From WNYC Studios. I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my daily politics podcast. It's Friday, May 30th.

We begin with a tale of two commencements, Harvard's yesterday and Columbia's last week. What a contrast when the president

of each university spoke in support of their international students. Here's the clip you may have

heard in the last day being widely played and shared of Harvard President Alan Garber

at Harvard's commencement yesterday. Members of the class of 2025 from down the street across the country and around the world.

Around the world just as it should be.

Harvard President Alan Garber and the student reaction yesterday.

What a contrast to when Columbia President Claire Shipman spoke in support of that school's

international students last week.

We firmly believe that our international students have the same rights to freedom of speech

as everyone else and they should not be targeted by the government for exercising that right.

Columbia President Claire Shipman, after that school, had become a symbol to her critics,

including many of those booing students, of caving to President Trump,

weaponizing anti-Semitism to attack higher education and liberal values,

and her failure to intervene in support of recent graduate Mahmoud Khalil and student

Mosaou, who was in this year's graduating class, Masawi was after a judge freed him from

immigration detention. Harvard's president Alan Garber got cheered by graduates for becoming a symbol

of standing up to Trump.

Part of what Garber was speaking in defiance of was Trump's new attempts to prohibit Harvard

from enrolling international students. And it's not just about pro-Palestinian activism.

It's also the language of Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week

that they will, quote, aggressively revoke the visas of Chinese students with ties to the Chinese

...