The gowns and mortar boards were out in customary force at Harvard last week for graduation day. Founded in 1636, 140 years before the United States itself, the university knows a thing or two about how to do pomp and ceremony.
But this year’s rituals played out under a cloud with Harvard, along with several other universities in the US, having come under sustained attack from the Trump administration.
Trump has claimed his escalating battle with America’s oldest, wealthiest and most prestigious university is about tackling campus antisemitism, foreign influence and “woke” or “leftist” ideology in academia. Others see a more sinister authoritarian agenda, where the goal is to enforce deference from America’s largest institutions. Bring down the oldest of them all, the theory goes, and the rest will surely follow.
Five essential reads in this week’s edition
The big story | Is Viktor Orbán’s grip on power weakening?
Opposition activists and journalists explain why the Orbánisation of the US may fail and how a former ally could end the Hungarian PM’s 15-year reign. By Ashifa Kassam and Flora Garamvolgyi in Budapest
Science | The risk and reward of rapid Everest ascents
The use of xenon gas and hypoxic tents before recent expeditions has triggered alarm in Nepal, where guides fear it could encourage inexperienced climbers. Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Gaurav Pokharel report
Interview | Jacinda Ardern on leadership, legacy and why she quit
The former prime minister of New Zealand tried to do politics differently. But six years into power she dramatically resigned. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, she explains why
Opinion | So long, Elon: all you really shredded was your reputation
Judging by Musk’s approval ratings, Tesla investors won’t be the only ones happy to see the dethroning of the king of Doge, writes Marina Hyde
Culture | Inside Britain’s new museum of absolutely everything
Poison darts, a dome from Spain, priceless spoons and Frank Lloyd Wright furniture … Oliver Wainwright is wowed by how the V&A East Storehouse lets visitors ‘breathe the same air’ as its 250,000 artefacts
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