U.S. universities face threat under Trump administration: Labeled as initial targets by fascist regimes
** universities in the U.S. are under siege,** but the offensive against higher education began long before Donald Trump's return to the White House. In a fear-mongering speech, JD Vance, who wouldn't become vice president yet, called out professors as the enemy and threatened to attack American universities. Trump's administration is now carrying out this crusade, disguising it as a fight against supposed anti-Semitic strongholds on campuses.
The most notable battleground is Harvard University, the country's most prestigious and elitist institution. Accused of having a liberal bias, Trump seeks to enforce his political agenda onto the university, ending its diversity policies. The attacks include canceling federal contracts (around $100 million), freezing billions in research, barring the admission of foreign students, and demanding student data. All while publicly labeling the university as a hotbed of liberalism.
The cultural war against academia intensified with Trump's return to power, using "anti-Semitism" as a shield to attack universities like Harvard. In addition, Trump has a long history of accusing universities of being centers of liberal indoctrination and restricting conservative freedom of expression, even before the Gaza conflict started. This rhetoric paved the way for harsher measures and speeches.
In March, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, denouncing its high cost and low educational quality. This marked the beginning of a battle against everything related to education that has only become more intense due to the cultural war declared by the far right on "woke dictatorship."
The Gaza conflict and student activism
With the start of the Gaza war, American universities became hotbeds of opposition to the government. Last spring, Columbia University was the epicenter of protests, with students leaving their classrooms to denounce the "genocide in Palestine" and the "complicity" of the Biden Administration with the "war crimes" of Israeli authorities. Like Trump, Biden labeled the protests as "anti-Semitic."
The student activism of today echoes the protests of 1968, when the U.S. was engaged in one of the bloodiest conflicts in Asia – the Vietnam War. The protests against the war and, more recently, against the Israeli offensive in Gaza share notable similarities. In the 1960s, they derailed the reelection of Lyndon B. Johnson, and, similarly, last year the Democratic Party lost support due to its failure to withdraw support for Israel in the war that has claimed more than 54,000 Palestinian lives.
Academic freedom under threat
Columbia University was subject to federal investigations and the freezing of funds shortly after releasing a progress report on combating anti-Semitism. Last week, Trump banned Harvard from admitting foreign students and revoked its authority to manage visas, with plans to suspend all interviews and visas for new non-U.S. students as well, citing concerns about social media content.
According to the President of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, Lynn Pasquerella, "academic freedom faces an existential threat." She argues that universities can no longer fulfill their mission or purposes under these conditions. International students, especially those from China, are also affected by these policies, as Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric leads to the exclusion of critical students and the silencing of dissenting voices.
Trump's war against the Ivy League, the top private universities in the U.S., has intensified. In a bid to combat his eternal enemy – the Democratic Party – he targets these institutions, accusing them of fostering the progressive elite. However, the first cuts from the Administration have been seen at Johns Hopkins University, which does not belong to the Ivy League, highlighting the arbitrary nature of these attacks.
In summary, academic freedom and diversity are under attack in American universities. Trump's administration is using its power to silence critical students, restrict international student enrollment, and impose its political agenda onto prestigious institutions. This threatens the very foundations of higher education, which advocates for generating and disseminating knowledge for the common good. The current situation recalls authoritarian fascist regimes, where universities are often the first targets, and limiting access to knowledge undermines the pillars of academia.
- The cultural war against academia, initially masquerading as a fight against alleged anti-Semitic strongholds, has expanded to include threats and restrictions on universities, with Harvard University being a prime target.
- The current administration's attacks on academic freedom and diversity, including canceling federal contracts, freezing research funds, and limiting international student enrollment, echo the tactics used by authoritarian fascist regimes that target universities, limiting access to knowledge and undermining the foundations of higher education.
