In America, as in every democracy, the promise of its founding ideals is only partially met by the society and politics of the day. In the current moment, however, this gap has widened to a chasm, with the Donald Trump administration wielding its mandate as a weapon against some of the country’s most elite — and perhaps elitist — universities. It would be a mistake, however, to view the crackdown on Harvard, Columbia, and others under the garb of tackling anti-Semitism as one between islands of privilege and a government that represents grassroots impulses trying to have its way. It is, in effect, an attack on the core principles that have led to the US’s rise and sustain its power — and counterproductive, therefore, for a government that purports to “make America great again”.
For over 75 years, the US federal government has given grants and provided funds to the country’s universities. The investment has more than paid off. It has produced knowledge and innovation that is the bedrock of the US’s economic, military and technological might. Why, then, is the government attacking the foundation on which its greatness was built? The university has become a front in the “culture wars” that define US politics today. On one side is a president, slavish courtiers, including Big Tech heads, fawning over him, disrupting and destroying in the name of the people. And on the other side, institutions like Harvard, riddled with issues such as “legacy admissions” and a self-serving elite that uses political correctness to stifle many a debate. These have failed to make the case — though, arguably, it is not their job to do so — to the broader public about why they should be subsidised by the taxpayer. That Harvard & Co. will be fine without government money (the former’s endowment is over $50 billion and federal funds account for just 1.3 per cent of its revenue) is not the point. The Trump administration’s attack is part of a broader attempt at controlling spaces that have symbolised autonomy and excellence — one is not possible without the other — within the country and across the world.
At its best, the US campus represents the finest of the country’s principles: Freedom of speech, commitment to ensuring diversity and, as MIT president Sally Kornbluth wrote, “opening ourselves to talent from every corner of the US and the world”. The federal government’s demands — which include restrictions on hiring faculty, reducing diversity in admissions and policing the political views of teachers and students — severely shrink this space. The threat of cancelling visas for students and scholars is a way to arm-twist universities that refuse to toe the line. Harvard president Alan M Garber has said, “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.” The battle between the universities and government will have echoes beyond the campus. For, when governments impose an environment of fear, there is little space for innovation and the campus can slide easily into becoming a place most unlike itself — a factory. Surely, that’s not the factory that Trump and his tribe want.
