The Trump administration is intensifying its campaign against real or imagined antisemitism on American college campuses. Some have lost their visas and legal status, including at least 300 students, recent international graduates and postdoctoral scholars. This proposal now faces deep resistance from virtually every major academic institution. It has recently won important champions, including Barack Obama, who focus on the law’s importance in protecting academic freedom from government pressure.
In recent developments, Princeton University in New Jersey and Columbia University in New York have complied with demands from the Trump administration regarding campus protests and antisemitism. Education secretary Linda McMahon went further, and adamantly defended the federal government’s authority to dictate reforms to universities. She reiterated that this move is entirely within their jurisdiction. The administration’s antisemitism taskforce aims to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses,” according to White House spokesperson Kush Desai.
The recent wave of visa revocations has struck a particularly hard blow to students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In just the last week, nine students have had their visas canceled. MIT President Sally Kornbluth echoed her concerns, emphasizing the chilling effect these actions have had. She worries they would scare off the world’s best talent and undermine American competitiveness and scientific leadership for decades.
“We are going to choke off the money to schools that aid the Marxist assault on our American heritage and on western civilization itself,” – Donald Trump
This last sentiment is emblematic of a larger strategy used by the Trump administration. The organization has frozen or canceled more than $11 billion in funding from at least seven universities. They are attempting to use the threat of these funding cuts to coerce compliance with their agenda on research, teaching, and free speech onto private campuses. Recently, the administration specifically froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard University.
Harvard’s President Alan Garber made a strong statement opposing these actions, saying they will not be bullied. He made the point that no government has any business telling what a private university ought to be teaching or who they ought to admit.
“No government – regardless of which party is in power – should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” – Alan Garber
One institution that has chosen to do something about it is Columbia University, which has banned masks that cover the wearer’s identity in campus protests. They will ban protests within academic buildings and reassess the management of regional Middle East studies programs. This compulsory compliance has resulted in constant backlash from numerous academic sectors.
Leo Terrell, the leader of the Trump administration’s antisemitism taskforce, issued a stark warning to universities that do not comply with the administration’s demands, stating that they would face severe financial repercussions. He even set out a dire consequence — threatening to “bankrupt these universities” if they don’t “play ball.”
In response to these developments, 876 faculty members at Yale University published a letter urging their leadership to stand against what they describe as extraordinary attacks on the principles of a democratic society. They stood together in support of the importance of academic freedom, and the raised fists of solidarity acknowledged government intimidation.
“We stand together at a crossroads,” – 876 faculty members at Yale University
“American universities are facing extraordinary attacks that threaten the bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association, and academic freedom. We write as one faculty, to ask you to stand with us now.” – 876 faculty members at Yale University
Rachel Goodman, of the American Association of University Professors, denounced the administration’s tactics as “flagrantly unlawful.” She echoed previous testimony in calling out the use of funding cuts as leverage to skirt the autonomy of education institutions.