Trump Order Could Decimate Harvard Rosters

Review found 21% of school athletes listed an international hometown
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 22, 2025 7:00 PM CDT
Trump's Move Would Hit Harvard Team Rosters Hard
A sculler rows down the Charles River near Harvard University, at rear, on April 15 in Cambridge, Mass.   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Harvard's sports teams would take a major hit under a Trump administration decision announced on Thursday that would make the Ivy League school with the nation's largest athletic program ineligible for international student visas. Sportico reported last month that 21% of the players on the school's rosters for the 2024-25 seasons—196 out of 919 athletes—had international hometowns. The site noted that some could be US citizens or green card holders who wouldn't need one of the international visas at issue in an escalating fight, premised by the administration's assertions that the school failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism. Harvard has 42 varsity sports teams, the AP reports.

More than half of members of the women's soccer and golf rosters list foreign hometowns. Also:

  • Rowing: Seven of the eight rowers on the men's heavyweight crew team that just won the Eastern Sprints title—and is headed to the national championships—list international hometowns on the school's website.
  • Hockey: Mick Thompson, the leading scorer last season, and Jack Bar, who was a captain, are among a handful of Canadians on the men's roster.
  • Squash: Ten of the 13 members of the men's team list foreign hometowns.
  • Political alumni: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney played hockey at Harvard. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey played basketball.

Harvard took its promise of inclusion for transgender athletes off its website in February after a Trump executive order, per the Harvard Crimson.

(More Trump administration stories.)

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