College students are back on campuses all around the United States. Each one of them is figuring out an educational landscape radically altered by the policies enacted by the Trump administration. These measures have led to widespread worry about the threat to academic freedom, funding for research, and the treatment of international students. Instead, the administration has moved in a restrictive direction in reaction to increased pro-Palestinian activity. This announcement has caused a massive wave of confusion and terror to sweep across students and faculty alike.
In one such case, earlier this year, the Trump administration revoked the visas of an estimated 6,000 international students. This move effectively barred them from pursuing their studies here in the U.S. Moreover, the administration has pushed a controversial, flawed definition of antisemitism that its critics claim prevents critical academic inquiry and freedom. Trump has already declared war on higher education, calling it “the enemy.” This has understandably left many in academia nervous about their long-term safety and stability.
Financial Impacts on Universities
Perhaps the most impactful result of the Trump administration’s actions has been the financial aspect. The same administration brokered settlements with elite academic institutions including Columbia, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania. In those cases, they settled for multimillion-dollar payouts and ceded substantial oversight of what should be their most consequential decision-making domain. In addition, it has frozen $584 million in appropriated funding to UCLA and is requiring the university to pay $1 billion for damages in connection with antisemitism allegations.
Combined with previous financial constraints, these changes hit individual institutions hard. Beyond their immediate effects, they’ve led to broader cuts to funding for the conduct of scientific and medical research. The National Institutes of Health saw hundreds of millions in funding slashed, prompting concerns about the future of innovation and research in these critical fields.
“Threatening to cut off research funds and make the university pay the administration does nothing to make the campus safer for Jews.” – Benjamin Kersten
These short-sighted fiscal choices have rattled, if not destroyed, university campuses and communities. They’ve resulted in job layoffs and depleted funds for life-saving research. According to some insiders, including right here on TheJournal.ie, today’s mood is one dominated by pessimism and dread.
“There’s a lot of hopelessness and devastation – no one I know is feeling secure in terms of affording rent and groceries, or whether they will be expelled or fired.” – Maura Finkelstein
Restrictions on Academic Freedom
There is a reason that the previous Trump administration’s policies have raised academic freedom and faculty independence alarms among higher education. Perhaps most importantly, the administration has installed deeply partisan appointees into vital administrative roles. In doing so, they have pushed policies that dictate what can be taught in their classrooms, silencing educators from fostering critical conversations and examining a variety of perspectives.
Faculty members lament that these changes threaten to undermine the very foundation of liberal arts education. This value of arts integrated education is largely tied to promoting critical thinking skills among students.
“The point of a liberal arts education is to teach critical thinking skills, and now we’re seeing institutional procedures and policies that are making it so that critical thinking is no longer welcomed on campuses.” – Maura Finkelstein
Ongoing repression of student organizations that promote anti-war, environmental, and social justice causes adds to potential chilling effects on academic freedom. Students are afraid of reprisals for taking ideological positions, especially when those positions concern hot button issues like the crisis in Israel/Palestine.
“There is already a chilling effect, fueled by fear and intimidation, that stifles the free exchange of ideas, weakens innovation and curtails global influence.” – Lynn Pasquerella
These restrictions have forced most faculty to reconsider their own safety and security in an academic environment. Others fear that if students are the ones getting singled out today, it won’t be long before faculty members are targeted, as well.
“Although these were students, I felt like, OK, next in line will be faculty.” – Nadje Al-Ali
The Impact on International Students
International students have experienced enormous challenges with the past Trump administration’s policies. Despite these warnings, thousands of their own visas have since been revoked. This has resulted in immense barriers for people seeking to travel to the United States to pursue their education. For degree-seeking international students, the Trump administration has compounded these challenges. These barriers compound the challenges they face in understanding and navigating our complex U.S. immigration law.
Left to right, Nadje Al-Ali, a passionate activist and scholar, has done fieldwork in the Middle East. Seeing growing hostility toward all foreigners makes her fearful about persisting in her work.
“Following the arrest and the detention and the threat of deportation of several students … I felt that it was too risky for me to do research in the Middle East.” – Nadje Al-Ali
No one knows and understands this feeling more than the international student. They wrestle with chronic anxiety about their precarious status and future opportunities for success in academia.
Benjamin Kersten further lamented these fears when discussing the ways in which the current political climate affects his research pursuits.
“It makes me wonder how I’m supposed to compartmentalize and conduct the research I was brought here to do.” – Benjamin Kersten
The cumulative effect of these policies raises pressing questions about how universities will adapt to ensure inclusivity while maintaining academic rigor.