“Harvard filed an amended complaint in federal court Thursday evening, accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully retaliating against the school by barring international students from entering the United States on visas to attend Harvard,” The Crimson reports.

“The filing comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation suspending entry for foreign nationals intending to study at Harvard — a move the University alleged was designed to sidestep a judge’s temporary block on the government’s earlier attempt to strip Harvard of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.”

“President Donald Trump has revoked Harvard University’s permission to host incoming international students, the latest escalation in an ongoing battle between the White House and the country’s oldest university,” USA Today reports.

“The Trump administration took aim at Columbia University’s accreditation, a significant escalation in the government’s battle with the Ivy League school,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Department of Education told the organization through which Columbia is accredited that the school is in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws and no longer appears to meet the standards for accreditation.”

CNN: “The White House is looking to strike a deal with a high-profile school, said the first source, who is involved in the higher education response.”

Said the person: “They want a name-brand university to make a deal like the law firms made a deal that covers not just antisemitism and protests, but DEI and intellectual diversity. They want Trump to be able to stand up and say he made a deal with so-and-so – an Ivy League school, some sort of name-brand school that gives them cover so they can say, ‘We don’t want to destroy higher education.’”

Asked if any of the schools are inclined to make such a deal, the source said: “Nobody wants to be the first, but the financial pressures are getting real.”

Washington Post: “Lawyers say both the sanctions and the negotiated deals have had a chilling effect, with some firms declining to work on issues counter to the administration’s goals, including on immigration.”

“The Trump administration is escalating its campaign against Harvard University — and looking for new ways to bring the storied institution to heel,” Politico reports.

“The White House convened officials from nearly a dozen agencies on Wednesday to brainstorm additional punitive measures… The administration official said that forthcoming actions are expected from the State, Treasury, Health and Human Services and Justice departments, among others, and could happen as early as next month.”

The State Department Friday instructed all U.S. embassies and consulates to “immediately” start more extensive vetting for those looking to travel to Harvard University “for any purpose,” Axios reports.

“A federal judge in Boston said on Thursday morning that she would issue an order blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students,” the New York Times reports.

“The ruling was a win, at least temporarily, for the university in its ongoing confrontation with the White House, which has waged an all-out battle to undermine Harvard’s finances and global influence.”

“Universities should continue to be able to do research as long as they’re abiding by the laws and in sync, I think, with the administration and what the administration is trying to accomplish.”

— Education Secretary Linda McMahon, on CNBC.

President Trump escalated his war with Harvard University, accusing it of “treating the country with great disrespect,” ABC News reports.

Said Trump: “But Harvard wants to fight. They want to show how smart they are, and they’re getting their ass kicked.”

He added: “All they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper and deeper. They’ve got to behave themselves.”

Adam Serwer: “The warlords who sacked Rome did not intend to doom Western Europe to centuries of ignorance. It was not a foreseeable consequence of their actions.”

“The same cannot be said of the sweeping attack on human knowledge and progress that the Trump administration is now undertaking—a deliberate destruction of education, science, and history, conducted with a fanaticism that recalls the Dark Ages that followed Rome’s fall.”

“Texas lawmakers voted to require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, advancing a conservative priority before the end of the state legislature’s session next week,” Bloomberg reports.

“If signed by Governor Greg Abbott, also a Republican, the measure would require schools to show posters or framed copies of the biblical mandates in clearly visible locations. Schools that don’t already own copies that are at least 16 by 20 inches (41 by 51 centimeters) for each classroom can use district funds to buy them.”

“The Trump administration is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting — a significant expansion of previous such efforts,” Politico reports.

“In preparation for such required vetting, the administration is ordering U.S. embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants, according to the cable, dated Tuesday and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.”

“Why attack universities? Why attack journalism? Because ignorance works for power. First, make the truth seekers live in fear. Sue the journalists. For nothing. Then send masked agents to abduct a college student, a writer of her college paper who wrote an editorial supporting Palestinian rights, and send her to a prison in Louisiana and charge her with nothing. Then, move to destroy law firms that stand up for the rights of others.”

“With that done, power can rewrite history. With grotesque, false narratives, they can make heroes criminals and criminals heroes. And they can change the definition of the words we use to describe reality. ‘Diversity’ is now described as ‘illegal.’ ‘Equity’ is to be shunned. ‘Inclusion’ is a dirty word. This is an old playbook, my friends…”

— Scott Pelley, in a commencement address at Wake Forest.

“The Trump administration is set to cancel the federal government’s remaining federal contracts with Harvard University — worth an estimated $100 million, according to a letter that is being sent to federal agencies on Tuesday,” the New York Times reports.

“The letter also instructs agencies to ‘find alternative vendors’ for future services.”

“The additional planned cuts, outlined in a draft of the letter obtained by The New York Times, represented what an administration official called a complete severance of the government’s longstanding business relationship with Harvard.”

“President Trump on Monday said he was considering taking billions in grant money away from Harvard University and redistributing it to trade schools across the U.S., the latest salvo in his administration’s campaign against the Ivy League institution,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

New York Times: “The announcement, among the president’s Memorial Day social media messages, did not appear to refer to any new cut in funding, but rather to a redistribution of money the administration already announced it had frozen or stripped from Harvard and its research partners.”

“Mr. Trump gave no details about how such a plan would work.”