Universities faced allegations of favoritism towards President Trump earlier
Universities and Protests during the Trump Era: A Lack of Unified Resistance
In the heart of Europe, universities have often demonstrated their preparedness to stand against adversity, serving as catalysts for resistance. In the United States, higher education institutions played a crucial role in the protests against the Vietnam War and the advancement of societal liberalization. Yet, in this pivotal moment of American history, the question arises: where are the students voicing their dissent against the current political climate, particularly under President Donald Trump?
As Homeland Security Minister Kristi Noem remarked last week, Harvard, a renowned university, had ample opportunity to take a stance but failed to do so. Its actions fostered violence and antisemitism on campus, prompting the administration to retract international student acceptance as a warning to universities nationwide.
The warning had been heeded long before. Pressure exerted by President Trump and his administration prompted harsh actions against protesters. Following Trump's inauguration, research funds were frozen, billions were cut, and extensive structural reforms were demanded. These actions have left an atmosphere of fear on university campuses, with more than half of the teaching staff holding back on public statements due to the political climate. One might wonder, why haven't the students taken to the streets in protest?
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The lack of substantial student protests has several reasons. Firstly, Trump's hardline approach is effective. Individual measures create an aura of uncertainty, and inaction seems like the best option for many. Secondly, last year depleted the strength of the movement that never managed to mobilize masses, largely due to early resistance.
Researcher Robert Cohen, who studies protests in New York, believes that the inaction of students can be attributed to three reasons: protests typically have a specific local target, and Trump does not offer this local dimension. Students who wished to oppose Trump would likely direct their energy towards election campaign activities, according to Cohen.
In April 2024, student protests escalated against Israel's military operations in Gaza, demanding their universities sever financial ties with Israel. Protests culminated in campus camps, building blockades, and more than 3000 arrests, according to the "New York Times." This number surpasses arrests during the Vietnam War protests, yet universities did little to counteract these actions.
One event allegedly jump-started the suppression of protests: during a committee hearing, Trump confidante Elise Stefanik asked Harvard's former president, Claudine Gay, and her colleagues whether a call for genocide against the Jews violated the university's rules. Gay refused to give a clear affirmative response three times, sparking widespread outrage. A month later, Gay resigned, also due to emerging plagiarism allegations.
Universities are reported to have been pressured to suppress protests afterward, with pressure coming from Congress and donors. The movement was allegedly crushed before Trump even took office, with Trump's supporters playing a central role, but not needing Trump to carry out the suppression.
Upon taking office, Trump moved quickly to enforce his agenda, banning inclusion programs, freezing billions in funding, canceling contracts, pushing for the deportation of a student with Palestinian roots, and prohibiting Harvard from accepting new international students. Most recently, they stopped issuing visas.
Harvard's new president, Alan Garber, stated in an interview that the Trump administration's concerns were legitimate, but their solutions were "surprising." He pointed out that these solutions harmed the university, but also the U.S., as the affected funds supported important work. Garber also found it difficult to establish a connection between the actions and antisemitism.
NYU professor Cohen, who conducted a scientific survey in January, stated that more than three-quarters of Jewish faculty at U.S. universities found measures against antisemitism to be effective. Cohen believes that Trump is now using the weakened protest movement as a pretext to attack the university system as a whole. Universities have traditionally been a popular target for Republicans, but Cohen considers the current attacks to be exaggerated.
Cohen posits that universities were never particularly free, stating that, in a sense, they were "Trumpified" before Trump's presidency. Students had little influence, especially at private universities. However, Trump's administration tolerates no dissent, be it from law firms, the media, or universities.
- Given the current political climate under President Trump, it seems that the European Union, serving as a political party, has taken a more active role in education-and-self-development and politics compared to American universities, as they have been standing against adversity, acting as catalysts for resistance, while US universities have primarily been suppressing protests.
- As pointed out by NYU professor Cohen, the reluctance of students to voice their dissent against the current political climate in the US, particularly under President Trump, might be due to the fact that protests typically have a specific local target, and Trump does not offer this local dimension, making it challenging for students to direct their energy towards organized protests.
