Harvard grads cheer commencement speakers who urge the school to stand strong

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard graduates celebrated commencement on Thursday at a pivotal time for the Ivy League school, cheering speakers who emphasized maintaining a diverse and international student body and standing up for truth in the face of attacks by the Trump administration.

Harvard's battles with President Donald Trump over funding and restrictions on teaching and admissions presented another challenge for the thousands of graduates who started college as the world was emerging from a pandemic and later grappled with student-led protests over the war in Gaza.

"We leave a campus much different than the one we entered, with Harvard at the center of a national battle of higher education in America,” one of the student speakers, Thor Reimann, told his fellow graduates. “Our university is certainly imperfect, but I am proud to stand today alongside our graduating class, our faculty, our president with the shared conviction that this ongoing project of veritas is one that is worth defending.”

Other schools face the loss of federal funding and their ability to enroll international students if they don't agree to the Trump administration's shifting demands. But Harvard, which was founded more than a century before the nation itself, has taken the lead in defying the White House in court and is paying a heavy price.

Among the Trump administration’s latest salvos was asking federal agencies to cancel about $100 million in contracts with the university. The government already canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants, moved to cut off Harvard’s enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status.

Visa interviews for international students admitted to schools nationwide were halted on Tuesday, and Trump said Wednesday that Harvard should reduce its international enrollment from 25% to about 15%.

Sustained by a $53 billion endowment, the nation’s wealthiest university is testing whether it can be a bulwark against Trump’s efforts to limit what his administration calls antisemitic activism on campus, which Harvard sees as an affront to the freedom to teach and learn nationwide.

Citing campus protests against Israel as proof of “antisemitic violence and harassment," the Trump administration has demanded that Harvard make broad leadership changes, revise its admissions policies, and audit its faculty and student body to ensure the campus is home to many viewpoints.

Harvard President Alan Garber disputed the government’s allegations, saying in a letter this month that the school is nonpartisan and has taken steps to root out antisemitism on campus. He insisted that Harvard is in compliance with the law, calling the federal sanctions an “unlawful attempt to control fundamental aspects of our university’s operations.”

In response to the administration’s threats, Harvard has sued to block the funding freeze and persuaded a federal judge to temporarily halt the ban on enrolling international students. During a hearing in Boston on Thursday, the judge extended her order blocking the ban.

Nicholas Burns, a career diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to China from 2021 to 2025 and now teachers at the university, said “Harvard can’t be Harvard without its international students."

“There’s a lot of collective pride at the university about who we are and the decisions we’ve made, and obviously what we want to do is make sure that international students can return to Harvard, can stay at Harvard this summer and return in September,” Burns said, adding that it is important for American students to study alongside their international peers.

Garber didn't directly touch on the Trump administration threats Thursday. But he did get a rousing applause when he referenced the university's global reach, noting that it is “just as it should be.”

Other speakers were more direct. Speaking in Latin, salutatorian Aidan Robert Scully delivered a speech laced with references to Trump policies.

“I say this: ... Neither powers nor princes can change the truth and deny that diversity is our strength,” Scully said.

It was a sentiment echoed by Yurong “Luanna” Jiang, a Chinese graduate who studied international development. She described growing up believing that the “world was becoming a small village” and finding a global community at Harvard. But she worries that world view is increasingly under threat.

“We’re starting to believe those who think differently, vote differently or pray differently, whether they are across the ocean or sitting right next to us, are not just wrong — we mistakenly see them as evil," she said. “But it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Dr. Abraham Verghese, a bestselling author and Stanford University expert on infectious diseases, opened his keynote address by saying he felt like a medieval messenger “slipping into a besieged community." He praised Harvard for “courageously defending the essential values of this university and indeed of this nation,” and told students that more people than they realize have noticed the example they've set.

“No recent events can diminish what each of you have accomplished here,” Verghese said.

On Wednesday, basketball Hall of Famer and activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the “Class Day” speaker, praising Harvard for standing up to the Trump administration and comparing Garber's response to Rosa Parks' stand against racist segregation.

“After seeing so many cowering billionaires, media moguls, law firms, politicians and other universities bend their knee to an administration that is systematically strip-mining the U.S. Constitution, it is inspiring to me to see Harvard University take a stand for freedom," he said.

Brynn Macaulay, who received a master’s degree in public and global health, said she hopes such students will keep enrolling because they bring a wealth of knowledge and perspective.

“On a personal level, it feels like somebody is attacking people that I love and that I consider to be family,” she said.

Associated Press reporter Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed.

See an AP gallery of photos from today’s ceremony.

Graduating students walk through Harvard Yard during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Hall of Fame center and honorary degree recipient Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is welcomed at Harvard Yard during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Thor Reimann addresses graduates during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Hall of Fame center and honorary degree recipient Kareem Abdul-Jabbar acknowledges the audience applause during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Yurong "Luanna" Jiang addresses classmates during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Graduates applaud during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Students proceed through Harvard Yard during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Students walk through Harvard Yard during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Hall of Fame center and honorary degree recipient Kareem Abdul-Jabbar listens while being introduced during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Students celebrate during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Yurong "Luanna" Jiang addresses classmates during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Basketball Hall of Famer and activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds up an honorary degree during Harvard University's commencement ceremonies, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Harvard President Alan Garber acknowledges an extended round of applause during Harvard University's commencement ceremonies, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Students cheer during Harvard University's commencement ceremonies, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Graduating students attend commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Guests for Harvard's commencement walk past protesters outside Harvard yard prior to commencement ceremonies, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Protesters stand outside the gates of Harvard yard as guests line up for commencement ceremonies, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Students cross into Harvard yard passing protesters as Harvard University holds its commencement, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ryan Enos, a government professor at Harvard University, speaks at a protest against President Donald Trump's recent sanctions against Harvard in front of Science Center Plaza on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

Harvard University graduating senior Victor Flores claps while listening to a fellow student speak at a protest against President Donald Trump's recent sanctions against Harvard in front of Science Center Plaza on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

FILE - A sculler rows down the Charles River near Harvard University, at rear, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Protesters listen to Harvard University students speak at a protest against President Donald Trump's recent sanctions against Harvard in front of Science Center Plaza on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

A protester cheers while listening to Harvard University students speak at a protest against President Donald Trump's recent sanctions against Harvard in front of Science Center Plaza on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)