【明報專訊】US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has again surprised the world with a ban on Harvard University from enrolling international students. This hardball tactic to "rein in" universities is destroying his country's edge in attracting and nurturing foreign talent, whom America has relied on to ramp up its technology, management and so forth. Trump is pursuing his goal of "making America great again" by destruction before construction. Although he has indeed crushed the institution, a new one will not be built within his presidency. The turmoil brought on to the US will spill over the whole world. Other countries will have to tighten their belts alongside the US and foot the bill for Trump's self-willed acts.
Trump's moves to control universities started long before today. After a social movement sparked at colleges across the US calling for justice on behalf of Palestinians, the US Congress called a hearing to interrogate the presidents of three elite universities on ways to curb the movement. The presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania resigned as a result, causing an uproar in society.
The situation was further aggravated after Trump took office. Successively, he ordered a harsh review of the tax exemption on university endowment investment returns and froze US$2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard. The administration demanded that Harvard turn over the list of students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests and relevant videos. Still, Harvard stands firm and holds its ground because its US$53 billion endowment would keep it running without federal funds. However, in Trump's latest wanton attack, he banned Harvard from enrolling international students in the name of national security. To Ivy League schools like Harvard that rely on foreign student enrolment to build their talent pools, that was indeed a shot at the Achilles heel.
At present, Harvard is hosting about 7,000 overseas students, teaching staff and exchange scholars through visa programmes. They are facing either forced deportation or transfer to other colleges. A further few thousand incoming freshmen are also facing "abandonment". Harvard has filed a lawsuit against the federal government and, having obtained a temporary restraining order issued by the court, advised its international students not to leave the campus yet. Some students are jokingly calling themselves "Harvard refugees". In fact, before Christmas last year, many US colleges already issued "friendly reminders" to international students, telling them not to depart the US to avoid the risk of immediate repatriation upon re-entry into the country.
There are now 1.12 million international students in the US, accounting for 5.9% of the total number of college students in the country and bringing an annual income of US$44 billion to US universities. The ban on enrolling international students may expand to other "disobedient" colleges. Still, if the US slams the door in the face of international students, many other world-class universities will greet them with open arms.
Washington has used tariff hikes as a coercive weapon but landed itself in a tight spot. If ailments in the American financial system spread to the global financial system, it would be catastrophic. America wants to be great again, yet it is making the world pay for it. Trump will not shoulder any moral responsibility for that.
明報社評2025.05.26：特朗普教育圖先破後立 自廢武功難再強大還生亂
美國總統特朗普又出奇招，禁止哈佛大學招收外國學生。美國過去依靠外來人才提高科技、管理等等水平，而今為控制大學不惜出狠招，自毁吸引和培養人才的長城。特朗普要「讓美國再次偉大」，並以先破後立的手段達至目標，現在制度已經被他破壞，要重新建立新制度，則肯定不可能在他任內完成，對美國造成混亂將禍及全球，要其他國家陪美國過緊日子，為特朗普的任性手段買單。
特朗普要控制大學，並非始於今天，自從美國大學出現為巴勒斯坦人民討回公道的社會運動，美國國會召開聆聽會，拷問3間頂尖大學的校長如何遏制此股風潮，結果哈佛大學和賓夕法尼亞大學校長辭職，引發社會巨大迴響。
特朗普上任後變本加厲，先後嚴查大學捐贈基金投資收益免稅額，並凍結聯邦政府給予哈佛的22億美元撥款，要求哈佛交出曾經參與支持巴勒斯坦示威的學生名單及視頻，但哈佛仍然企硬頂住，因為哈佛擁有530億美元捐贈基金，毋須依靠聯邦撥款也能維持運作，而今特朗普使出狠招，以國家安全為由禁止哈佛招收國際學生，這是對哈佛等常春藤大學賴以建立人才庫一劍封喉的絕招。
現在近7000多名憑簽證到哈佛的留學生和教員或交流人員，將面臨強制離境，或者另覓學校收留，數千新生則成「棄子」，哈佛已經對聯邦政府興訴，法庭頒發臨時禁制執行令，哈佛勸喻留學生不要離開校園，有留學生自嘲為「哈佛難民」。其實，去年聖誕節前，很多美國大學都已經向留學生發出「溫馨提示」，不要離開美國，避免再入境時可能遇到即場遣返的風險。
美國目前有112萬外國留學生，佔美國大學學生總數的5.9%，每年為美國大學帶來440億美元的收益。禁止招收留學生做法可能還會蔓延到其他「不聽話」的大學，但美國不留人，自有眾多國際卓越大學留人處。
美國以加徵關稅作為脅迫手段，但已陷入四面楚歌局面。美國金融體系出現問題，一旦波及全球金融系統，即會哀鴻遍野。美國要再強大，卻要全球為它買單，特朗普是不會擔負道德責任的。
■ Glossary 生字 /
rein (sth) in : to start to control sth more strictly
endowment : money that is given to a school, a college or another institution to provide it with an income
wanton : causing harm or damage deliberately and for no acceptable reason