In a separate lawsuit related to Trump’s efforts to terminate the legal status of hundreds of foreign students across the US, a federal judge ruled on Thursday that the administration could not end their status without following proper regulatory procedures.
It was not immediately clear how that ruling would affect the action against Harvard.
During an interview with Fox News’ The Story with Martha MacCallum, Noem was asked if she was considering similar moves at other universities, including Columbia University in New York.
“Absolutely, we are,” Noem said. “This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together.”
TRUMP TARGETS UNIVERSITIES
Trump, a Republican, has undertaken an extraordinary effort to revamp private colleges and schools across the US that he says foster anti-American, Marxist and “radical left” ideologies. He has criticised Harvard in particular for hiring prominent Democrats to teaching or leadership positions.
Trump has frozen about US$3 billion in federal grants to Harvard in recent weeks, leading the university to sue to restore the funding.
The US Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday that it was terminating US$60 million in federal grants to Harvard because the Ivy League institution failed to address antisemitic harassment and ethnic discrimination on campus.
In a legal complaint filed earlier this month, Harvard said it was committed to combating antisemitism and had taken steps to ensure its campus is safe and welcoming to Jewish and Israeli students. It said the administration’s actions were a threat to academic freedom.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration advocacy group, said the action against Harvard’s student visa program “needlessly punishes thousands of innocent students”.
“None of them have done anything wrong, they’re just collateral damage to Trump,” he said on the social media site Bluesky.
Trump took office in January, pledging a wide-ranging immigration crackdown. His administration has tried to revoke student visas and green cards of foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Foreign undergraduates at US colleges typically pay full tuition, an important source of revenue for colleges and universities.
International students at Harvard also contributed to the local economy, data from NAFSA, the Association of International Educators showed.
They spent US$384 million in the 2023 to 2024 school year, supporting about 3,900 jobs through their payments for housing, dining, retail and other services and goods.
