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On June 20, United States President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that his administration and Harvard are negotiating and nearing a “‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC” deal. Both The New York Times and The Crimson have confirmed that discussions are ongoing. We hope this news is a signal that Trump is realizing that he is losing in the courts and wants to find a way out.
Regardless, Harvard needs to stand its ground during the negotiation process. We cannot allow our University to strike a deal that would infringe on the values of this institution or our personal freedoms.
We are undergraduates at Harvard who come from diverse identities and backgrounds that the Trump administration has tried to pit against each other: international students, researchers affected by the funding cuts, Jewish students, and students involved in the pro-Palestine movement. We have all been caught in the crossfire of Trump’s attacks on Harvard and have a lot to lose in a continued fight. Some of us could be arrested, deported, and see our dreams of studying and doing research at Harvard crushed.
Yet, we urge the University to avoid capitulation. We have witnessed Trump’s negotiation strategy time and time again: He rarely honors his promises. Once we give in to some of his demands, he will come back for more. He likely came for Harvard because his strategy worked against Columbia. If we give up the names of a few students who have participated in protests, Trump will ask for a hundred more. If he gets to decide over our hiring practices, he will try to fire Economics professors who speak out against his tariffs and law professors teaching the limits of the federal government by the Constitution.
That is why we call on Harvard to continue to show resolve and willingness to fight for us on all fronts. Harvard is currently winning on all these fronts, and even though the battle incurs short term costs, standing up for our values is the right thing long-term. Many of us students have worked tirelessly over the last couple of months to show the positive impact Harvard makes in the world, often at the risk of facing retribution from the government. We urge Harvard to continue to show the same courage.
Without our international students, Harvard is not Harvard. But without academic freedom, Harvard can no longer call itself a university. A deal with the White House can never infringe on our pursuit of veritas by allowing the federal government to restrict which courses we can take, students can be admitted, and professors can stay. Harvard can never be complicit in infringing on our personal rights to integrity and free speech.
And to be abundantly clear: Harvard should not have to negotiate with the White House under these circumstances in the first place. Harvard’s relationship with the government should be based on mutual respect for the laws regulating it. As Professors Ryan D. Enos and Steven Levitsky argued in The Crimson last Thursday: President Trump’s threats are illegal extortion tactics.
A revocation of Harvard’s ability to host international students or devote funding to Alzheimer’s research reflects a choice by the federal government, not one by this institution. A deal based on such threats signals that they are legitimate. Whatever the outcome, our community must continue to speak up against the authoritarian attacks by the president of the United States. Self-silencing sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of the country.
As long as we keep the government’s lawyers busy losing against us in court, we slow down the government’s broader attack on higher education. Handing the Trump administration a win during negotiations would lead them to pursue the same line of attack against other institutions. We never wanted this fight, but we simply have to take it. We must show solidarity, across both the country and our campus.
The consequences of a capitulation will be felt beyond Harvard’s gates. Other universities have formed coalitions and supported Harvard’s lawsuit because we have led the way. If we give up, others will surely follow suit. Universities with a fraction of our endowment are likely to take even worse deals than the one Harvard might take.
Trump’s attacks were meant to divide us. He wanted our diverse campus to turn against itself by telling Harvard to sacrifice a few to save the many. But our campus has responded oppositely, becoming more united than ever, under the words of University President Alan M. Garber ’76: We will not surrender our independence.
President Garber will continue to have our support as long as he fights for us. We, the students directly affected by extralegal extortion, will not feel protected by a deal that surrenders our independence. It will only encourage Trump to come back for more.
Leo Gerdén ’25 is a co-founder of Students for Freedom. Tova L. Kaplan ’26 is a Government concentrator in Leverett House and is a co-founder of Students for Freedom. Karl N. Molden ’27 is a Government concentrator in Lowell House and a co-founder of Students for Freedom. Abdullah Shahid Sial ’27 is a double concentrator in Applied Mathematics and Economics in Mather House and is a co-president of the Harvard Undergraduate Association. Anthony Striker ’28 lives in Pforzheimer House. Nuriel R. Vera-DeGraff ’26, an Associate Editorial editor, is a double concentrator in Social Studies and Mathematics in Mather House. All authors are members of Students for Freedom, an unrecognized student group formed in the spring of 2025 to urge Harvard to fight for academic freedom and the rights of students in the face of President Trump’s attacks on higher education.
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President Garber, a Bad Deal With Trump Will Not Protect Us – The Harvard Crimson
