Harvard President Alan Garber's brutal dig at Trump during commencement speech: ‘Just as it should be’

On Thursday, Harvard kicked off its commencement ceremony for the Class of 2025, where President Alan Garber took a veiled dig at President Trump

Harvard kicked off its commencement ceremony for the graduating Class of 2025 on Thursday. In his address to the graduating students, Harvard president Alan Garber took a veiled dig at Donald Trump by referencing the university's pushback against the president's efforts to ban international students from attending the famed Ivy League institution. 

Harvard University President Alan Garber reacts, as he acknowledges sustained applause from students, during the 374th Commencement exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., May 29, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder(REUTERS)

Harvard president Alan Garber takes aim at Trump 

“Members of the Class of 2025, from down the street, across the country and around the world … just as it should be,” Garber said, adding that graduates should “expand our thinking and change our minds in the process.” “My hope for you, members of the Class of 2025, is that you stay comfortable being uncomfortable,” he went on, according to CNN.

A graduating senior also addressed Harvard's battle with the government amid the White House's efforts to make it impossible for the university to accept international students' applications. “We leave a much different campus than the one we entered, with Harvard at the center of a national battle over higher education in America,” student Thor Reimann said.

“Now look, our university is certainly imperfect, but I am proud to stand alongside our graduating class, our faculty and our president with the shared conviction that this ongoing project of ‘Veritas’ is one worth defending,” Reimann referencing the university's motto, Latin for “Truth,” according to the outlet. 

Meanwhile, Garber, who was greeted with cheers from the audience, urged the graduates to “carry the best of what Harvard is.” “You, you are the hope of this institution, embodied,” he continued, adding, “Living proof that our mission changes not only the lives of individuals, but also the trajectories of the communities that you will join, serve and lead. May you carry the best of what Harvard is and does into the world that awaits you.”