Read the text to answer question.
It wasn’t the first attempt to deter foreign students, but it could have been the most disruptive. The
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency sought to bar visas for international students at
colleges that offer only virtual instruction. Students on existing visas would have had to transfer to a
school that offers at least some in-person teaching if they wanted to remain in the U.S.
The policy swiftly brought together a broad coalition of colleges, states and businesses that
opposed it. “The overwhelming negative reaction to this proposal in a very short period of time shows
that the administration really struck a nerve with this,” says Terry Hartle, from the American Council on
Education. “It’s unprecedented for that many colleges and universities to file suit against the federal
government.”
(Bloomberg Businessweek, 20.07.2020. Adapted.)
The expression from the second paragraph “struck a nerve” means, in the context: