Of all the measures at his disposal, Donald Trump chose the harshest in his battle with Harvard. On Thursday, May 22, the world's most renowned university was informed that it was forbidden from accepting foreign students, with a 72-hour deadline to comply with the administration's demands.

The roughly 6,800 foreign students currently attending Harvard on student visas – more than a quarter of the total student body – were told to find another host university or return home immediately. The announcement sent shockwaves through the faculty, based in Cambridge near Boston, Massachusetts. Losing the authorization to admit international applicants would mean a significant downgrade in its global standing.

On campus, a sense of shock – and even fear – prevailed on Thursday afternoon, according to several foreign students contacted by Le Monde. None agreed to speak on the record, fearing for their visas. "We keep getting calls from panicked students wondering if they are still legally allowed to be in the country or if they'll be sent to detention centers, as has happened to students who were arrested," explained Vincent Pons, professor at Harvard Business School, where about a third of MBA students are from abroad. "I am stunned and angry. This is just a pretext to target what is perceived as a counterweight to power. What's at stake is freedom of speech, freedom to teach, freedom to conduct research."

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