Interview “is absolutely disgusting”. The situation of the Romanian students from Harvard, after the Decision of the Trump administration for all foreign students to leave the faculty

Students who do not connect with the struggle between Harvard leadership and the Trump administration are victims of this dispute, believes Julia Boca, a 25 -year -old Romanian, whose company helps with the admission process in Romania and the Republic of Moldova who want to study at the US universities, including Harvard.

The Trump administration has completely revoked the right of Harvard University to enroll students from other countries, in an increasingly tense confrontation of the president with the prestigious institution.

The editorial tried to discuss directly with the Romanian students in Harvard, but they are afraid to appear in the press, for fear of the Trump administration, according to information from both them and from Romania families.

I talked to Julia Boca, a former student in America, until 2022, at Wesley College. Later, she was accepted at the Master at several universities in the US, including Harvard, but preferred not to continue her studies and stayed in the US to work, until 2023. Then she returned home to Romania.

Since 2020, she has a company that works to assist students from Romania and the Republic of Moldova with the admission to universities in the US, including Harvard.

How many Romanian students are abroad

In February 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) announced that 40,000 students from Romania benefit from study programs abroad, according to TVR.

In the United States there are around 1,000 Romanian students, according to the Institute for International Education, quoted by newsprotv.ro. They study either at the license or master's program or the doctoral one.

“The administration has requested private things, such as video recordings”

– Julia, how do you see the decision taken yesterday by the Trump administration? What news do you have from the Romanians for whom you worked and are at Harvard?
–It's very hard to put in words what I feel. It is absolutely disgusting and I would like to have a more “beautiful” word about what is happening, but it has come to a point where people who have absolutely no connection with Trump with the universities or this hatred that he says against the Jews in these campuses, are people who are affected and have nothing to do with this.

Is not correct. I don't see how it could be correct, in any scenario.

– Do you think a certain thing weighed more in making this decision?
For several months, Harvard has been “beating” with the Trump administration so as not to intervene as they teach the courses and how they do their job on campus. They tried to send Harvard half of things, the information that the Trump administration has requested. Many things that are private, such as video recordings, and the Trump administration should not have access to them.

It is very clear that Harvard wants to protect his students and there is no reason, no matter how small, to be a justification to deport an international student. In the last few months, not that they were deported, but they were completed the student visa status and those who had nothing to do with the conflict between Palestine and Israel, just because they had a fine a few years ago and ended their status. That is, it is no longer just about this conflict.

– From your information, how many Romanian students are at Harvard?
–I think we have around 20-30, if we count those who are at the master and doctorate. I do not know exactly the number of teachers, on the other hand, which they can also be affected by these decisions.

“It is very difficult to process this wave of information, especially since no one knows what is happening.”

-Did the Romanian students write to you from Harvard with whom you have come in contact with last night? Are they worried?
–I think some are so numb (n. red.: numb, apathetic ”). There is no reaction, because things are happening every day and you have no energy to have a reaction to this.

Others are very, very worried, especially since they have already made many plans, they have not yet taken their visas, because they have to take their visa, and the visa comes from Harvard, that it is practically sponsored by the faculty. If you go to the embassy now to take your visa and you see that Harvard has given you it, it is very possible not to give you the visa, just for the simple reason that you come from Harvard.

It is very difficult to process this wave of information, especially since no one knows what is happening, nor those in the Harvard administration. They just put a statement in which they said they would fight this injustice, and that will do it, because they have a trial against the Trump administration. The problem is that these things take a long time and people have to know if they can return to Harvard in the fall or have to make another plans. There are thousands of students in this situation.

“You can have finished Harvard two years ago and still be affected, if you work in the US.”

– That's because now students are on vacation now, right? So they should return in the fall.
–Yes, most have finished the semester now. It is not known, because not only those who are now at Harvard, but also those who have now accepted, and those who have finished Harvard are on an extension of the student visa that let you work in the United States without sponsoring the work visa. That is, if your status is over you can no longer work. You can have finished Harvard two years ago and still be affected if you are on this type of visa.

“Neither Harvard now has exactly the concrete solutions”

– If the Decision of the Trump Administration will remain valid, what do you think are the solutions for the Romanian students from Harvard? Are there any other solutions besides changing the university or giving up studies in the US?
–I recommend taking a break for a year, if I can. It's the best solution, but the only fear is that it is just the beginning of the mandate, so I don't know if there will be better things in a year.

If it is not too much torment for them, it will be transferred. But everyone gets over your head to do this. Currently, everyone is waiting for advice from Harvard councilors, for example, yesterday, there were 144 people waiting for the Harvard international students office to talk to someone, as soon as the news was.

Nor does Harvard now have the concrete solutions, we have to take them for days, especially the next 72 hours are essential, to see how Harvard responds to this.

“Some probably do not want to return home, for fear of not being able to enter the US later.”

– Hotnews has tried to talk to Romanian students at Harvard, but they are afraid to talk about it in the press, for fear of repercussions. Has there were repercussions in the past for students who criticized the Trump administration?
–In recent months, most international students who have been registered to have been present at pro-Palestine protests, especially those that happened a year ago, in Colombia in particular, were actually kidnapped (n. Red.: Immigration and Customs Enforceme, that is, the Agency for Immigration and Customs of the US) and were not to go to the places.

Meanwhile, federal judges have given the case to the students in this situation, many have regained their student visa. But then everyone stays with a very big fear, because whatever they can say … Either they are checked on the border, or they check their phone.

And this is not only for international students, but also for American students. All kinds of security questions are asked.

I, from what I know, have not been affected so far Romanian or Moldovan students from this point of view. We still do not have exact numbers and names from international students who were the target of these controls, to see if it is a pattern in terms of race and religion, and I think that I think is happening.

Therefore, most, if not all Romanians, prefer not to get involved in this thing to protect any kind of status. Some probably do not want to return home, for fear of not being able to enter the US later.

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