Kiwi students at Harvard face uncertainty after Trump revokes university’s foreign student enrolment rights

• US President Donald Trump’s administration revoked Harvard’s right to enrol foreign students, impacting Kiwi students.
• A judge suspended the move until Harvard’s case could be heard in court.
• Bay of Plenty students Samuel Taylor and Koan Hemana expressed fear and uncertainty about their futures at Harvard.

A Kiwi student at Harvard University says his future is being “held hostage” in a battle between US President Donald Trump and the Ivy League institution.

“I’m angry, I’m upset and I’m scared,” undergraduate student Samuel Taylor said.

Last week, the Trump administration revoked Harvard’s right to enrol international students.

Harvard called the move “unlawful” and sued. A judge suspended the revocation until the university’s case is heard in court. An injunction hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

It marked an escalation in tensions, with AFP reporting Trump is furious at Harvard for rejecting Washington’s oversight on admissions and hiring, amid his claims the school is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.

Harvard president Alan Garber said the revocation was retaliation against the university’s refusal to surrender academic independence.

The university was committed to maintaining its ability to host international students, Garber said.

Former Mount Maunganui College student Taylor has attended Harvard since 2020, and was accepted after scoring a perfect 1600 points in the US university entrance exam, the SAT.

He is working towards joint Bachelor of Arts degrees – known as a double BA – in government and politics.

Samuel Taylor, from Mount Maunganui, has been attending Harvard since 2020.

Taylor is currently in New Zealand doing further research on his honours thesis.

He said he found out about the revocation when he woke up to a “confusing” text from an American friend saying how sorry he was.

“I checked the news pretty quickly after that and realised the situation.”

He said that after he got past the confusion, he was afraid and mostly in shock.

“I’m angry, I’m upset and I’m scared. This decision is just vindictiveness.”

Taylor said the excuse the Government had given was “a pretty thin pretext” to go after one of the only institutions to stand up to the President.

Samuel Taylor at Harvard University welcoming Dame Jacinda Ardern to campus in 2024. He was then Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller's Youth MP in 2019.

“Sadly, my future and the future of thousands of international students at Harvard are being held hostage in that fight.

“Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui. This isn’t fair, but we’ll get through this together.”

Taylor was hopeful that Harvard was waiting for the court process to play out before sharing further guidance with students.

“I really don’t know what the next steps are for sure without any guidance from the school.

“Right now, my family and I are pretty concerned and in the dark about what happens next.”

Koan Hemana is a former Rotorua Boys’ High School student in his third year studying neuroscience at Harvard.

Koan Hemana, who attended Rotorua Boy’s High School, is in his third year studying neuroscience at Harvard.

He told RNZ he feared he would not be able to complete his degree.

Hemana said he was trying to remain calm and be optimistic.

He told RNZ’s Midday Report there was a “nervous energy” around campus.

“There’s a lot of people that have already gone home and are wondering if they can get back in the fall.”

Hemana said he was concerned about the strain on Harvard’s resources and how it would affect other international students.

More than a quarter of Harvard students are foreign nationals.

“To lose the international population, I think, would be a tremendous loss,” Hemana told RNZ.

“My biggest fear is that Harvard has to drastically change in response to this, and, you know, we don’t want that to happen.”

Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.