Harvard University’s president took a thinly veiled jab at President Donald Trump while delivering a graduation speech.
Alan Garber began his commencement address Thursday by welcoming the 9,000 or so graduates—making a point to emphasize that they were from “down the street, across the country, and around the world.”
“Around the world,” Garber repeated, “just as it should be.”
The line was a defiant critique of the Trump administration, which has attempted to strip Harvard of its ability to enroll international students.
The moment Garber delivered the words, the audience of 30,000 rose in a standing ovation that lasted more than 30 seconds. Garber seemed to smirk.
News broke after the ceremony was underway that a federal judge had temporarily blocked the Trump administration from barring foreign students at Harvard. The New York Times reported that scattered cheers could be heard as students learned about the ruling.
That attack was the latest escalation in Trump’s war on America’s oldest university. He has also frozen more than $3 billion in federal funding to Harvard and threatened to strip the university of its tax-exempt status.
Trump has accused the university of liberal bias, failing to combat antisemitism, and not enrolling enough American citizens. About 7,000 of Harvard’s students—approximately a quarter—come from abroad.
On Wednesday, a day before suffering the loss in court, Trump had declared that Harvard was “getting their a– kicked” in the fight.
Harvard celebrated the judge’s decision in a statement to the Daily Beast, vowing to “continue to take steps to protect the rights of our international students and scholars, members of our community who are vital to the University’s academic mission and community.”
The White House did not return requests for comment on the ruling or Garber’s pointed remark.
Garber wasn’t the only speaker in the ceremony to take aim at Trump.
Abraham Verghese, a Stanford University professor who studies infectious diseases, offered an even more direct indictment of the president while referencing his slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
“Part of what makes America great, if I may use that phrase, is that it allows an immigrant like me to blossom here, just as generations of other immigrants and their children have flourished and contributed in every walk of life, working to keep America great,” Verghese, who was born in Ethiopia, told the graduates and their loved ones.
“The greatness of America, the greatness of Harvard, is reflected in the fact that someone like me could be invited to speak to you,” he concluded.
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