Trump declares war on universities
If we had to cite a key factor that explains the hegemony of the United States during the 20th century and what we have experienced in the 21st, it would be the excellence of its higher education, something that gives it a great competitive advantage. In any ranking of the best universities in the world, you will always find North American universities at the top, especially the most prestigious of all, with institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Berkeley, and Yale. These universities attract the best researchers in the world and lead research in a multitude of fields, knowledge that is then transferred to society and, especially, to businesses. Now, however, all this is in danger because Donald Trump has decided to declare war on universities with a method that is not very different from what a hood any mobster: either you comply with my designs or I'll cut off your funding.
This blackmail had worked for him at first. with Columbia University (which, by the way, has still not recovered its lost funding despite having accepted some of Trump's conditions), But now Harvard has told him no.The United States government is doing what no other executive branch has done in recent history: attempting to shape admissions policies and academic curricula to impose its particular worldview under the guise of combating anti-Semitism. Harvard is particularly in Trump's sights for its inclusion policies, which favor university access for minorities like Black people, who are typically underrepresented in these elitist institutions, and for considering it a haven for intellectual thought. woke.
"No government should dictate what a private university can teach, or who it admits or hires, or what areas of study or research can be pursued," wrote Harvard President Alan Garber in a message to the entire university community. Trump's response has been, as expected, furious. The administration has frozen multi-year grants worth $2.2 billion and is considering withdrawing the institution's tax breaks.
Trump's idea is very simple: to obtain the surrender of his enemies, in this case the universities, through economic blackmail. That's why Harvard's response is so important, which should serve as an example for all universities currently under investigation by a special group appointed by the White House. What's at stake is a principle as fundamental to democracy as academic freedom, which the United States has always championed.
However, with his ideological warfare, Trump is rapidly making the United States less attractive, both for doing business and for visiting as a tourist or for an academic stay. The arrests of pro-Palestinian students have spread the climate of terror on campuses, and right now hundreds of research projects are hanging in the balance. However, Harvard has done the only thing it could to maintain the dignity of the institution: stand up and say... No.