The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has demanded this Wednesday transparency regarding foreign funds dedicated to American universities, while he has ordered to restore “equal opportunities” in educational institutions, in his campaign against diversity.
Trump has signed several executive orders related to the educational field in the Oval Office, noting that universities must “completely and timely disseminate the foreign financing” they receive. Thus, he has ordered the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, to terminate “any action that allows universities to hide details related to their foreign financing.”
“For too long, foreign funds have fluid to American schools and universities without appropriate transparency or supervision. A recent report concluded that 60,000 million dollars in foreign gifts and contracts have been channeled to US schools and universities during the last decades,” says a White House document.
In this sense, he has considered that “unleashed foreign financing silly concerns about the possible foreign influence, the risks for national security and committed academic integrity.” He also assured that he is “ending secrecy around foreign financing for higher education to protect students, research and ideas market.”