Harvard commencement speaker decries Trump administration's 'draconian government measures'

Stanford professor Abraham Verghese spoke out against the Trump administration s cascade of draconian regime measures at Harvard Thursday as the White House continues to battle the elite university The physician and novelist was Harvard's commencement speaker where he also received an honorary degree from the university During his address Verghese acknowledged that he was speaking at an unprecedented moment in the school s history amid President Donald Trump s attempts to cut the school s federal funding and terminate its attendee visa project due to reports of rampant antisemitism on campus A cascade of draconian establishment measures has already led to so much uncertainty so much pain and suffering in this country and across the globe and more has been threatened Verghese declared The outrage you must feel the outrage so multiple feel must surely lead us to a new appreciation for the rule of law and due process which 'til now we took for granted because this is America HARVARD GRADUATE CRITICIZES UNIVERSITY FOR FIGHTING TRUMP MORE THAN ANTISEMITISMVerghese added that he agreed to be the commencement speaker to promote the value of immigrants like himself as Trump cracks down on illegal immigration What made me eventually say yes to President Garber had everything to do with where we all find ourselves in when legal immigrants and others who are lawfully in this country including so a multitude of of your international students worry about being wrongly detained and even deported Verghese stated When legal immigrants and others who are lawfully in this country worry about being wrongly detained and even deported perhaps it s fitting that you hear from an immigrant like me Part of what makes America great if I may use that phrase is that it allows an immigrant like me to blossom here just as generations of other immigrants and their children have flourished and contributed in every walk of life working to keep America great He later related his experiences caring for HIV patients in a small town in Tennessee at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the s saying the experience taught him that love trumps all bigotry Love trumps ideology Verghese also celebrated the school pushing back against the Trump administration as an inspiration HARVARD PROFESSOR URGES UNIVERSITY TO EMBRACE IDEOLOGICAL BALANCE AMID CLASH WITH TRUMP ADMIN More people than you realize are grateful for Harvard for the example it has set he disclosed By your clarity in affirming and courageously defending the essential values of this university and indeed of this nation Verghese s speech came after Harvard President Alan Garber addressed conservative viewpoints being seen as unwelcome on campus He called it a issue that demands to be solved Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for comment CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP