university’s been embroiled in several controversies:

* Antisemitism cases Following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, student-led groups held anti-Israel protests on campus. In January, the university settled two lawsuits alleging anti-Jewish and anti-Israel discrimination

* Row over initial response

Harvard’s initial reluctance to condemn the Hamas attack led to accusations that it had become tolerant of antisemitism

* Congress testimonyThen-Harvard president Claudine Gay faced backlash after testifying about alleged campus antisemitism before Congress in December 2023

* Plagiarism chargeGay was also at the centre of a scandal in which she was accused of multiple instances of plagiarism in scholarly works 

Yoshita Singh New York

The Donald Trump administration has threatened to revoke Harvard University’s eligibility to enrol international students if it doesn’t submit detailed records of its foreign student’s “illegal and violent activities”.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday wrote a “scathing letter” demanding detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities by April 30, or face immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification, a DHS news release said.

“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism — driven by its spineless leadership — fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security. “With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard’s position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory. America demands more from universities entrusted with taxpayer dollars,” Noem said.

DHS said since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Harvard’s foreign visa-holding rioters and faculty have spewed antisemitic hate, targeting Jewish students. “With a $53.2 billion endowment, Harvard can fund its own chaos — DHS won’t. And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students,” it said.

Earlier, Harvard had said the Trump administration iss­ued an expanded list of dem­ands, “warning Harvard must comply if we intend to maintain [our] financial relationship with the federal govt”.