AMONGST the ‘enemies of the people’ in Trumpian America are elite universities seen as the bastions of liberal thought and academic excellence. Harvard appears to top the list of undesirable institutions, as the American president has launched a frontal attack on the Ivy League school. The US administration has frozen over $2bn in federal funds to the university, while threatening it with a ban on foreign admissions. Moreover, President Donald Trump has labelled Harvard a “disgrace” that teaches “Hate and Stupidity”. The rest of the world seems to think the exclusive school attracts the brightest minds from across the globe. Harvard is, of course, not alone; Columbia, Princeton and Stanford have also received threats and funding cuts from the Trump administration. The primary reason for this attack on US higher education seems to be the liberal leanings of these schools, and their promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. But perhaps an even bigger reason for the punitive measures is the fact that many of these varsities, particularly Harvard and Columbia, were centres of the pro-Palestine student movement that rocked the US as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza raged. That is why they have been tarred with the brush of antisemitism by the Trump White House, and accused of hosting students “hostile to American values” and “supportive of terrorism”.

The Harvard administration is fighting back and has refused to give up its freedom. Other US schools should emulate its example, and resist the totalitarian attacks of the Trump government. For decades, America’s top schools have attracted the best minds globally; but with these chilling developments, American universities may lose their attractiveness, as international students head for less suffocating climes. According to Al Jazeera, around 1,500 foreign students and faculty members have had their visas revoked by the Trump government. Antisemitism is a fig leaf, and what the US government really wants to do is target academic freedom and support for Palestine on campuses. The fact is that student activism has a long history in America, as students were at the forefront of the anti-Vietnam War movement in the 1960s. Now, as the US bankrolls and supports another unjust war, the administration is keen to stamp out all dissent on campus, in the process harming the reputation of American higher education for years to come.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2025