President Donald Trump declared war on the richest and most prestigious universities of the United States And they have been threatening them to take away the subsidies if they do not align with the gender, diversity and inclusion policies that advocates their government and also against anti -Semitism. In the midst of strong controversy some gave up, but Harvard was planted and on Tuesday he received a millionaire punishment: the oldest and most solvent university in the country, the cradle of more than 100 Nobel awards, said he would not give in to extortion and Trump not only froze more than 2,000 million dollars in federal funds but also threatens to take out all tax exemptions.
The tension has come for months. Already from its electoral campaign, The tycoon had between eyebrow and eyebrow to universities Grouped in the Ivy League (which brings together Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale) and other great institutions that are recognized among the best in the world, and criticized them in their political acts because they consider them centers of elitism and the “Woke” culture that he hates so much. It is a speech that turns strong on the most conservative Trumpist electorate.
But from the terrorist attack of October 7 of Hamas against Israel and the proportive manifestations that followed in several campuses, Trump capitalized the outrage of certain sectors by portraying certain universities as allies of extremism. “The universities that tolerate anti -Semitism do not deserve even a penny of the government,” he had said in the campaign.
When he assumed the presidency in January, Trump pressed the accelerator thoroughly and used the state wallet To try to make universities close to the conservative ideology of the White House eliminating programs of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and also take measures against anti -Semitism, which some experts considered as a limit against free expression.
In some cases he achieved it: in exchange for Trump not to take away 400 million dollars in federal funds Columbia accessed for example Modify students admission, allow the presence on the campus of dozens of security agents With powers to stop “agitators”, or review the offer of regional studies, in particular those related to the Middle East and Israel.
The consequences
The new panorama totally altered life on campus. Teachers are afraid to express themselves freely in the classrooms, many no longer write in the press or talk to journalists and Students also are afraid of being betrayed by their opinions. In addition, several international teachers and students have been arrested at airports accused of promoting anti -Semitism and have been returned to their respective countries if they had photos in the protests on their social networks.
David Pozen, a law professor at Columbia University, told Clarion that “attacks on finance and university freedoms have become a defining characteristic of authoritarian regimes worldwide. Even so, the speed and magnitude of President Trump’s efforts for dismantling higher education have been shocking for many in the sector. After decades to enjoy a mutually beneficial collaboration with the federal government, university leaders have had difficulty orienting, since their main sponsor has turned against them. ”
“The immediate cut of financing as extortion demands They have no precedents in the history of American higher education”, He added. And that, unlike Harvard,“ other institutions are participating in similar anticipatory obedience, closing diversity offices and climatic initiatives, abandoning policies aimed at transgender inclusion and taking energetic measures against academics of medium east studies that are expressed openly ”.
In this unprecedented context in the history of the United States, Harvard decided to stand at Trump’s demands and opens now to a strong confrontation that goes beyond money. For the university, It is a broader battle to put limits to the power of the government and maintain independence and freedom of expression and thought, flags that have always defended and are sustained by the Supreme Court, which guarantee autonomy to universities.
Trump demands that Harvard put an end to the policies ofi and fights anti -Semitism. But with some more than controversial demands: Report to the federal government the students who are “hostile” to the American valuess (without clarifying what these values are); Ensure that each department has “diversity of points of view” and hiring an external entity approved by the Government to audit the departments and programs “that foster anti -Semitic harassment” and also questions historical teaching about racism.
University’s lawyers responded on Monday: “The University will not yield their independence or renounce their constitutional rights,” they said. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can be allowed to be controlled by the Federal Government”they added.
The president of Harvard, Alan Garber, directed a resounding letter to professors and students: the university “will not give up its independence or the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.” “No government – independently of the party in power – should dictate what private universities can teach, Who can admit and hire, and what areas of study and research can follow. ”
The Trump Department of Education responded immediately With the freezing of 2.2 billion dollars in grants For several years and the termination of multiannual contracts for 60 million dollars, claiming the “unacceptable” interruption of studies for protests and “intolerable harassment of Jewish students.”
This Tuesday the climbing continued with additional threats from Trump that, with a style similar to its tariff policy, seems to upload the bet every day when they face it: “It should lose its status of fiscal exemption and be taxed as a political entity,” the president wrote in his social truth network. The private university has a heritage of more than 50,000 million dollars and enjoys a federal exemption and another from the state of Massachusetts.
Trump also “wants to see Harvard apologize. And Harvard should apologize for flagrant anti -Semitism“On his campus, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt added.
This tension impacts the academic community and beyond. Former President Barack Obama, who has been a student of Columbia and Harvard, praised the University based in Boston on Tuesday. “Harvard has given an example for other higher education institutions, rejecting an illegal and clumsy attempt to suppress academic freedomwhile taking measures to ensure that students can benefit from an intellectual research environment, rigorous debate and mutual respect. “” Hopefully others will follow their example, “he added.
Professor Pozen de Columbia warns that “to protect themselves and the entire educational system, university leaders should compromise, collectively and immediately, to challenge the illegal demands that threaten academic freedom and university self -management” and suggests universities to join in demands that raise common problems.