By MOHIB AHMED
Harvard Crimson Opinion Writer
The abduction of international students is no longer a distant headline — it is now a potential campus reality. Two days ago, we learned that the U.S. government revoked the visas of multiple Harvard students and recent graduates.
University leaders’ public response, thus far, has been one of deference. But for those of us with the protections of citizenship, silence is a choice, not a necessity.
Silence is not a neutral response. It is where repression flourishes the most. If students do not speak now, when the stakes are clear and the victims are their classmates, then the university’s institutional values will remain rhetorical at best.
Since the onset of the Trump administration’s deportations, the only memorable college-wide communication from the president’s office came in response to the funding crisis. That email rightfully acknowledged that much was at stake — but it refused to address the consequences of compliance.
Now, visas have been revoked silently, bureaucratically, and without visible institutional resistance. By veering towards neutrality in the face of injustice, Harvard is in effect complicit. If it bends its knee to federal intimidation now, it sets a precedent for what — and who — it will sacrifice next.
Despite the urgency of the moment, the student body remains worryingly silent. … where are the public demonstrations? Where are the letters of disapproval, signed en masse by Harvard students and organizations?
Where is the visible discontent in the face of the oppression of our non-citizen peers?
International students, whose legal and academic futures hang precariously in the balance, seemingly cannot safely protest without risking deportation, surveillance, or worse. The White House has made it alarmingly clear that speech critical of the Trump administration and its views may now carry dire consequences.
Speech is not simply a right to be defended; it is a responsibility to be exercised, especially when others are punished for doing so. As American citizens, we can and must speak out against the Trump administration for their repressive policies — and the current university administration for their relative silence in response. …