On July 2, the undergraduate organization Harvard Students for Freedom began gathering online signatures across the University’s students on a letter urging Harvard to maintain its opposition to legal and political pressures from the Trump administration. After internally circulating for two days, the letter will start publicly gathering student signatures today, July 4.
“What we’re trying to do is really a reflection of the broader opposition to what President Trump is doing to America right now,” SFF press chair Jordan Schwartz ’27 said in a statement to the Harvard Independent. “The vast majority of Harvard students are aligned against the Trump administration’s attacks on our University, but that doesn’t matter unless all of those voices are heard,” he continued.
Founded in April, SFF was created to advocate for student rights following the Trump administration’s focus on American higher education. The group has used social media to amplify Harvard affiliates’ voices and organized several protests on campus opposing executive orders threatening international student visas.
“Harvard is not Harvard if it is ruled over by the Trump administration,” their letter reads. “Any deal with the White House must not involve banning any aspect of the curriculum that President Trump dislikes, firing professors, or punishing students for peaceful free speech. And it certainly must not involve turning over disciplinary records of international students, risking ideological deportation. Doing so would set a dangerous precedent for the entire country.”
SFF contends that the University should continue to uphold values like personal and academic freedom, even amid increasing political pressure.
“We understand that as the fight goes on, it gets harder and harder for the Harvard administration to handle the stress,” explained SFF co-chair and co-founder James McAffrey ’26 to the Independent. “This letter was drafted with the goal of demonstrating the entire student body is united behind Harvard to support protecting our freedoms and independence as a university.”
Another SFF co-founder and co-chair, Karl Molden ’27, emphasized to the Independent Harvard’s role as a symbol of institutional courage, especially for international students.
“As an international student who co-drafted and signed this letter, I want to signal that many international students support Harvard’s battle against the Trump administration. Some of them have signed the letter to demonstrate their support, others have expressed it to us personally, yet are hesitant to put their name under a letter in these difficult times,” Molden said. “Many international students come from countries that have experienced authoritarianism in their country’s present or recent past. We know that democracy can never be taken for granted.”
The sentiment to uphold democratic ideals expressed by international students is one they believe is being upheld by the University’s acts of institutional courage. “We know that Harvard’s administration doesn’t want to cave to Trump,” added Schwartz. “But at the same time, we recognize that they’re under a lot of pressure, so we’re doing everything we can to show them that the students have their backs when they fight for us.”
Their efforts come just days after the resignations of the University of Virginia President James E. Ryan and Columbia University President Katrina Armstrong, both of whom stepped down amid pressure from the White House. Following a recent Truth Social post from President Trump alluding to a potential deal with Harvard and internal discussions of a possible settlement, SFF quickly mobilized the student body.
Over 200 students have signed the letter upon release.
“It’s so inspiring to me to see so many Harvard students make their voices heard through this letter,” SFF co-founder Tova Kaplan ’26 said. “The signatories come from every community and corner on our campus.”
Kaplan also emphasized notable support for the letter from Jewish students.
“As a Jewish student, it is particularly powerful to see so many Jewish signatories. Back in April, over 100 Jewish Harvard students signed a different statement criticizing the Trump administration’s freezing of funding. Harvard Jewish students have been clear all along: President Trump’s efforts are not about combating the very real and serious issue of antisemitism,” Kaplan said. “President Trump is not seeking Jewish safety: he is seeking power and control over Harvard.”
The SFF letter and the letter signed by 100 Jewish students are not the only messages sent by Harvard affiliates concerning recent developments from the Trump Administration. On June 9, more than 12,000 Harvard alumni signed an amicus brief in support of Harvard’s fight against the Trump administration. “The Government’s escalating attacks—and this case—are about much more than funding,” they wrote. “The Government’s end goal is to narrow our freedoms to learn, teach, think, and act, and to claim for itself the right to dictate who may enjoy those freedoms.”
“As alumni, we attest that Harvard’s true greatness resides in the ways we share these values and exercise these freedoms, which have long shaped how we understand and connect with one another, and how we anchor our continuing efforts to make a difference in service to the world.” Alumni signatories include comedian Conan O’Brien ’85 and Massachusetts governor Maura Healey ’92.
On June 23, Crimson Courage—a growing nonpartisan alumni group—sent a letter to University President Alan Garber ’76, the Harvard Alumni Association, and the Deans of all Harvard schools.
The group’s letter cited Garber’s June 6 Alumni Day speech: “Harvard is a strong institution, but our strength doesn’t derive from our physical resources or our financial resources. It comes from our people. If we work together effectively, there’s no limit to what we can achieve as an institution,” Garber said.
“The 400,000 Harvard alumni are among those people… We alumni will stand strong—alongside you—against any attempt to extort or deny our Constitutional rights or our integrity. We have your back, and we trust that you have our backs as well,” Crimson Courage echoed.
“Unless people speak up and speak out en masse, not much is going to change,” Schwartz said. “Movements become credible when they gain support from more than just the hyper-engaged partisans—that’s the type of movement we’re trying to build.”
As the University pursues legal action to challenge federal policies, SFF says it remains committed to holding Harvard accountable for defending academic freedom and protecting international students.
“Today, on July 4th, I believe in the promise of Harvard, just as I believe in the promise of America,” Kaplan said. “Harvard University educated many of the Founding Fathers who created our nation almost 250 years ago and wrote our Constitution—and now Harvard gets to play a role in defending those same liberties.”
“The law is on our side. The truth is on our side. Even the ever-elusive court of public opinion is on our side. And so long as we maintain our moral clarity, history too will be on our side,” the SFF letter concludes.
Harvard has not yet responded to the open letter or commented publicly on the initiative. The letter and signature form remain publicly available here.
Written by News staff of the Harvard Independent