Harvard President says critics' "fire is misdirected"

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🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

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Summary

In addition to revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students, the Trump administration is pulling all federal contracts from the university. NPR's Steve Inskeep sits down with Harvard's President Alan Garber and asks whether he sees the current actions as a warning.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I wonder if you agree with that statement that this episode is, in fact, a warning to all universities across the country.
0:06.5	Well, they said it, and I have to believe it. And I've repeated it myself.
0:13.3	President Trump's administration strikes again and again at the nation's oldest university,
0:18.3	and Harvard has now sued the administration twice. What does the
0:22.4	university do now? We have an interview with Harvard President Alan Garber in a special episode of Up First
0:28.8	from NPR News. Coming up, Alan Garber calls on universities to insist on their rights.
0:37.2	We need to be firm in our commitments to what we Coming up, Alan Garber calls on universities to insist on their rights.
0:42.4	We need to be firm in our commitments to what we stand for.
0:46.8	He also admits Harvard has not always lived up to its commitment to the truth.
0:51.5	When we fail in that, then we can expect to be attacked.
0:55.0	Harvard has been attacked, so what does the president think his university is doing right and wrong? We put questions to Alan Garber, a figure in the news, today.
1:04.4	President Trump's administration began this week, the same way that it ended last week, with
1:09.5	attacks on Harvard University. NPR has confirmed the
1:12.6	administration plans to cancel another $100 million in contracts with Harvard. The administration
1:18.4	had already put on hold some $2 billion in grants in contracts. Last week, the administration
1:24.9	banned Harvard from hosting foreign students, and that prompted Harvard President Alan Garber to sue for the second time.
1:32.9	A judge temporarily blocked the administration so foreign students can stay for now, but when we sat down with Garber on Monday, he knew the fight was far from over.
1:42.5	As you know very well, Mr. President, the Trump administration has taken a number of actions
1:46.5	against Harvard University. They've cut off grants in a number of different ways. And most recently,
1:52.6	they've ordered all international students to leave the university for some other university
1:56.5	or for their home countries. In your lawsuit, the most recent of your lawsuits about this,
2:03.3	you argue very quickly that this isn't really about international students,
	...

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