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.”

“As President Trump escalated his attacks against Harvard University, its board resolved to fight,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Trustees discussed whether to sue or pursue deal talks after Trump first targeted the university in March. But as the president lobbed bomb after bomb at the school—pulling billions in federal funds, threatening its tax-exempt status, and now trying to block it from enrolling international students—the group stood firm.”

“By Friday, the school had filed two lawsuits against the administration, the latest to regain its foreign students.”

New York Magazine: “The inside story of an unconditional surrender.”

“The latest confrontation between Harvard University and the Trump administration began last month with a far-reaching demand for data on international students,” the New York Times reports.

“Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, sent a letter to Harvard requesting, among other things, coursework for every international student and information on any student visa holder involved in misconduct or illegal activity.”

“Harvard rebuffed parts of the request, and the Trump administration retaliated on Thursday. In one of its most aggressive moves so far against the university, the government said Harvard could no longer enroll any international students, who account for about one-fourth of its total enrollment.”

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump is ‘moving forward’ with efforts to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status,” Bloomberg reports.

“A U.S. judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students,” Reuters reports.

Yascha Mounk: “Even among this litany of increasingly radical attacks on higher education, the Trump administration’s latest broadside against Harvard stands out for the extent of its cruelty…”

“Trump’s action would deeply disrupt the lives and the careers of thousands of talented young people, the vast majority of whom have done absolutely nothing to provoke the administration’s ire against their institution. It would have a highly negative impact on important research happening across the university, with some leading labs in fields from medical research to quantum physics effectively ceasing to function.”

“It would lastingly damage America’s hard-earned reputation as the world’s most coveted destination for ambitious researchers. In short, it would lead to the most remarkable—and the most distinguished—exodus of talented students in the history of American higher education.”

Jason Furman: Trump’s attack on Harvard won’t make America great again.