In 2016, Donald Trump famously said that he “loved the poorly educated.” That must be true as he is doing his best to undermine some of the most important institutions of higher learning in America as his administration announced earlier this month that it was reviewing about $9 billion in federal funding that Harvard receives. Along with that threat was a list of demands that would need to be met if Harvard hopes to continue receiving its federal funding. The Trump administration has also targeted Brown, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia among others.
The Federal government is saying that their demands are focused on addressing antisemitism on college campuses. And while this is a laudable goal, it seems more likely that Trump and his minions are more interested in using this as an excuse to control what is taught and how it is taught at some of the country’s premier institutions. According to Inside Higher Education there is concern that Trump’s real goal is to go after universities and programs he deems “too woke.”.
In its letter to Harvard, the federal government listed demands among which were a call to re-fashion admissions policies as well as a ban on masks at campus protests at the university. In a similar letter to Columbia, a demand was made to place an entire department under receivership.
According to the New York Times, Andrew Manuel Crespo, a law professor at Harvard and general counsel of the American Association of University Professors-Harvard Faculty Chapter, said in a statement that
the administration’s policies are a pretext to chill universities and their faculties from engaging in speech, teaching and research that don’t align with President Trump’s views.
Mr. Crespo went on to say that
“Harvard faculty have the constitutional right to speak, teach and conduct research without fearing that the government will retaliate against their viewpoints by canceling grants,”
Perhaps the most disturbing comment on the federal government’s actions was by Jon Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations and national engagement for the American Council on Education. He commented that the letter to Harvard was so vague as “to look like a fishing expedition.” In other words, it puts the onus on Harvard to come up with stuff all on its own that will please Trump if they want to see their funding continue.
Inagine that, one of American’s most important universities trying to come up with stuff that will please a man who loves the poorly educated.
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Zimmytws | Dreamstime.com
Retired political staffer/civil servant. Dual U.S./Canadian citizen writing about politics and the arts on both sides of the border.