoughts. Foreign students add immeasurably to the quality of the educational experience of all students, whether they remain in the U.S. or return to another country. And I believe that most of the unfortunate increase in hateful speech directed at Jews, including Jewish students, is not a product of antisemitism but a reaction to Israeli government policies and practices that have caused so much pain and suffering to Palestinians.
Elihu I. Leifer, Chevy Chase
Secretary Kristi L. Noem claimed in her recent op-ed both that Harvard is unsafe for students and fostered “antisemitic extremism,” and that the Department of Homeland Security “reached out in good faith” before attempting to ban foreign students from campus.
As a Jewish student at Harvard Kennedy School, where more than half the students come to Cambridge from other countries, I want to share a different perspective. Yes, antisemitism is real. Yes, I know what it’s like to feel afraid as a Jew.
But today, what scares me most is not knowing what illegal attempt Noem might make next in the name of antisemitism to suppress constitutional freedoms and target my classmates who have visas to study in the U.S. In April, more than 550 rabbis and cantors condemned the Trump administration for twisting Jewish safety to these ends. Noem should know better than to seemingly maintain that the administration represents all Jews’ interests months later. And she certainly cannot speak for all Jews at Harvard.
This spring, when demand letters from the Trump administration began arriving both at Harvard and at federal agencies that have contracts with the university, my classmates and I read each one with growing concern. These did not seem like “good faith” efforts at negotiation — a topic I study closely as a public policy student — but threats to seize control of university hiring, admissions, governance, discipline and teaching.
The law is clear: Noem and President Donald Trump unconstitutionally retaliated against Harvard, attacking freedom of thought, expression and speech, and threatening the university with immediate, irreparable harm. This is the opinion of U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, who issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to keep visa holders from coming to Harvard.
At Harvard Kennedy School, my closest friends come from Colombia, Germany and Singapore. They have enriched my learning and my life in countless ways. Our program would be shattered without them, and Harvard without its international students would become the epicenter of the Trump-fueled brain drain. Perhaps Noem needs a lesson in the economic benefits that foreign students bring to the entire nation, not just Harvard, and a refresher course on the First and Fifth amendments. And Harvard leadership should continue to stand against the unlawful actions of the Trump administration. Harvard students stand with them — and we fully expect to prevail.
Daniela Schulman, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Of all the claptrap that emanates from the Trump administration, Kristi L. Noem’s op-ed lecturing Harvard about antisemitism has its own place of dishonor. Speaking as an American Jew, I would like to tell her what makes me feel insecure:
Attacks on First Amendment rights to peaceful assembly under the guise of protecting JewsAttacks on First Amendment rights to free political speech under the guise of protecting JewsEquating opposition to Israeli policy in Gaza with antisemitism under the guise of protecting JewsTrying to control any university’s curriculum or hiring practices under the guise of protecting JewsTrying to control the makeup of Harvard’s student body under the guise of protecting JewsTrying to obtain students’ personal information under the guise of protecting JewsTrafficking in Islamophobia under the guise of protecting Jews
What makes American Jews like me feel most threatened is using us as an excuse to impose draconian strictures on society and then, when there is blowback (and eventually there will be, if history is any guide), using Jews as a scapegoat. The political theater that President Donald Trump engages in about antisemitism is naked political opportunism.
Joyce Saadi, Gaithersburg
Student and Exchange Visitor Program compliance is a legitimate regulatory concern, but the public, punitive framing the Trump administration is using to explain its actions toward Harvard University — especially when conveyed in an op-ed rather than a formal legal proceeding — suggests the goal is more than enforcement. The aim also appears to be intimidation and humiliation.
The action comes in the context of culture-war grievances: Conservatives have criticized Harvard for its response to pro-Palestinian protests and for its perceived “wokeness.”
Threatening the university’s ability to enroll international students — essential to its mission and funding — looks a lot like retaliation, not neutral governance.
Robert Stewart, Chantilly
What exactly is Harvard’s offense, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem’s strange and furious diatribe? Rampant antisemitism, she alleges. And what exactly does the secretary intend to do about it? She appears intent on strangling Harvard until it complies with … something.
Ten percent of Harvard’s undergraduates were Jewish as of 2023. Why would they enroll at Harvard if it was antisemitic? Its president, Alan Garber, is Jewish, for heaven’s sake, and so are many of its faculty members.
The administration seems to see Harvard and its peer institutions as labs breeding a cultural virus that they believe infected the country with liberal and progressive anti-Trumpism. Noem appears to have appointed herself the germ-hunter who’s going to eradicate the source of that epidemic. The secretary writes that Harvard has to decide whether to get with the program or be “an adversary to American values,” by which she means MAGA values. But it’s Harvard’s values that are quintessentially American: the search for truth and knowledge and understanding.
The idea that Harvard should fall under the purview of DHS because it’s a threat to our national security is laughable. This is not the department’s business.
Bruce Carnes, Fairfax
It might be true that there are antisemitic students enrolled at Harvard University. I would be willing to bet, though I do not have proof, that this is true of virtually every university in the United States. The same goes for racism, anti-Muslim sentiment and other biases that might be present in our diverse nation.
But I’m curious: Did Harvard as an institution support the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017? Did the university encourage protesters who opposed Israel’s operations in Gaza to adopt ugly slogans or anti-Jewish language? I did not read any substantiation of Noem’s statement that Harvard “encouraged and fostered antisemitic extremism.”
Instead, did the university state that there is a right to peacefully express one’s opinions, be they in support of gay pride, in opposition to Israel’s actions, or for or against abortion?
I want to see proof that universities are encouraging a position before the university is punished for them.
Howard Pedolsky, Rockville
