For Higher Education, my International Friends, and Our Democracy

Dunster House on 2024 election night, Harvard University

So, the federal government took away Harvard’s ability to enroll international students today, based on unfounded charges of rampant antisemitism. For many of you, this is a sad development that only scratches the surface of the patently anti-American and anti-constitutional activities of our current presidency. Of course, most of you, understandably so, do not have enough of a personal connection to it to be devastated. However, for me, a Harvard undergraduate, and for my international and non-international peers, this is outright devastating.

Of my nine suitemates in the upcoming academic year, eight of them are international. Of all the 26 members in our friend group’s WhatsApp group chat, 20 of them are international. Almost all of my friends, all of my memories, all of my great experiences in college, all of them have been with my international friends and roommates. There will be eight empty rooms in our suite next year, a hollow shell at best of our excited plans for our third year together. The dinners we would have as a friend group, the “Formal Fridays” and the late night conversations, all of them will be gone. I have lost far and away the best part of American higher education–the international experience–and almost all of my friends, all because of our government’s unfounded lies.

And yet, I am one of the lucky ones. I will be able to attend college next year, at the university that gave me the opportunity to go debt-free through college (as a middle class person), to travel the world and communicate astronomy to tens of thousands of students in many countries, to conduct research that I had dreamt my entire life of doing, and to take courses that are engaging and challenging. I worked incessantly to get to the place where I am–a middle class, Wisconsin boy with a dream–and I was lucky to have that work pay off.

My international friends are no different. They, just like me, worked their butts off for their entire lives to make dreams possible for themselves and their families. They, just like me, came from normal backgrounds and saw their entire lives change by the dreams that Harvard made reality. They, just like me, dreamt of working, living, and contributing to an American society that focuses on drive, healthy competition, freedom of speech, and community. They, just like me, loved the promise that America provided more than almost anything else. And so they, just like me, chose to attend Harvard to cut a piece of the American dream for themselves while making that dream possible for countless others through their contributions to our society. Yet their dreams were ripped away from them today, for no fault of their own. 

Among the friends I have lost are my Israeli international friends, who have now been forced out of the United States by a country using Jews (and Israelis) as a scapegoat for outrageous attacks against my university and our country. While I disagree with many of the policies of the Israeli state, all of you opened your arms and showed me your country–the good, the bad and the outrageous–just two months ago. I could not be more grateful for your humility and dedication to your heritage and your story, and I hope to see you all again. I have also lost two of my three closest friends–one from Pakistan, one from India–who fought tirelessly from normal backgrounds to enter this college. To that friend from India: I will never forget our late-night conversations, our Jefe’s runs, the many times that Sophia and I annoyed you by speaking in Chinese about you, or all the other great moments that made you one of my best friends. I will make sure that all your dorm things–which are in our storage–will be in safe keeping in what was supposed to be your dorm room as the country awaits the end of this madness. And to that friend from Pakistan: I will never forget the many times you have made me laugh on those random afternoons in the dining hall, your incredible dedication to American democracy and to your home country, and your infectious smile and laugh. I have also lost my closest mountain climbing friend, from Nepal. To that mountain climbing buddy: I will never forget our escapades in the White Mountains, the awful point-to-point hike in May of last year, the many times sunbathing in Mather courtyard with great conversations and our schoolwork. I will make sure that all your dorm things will be in safe keeping in what was supposed to be your dorm room. And to all my other roommates whose rooms may be empty next year: Your rooms will be waiting for you–and Caleb and I, of course, will be waiting for you–to come back. I hoped to share the many pictures we amassed together over the years, but because of our dictator’s relentless attacks against you, I do not wish to compromise your safety. Know that I value our friendship more than anything else; I hope you can come back. 

None of my friends are Hamas supporters, none of my friends are antisemites (in fact, as you saw, several are Israeli), and none of them participated in any (almost entirely domestic student-run) protests last year. None of them–even those who disagree with Israel’s actions–have supported any atrocities or protested unjustly against (an already unjust) war. And yet they have been chosen as the scapegoats simply because they are the easiest targets. 

Inevitably, for most of us this may not have an immediate effect on our lives. While it will forever be easy for all of us to dismiss far off conflicts because they do not affect us, we can never forget the words of many Great Patriots (American and not) before us, who correctly recognized that injustice against one member of our society–even if that member is an international student–is an injustice against all of us. Now, more than ever, we must recognize the words of Martin Luther King (“We cannot walk alone... We cannot turn back”), of Martin Niemöller (“First they came for”), and of our own Constitution (“WE the people”), and join together to fight to restore the essence of American democracy. We have lost ourselves to our own divisions, to our own beliefs that our “enemies” are ignorant and dumb, to our unfounded beliefs that our institutions are the root of our nation’s problems, and in the meantime we elected a president hell-bent on destroying everything that makes our country great. We cannot let ourselves fall apart.

While the story of me, my international friends and Harvard as a whole, as many of you agree, is shocking, heartbreaking, and patently anti-American, we must acknowledge that this is only the beginning. The era of American fascism has only just begun–with, as expected, attacks on universities–and so far we have failed in every effort to stop it. I beg you all–no matter your opinions, voting history or politics–to disarm yourselves, recognize that our administration is ruining my life, my international friends’ lives, and our country’s lifeblood, and join in the fight to restore the America we all know and love. If we fail to fight now, we may never be able to fight again.