Harming Harvard, Harvesting Harvard

More than a thousand years ago, sometime in the 12th century, a destructive invader by the name of Muhammad Bakhtiar Khilji destroyed one of the great Indian universities of the time: Nalanda University, located in present-day Bihar. But whereas Nalanda was destroyed by a foreign invader, Harvard University continues to be under siege by forces within its own country. 

Can Nalanda be compared with Harvard? In the ancient world, no global ranking system existed to measure and compare the attainment of different higher education institutions. Had such a system existed, India would surely have stood out as a land where some of the world’s finest universities flourished. Besides Nalanda, prominent universities in that bygone era included Takshashila (Taxila), Vikramshila, Valabhi, Pushpagiri, Odantapuri, and Sumapura.

Eight U.S. presidents have graduated from Harvard, most recently, Barack Obama. Beyond presidents, Harvard has produced more Fortune 500 CEOs than any other university, along with Nobel Prize winners, leading scientists, and political figures. Similarly, in ancient times, famous Indian thinkers such as Chanakya, the author of the classic economic treatise Arthashastra, studied at Taxila alongside the Ayurvedic physician and master Charaka. Taxila and Nalanda were indeed the Harvard and Oxford of their time.

In the contemporary era, Harvard has attracted students from across the world; the same was true of Nalanda. Possibly the greatest global university of its time, it attracted visitors and scholars across Asia, stretching as far as China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and Mongolia. 

Unfortunately, efforts are being made to control Harvard, but the university continues to push back. It has become all too clear that to control Harvard is to kill it. For what is a university without an untrammeled creative urge and spirit of inquiry? To apply the immortal words of Tagore, education can progress only “where the mind is without fear,” the head is held high, and there is no policing of the freedom to think and to express. When Nalanda was destroyed, the world lost centuries of accumulated wisdom. That episode is a reminder for all of us that even the most celebrated universities are vulnerable—a lesson that resonates with Harvard’s current struggles.

There is no question that policing by the government can affect the quality of education, even if it is not driven by ideology. Americans have long harvested the benefits of excellent educational institutions for centuries—the world, too, has advanced in manifold ways. The scholars of Nalanda returned home with fresh ideas, just as students from Harvard do. Millions across the globe have benefited because of its students’ breakthrough discoveries in science and medicine. Consider, for instance, the invention of the smallpox vaccine in 1799, anesthesia in 1846, the electrocardiograph in 1914, and insulin in 1922—all of which came out of Harvard Medical School. In economics, too, Harvard scholars such as Joseph Schumpeter and Michael Porter reshaped global thinking on competitive strategy and innovation. These are but a few examples.

Is all of this now set to change? Under the Trump administration, international students find it increasingly difficult to study there. Their thoughts and opinions, even those expressed on social media platforms, will be examined by federal authorities before they are permitted to study at elite American institutions. As a matter of fact, a student who is bold enough to support Harvard against the administration may, as a consequence, find it difficult to secure a visa even were he to be granted admission, rendering the admission itself irrelevant. Indeed, the author of the present article, though a Harvard alumnus, might himself find it difficult to secure a visa were he applying as a student. “Big Brother is watching you,” as George Orwell presciently wrote.

Billions of dollars flow in every year to American universities like Harvard. All of that is set to change with tighter immigration rules and greater political scrutiny now. Students from across the world have already started to look elsewhere; the loss of these candidates will slowly but surely affect Harvard’s reputation built up over centuries. 

Last year, on May 6, beloved Harvard professor Joseph Nye passed away. Professor Nye, a political scientist renowned in the field of geopolitics, taught many eminent people, including former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Many of us may not realize it, but the term “soft power” is one of his creations that has entered the global vocabulary. 

Attempts are afoot to harm Harvard by cutting its funding, stringently examining its donors to see if they are pushing any nefarious agenda, halting the admission of international students, and so on. Such attempts will not only damage Harvard, but they will also affect, possibly irrevocably, the soft power of the United States all across the world—that is, its ability to influence the world through education, culture, and ideas rather than force.

For decades, American universities such as Harvard have drawn in talent from across the world, producing Nobel laureates, pioneering economists, and global leaders whose ideas shaped policy from Europe to Asia and Africa. If Harvard’s role diminishes, the United States risks losing one of its most strategic and effective instruments of soft power, just as India once did when Nalanda and Taxila—the great centers of learning of their age—fell into decline.

Rajesh Talwar (rajeshtalwarr@yahoo.com)has served the United Nations for over 20 years and is the author of 43 books, including “Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge: The Past, Present and Future of Excellence in Education.” In 2025, he was the recipient of the Alumni Award from the University of Nottingham, and in 2026, the recipient of the India-UK Outstanding Achievers Award at the British Parliament. Talwar is also an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education Programme.