The Harvard in Trump’s mind bears little resemblance to reality

Growing up in West Germany in the 1980s, America was omnipresent. Aside from Hollywood and Coca-Cola, there was one US brand that stood out: Harvard. The university’s name stood on a par with the highest echelons of knowledge.

In high school, we learned about Ivy League institutions and, like other nerdy kids across the planet, I dreamed about being a student at Harvard and being immersed in deep conversations about the most crucial questions concerning human existence. Fast forward 20-something years and, after earning a PhD and a teaching position at a different university, I received an invitation to Harvard.

The Centre for European Studies invited me as a visiting scholar to give guest lectures about current European affairs. The invitation explicitly stated Harvard wanted me to immerse myself in the academic community, meeting people from around the world and exchanging ideas with faculty and students alike.

This engagement is the mission of Harvard, not some side effect that happens while pursuing a degree. As someone at my centre put it, Harvard’s strength is its convening power. It strives to bridge differences by academic inquiry, which in my opinion transcends religion, culture or politics.

I worked alongside researchers from many European countries as well as the United States. We foreigners came to Harvard through the same visa programme the Trump administration now seeks to eliminate. If it succeeds in depriving Harvard of programmes like the one that made my stay possible, the centre would become orphaned overnight.