The Administration’s move is the latest escalation in its attack on elite universities across the U.S., with heavy penalties levied on Harvard, including a threat to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status. Those penalties have only grown more severe as Harvard has refused to capitulate to the Administration’s demands.

The latest confrontation between Harvard University and the Trump administration began last month with a far-reaching demand for data on international students.

"It would be devastating," a former president of Harvard — and frequent critic of the university — said of the government's attempt to prevent Harvard from enrolling foreign students.

Some of Harvard’s sports teams would be virtually wiped out by a Trump administration decision that would make the Ivy League school ineligible for international student visas.