Newsmax Interviews Harvard Grads Who Slam Trump Crackdown After Ceremony: ‘This Isn’t a Dictatorship’

At the Harvard commencement ceremony in Boston on Thursday, several graduates spoke with Newsmax reporter Sarah Williamson, both on and off camera, on the subject of the school’s battle with President Donald Trump over international students, DEI policies, and accusations of systemic anti-Semitism and racial bias at the Ivy League school. And the feedback was very different depending on whether the student spoke on camera or not.

Williamson reported Thursday from outside the graduation ceremony, where she conducted on-street interviews with several new holders of a prestigious Harvard degree.

Williamson noted recent court battles and the temporary stop imposed against the Trump administration’s efforts on international student enrollment, then introduced her earlier interviews.

“Now, when I asked students about this controversy as they were leaving their graduation ceremony today, all of them that I spoke to said that they supported international students coming to Harvard,” she began.

The first graduate said of Trump’s battle with the school, “You don’t control Harvard. It’s not a dictatorship. This is education at its highest form. So this needs to be accessible to everyone.”

Another said, “I fully believe that we need to protect our diversity and make sure that international students are welcome and supported here at Harvard.”

A third student told Williamson it would be “a disservice to what Harvard offers to the world” to interrupt enrollment of students from abroad.

Williamson then said that she’s faced problems getting any on-the-record commentary from international students and Jewish students over the protests and accusations of anti-Semitism, for fear of “backlash” if they were to speak out. She did, however, interview at least one Jewish international student from Israel for the segment.

“My personal feeling was that the administration is trying to do things to get us more, feel more comfortable and be more safe in our place,” he said. “Having said that, there are many events that were held during the year that was [sic] also always concentrating on one side of this hard discussion and it wasn’t the Israeli side.”

Williamson then outlined what many who did not speak on camera had to say about the school’s controversies.

“Now off-camera, I spoke to plenty other students who did say that they have felt that there is racial bias and discrimination against Jewish students at the school,” she reported. “None of them were willing to talk on camera.”

WILLIAMSON: Today that federal judge in Boston did actually block the Trump administration’s efforts to stop Harvard from enrolling those international students. This is a temporary win for the school as it continues, it’s ongoing battle that seems to be in with the White House, which is accusing the school of anti-Semitism and racial bias. Now, when I asked students about this controversy as they were leaving their graduation ceremony today, all of them that I spoke to said that they supported international students coming to Harvard. Take a listen.

GRAD 1: You don’t control Harvard. It’s not a dictatorship. This is education at its highest form. So this needs to be accessible to everyone.

GRAD 2: I fully believe that we need to protect our diversity and make sure that international students are welcome and supported here at Harvard.

GRAD 3: It would be a disservice to education. It would be a disservice to what Harvard offers to the world.

GRAD 4: A university that speaks on how diverse it wants to be, it’s very important that we continue to have our international students here.

WILLIAMSON: Now, as I mentioned, there’s all centers around these accusations of anti-Semitism and racial bias at the university, which really has Jewish students at the center of it. I have struggled for two days now to speak to international students or to Jewish students, everyone saying that they were nervous to speak on camera because they are nervous of the backlash that they might receive at school. But today, I spoke to one student, Roy, an Israeli Jewish student, and he spoke about his time there. Listen.

GRAD 5: My personal feeling was that the administration is trying to do things to get us more, feel more comfortable and be more safe in our place. Having said that, there are many events that were held during the year that was also always concentrating on one side of this hard discussion and it wasn’t the Israeli side.

WILLIAMSON: Now off-camera, I spoke to plenty other students who did say that they have felt that there is racial bias and discrimination against Jewish students at the school. None of them were willing to talk on camera today in a press briefing as well, Karoline Leavitt reacted to this ruling saying she believes the judge is overreaching.

Watch the clip above via Newsmax.