Harvard Yardline

For now, a judge has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to bar Harvard from enrolling international students. The ruling offers a nice reprieve on Harvard’s Commencement Day, but the battle is likely just beginning. And no matter how it turns out, the administration has done severe damage to America’s brand when it comes to attracting the best and brightest from around the world.

+ It’s not just universities, America’s brand as a destination has been damaged, and we’re only a few months into the new administration. “European airlines are freezing their transatlantic growth and pulling back from major U.S. cities like New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Chicago as they redirect flights to Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Caribbean, where bookings are rising and demand is outpacing the American market.”

+ Meanwhile, Benjamin Wittes responds to the notion that any of the attacks on Harvard and higher ed have to do with protecting Jews from antisemitism. “There is only one system that has ever truly protected Jews over time, and that is liberalism. And American liberalism is the only version that has ever done it at scale—which is to say more than 10 times the scale of any other non-Jewish country. The reason? Jews don’t rely on some liege lord’s ‘protection.’ We rely on a system of rights and limits on government power that protect everyone.” Thanks but No Thanks. “There will come a Pharaoh who knows not the Kushners … The lesson is not to stay in Pharaoh’s good graces and enjoy it while he screws your enemies. The lesson is that Pharaohs suck and Jews shouldn’t live in societies ruled by them.”