Trump's college plans. Cartoon of 25/05/2025 in CTXT
The plan to dismantle education and turn universities into yet another tool of his propaganda machine is not a recent development. The relationship between Trump and Harvard has been one of constant tension, especially over ideological differences, university admissions policies and free speech on campus. While Trump has accused Harvard of being "elitist" and "woke" (you know, the usual), the university has remained steadfast in its criticism of his policies.
The orange energizer's hook-up with Harvard University dates back to 2017, when President Donald Trump's administration opened an investigation into the Students For Fair Admissions case, which had already sued Harvard in court in 2014.
Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) is a group representing Asian-American applicants who claimed that Harvard violated their civil rights by denying admission on the basis of racial discrimination in order to make it easier for other minorities, such as blacks and Latinos, to gain access.
In 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard, Trump celebrated the ruling. He called it a victory and said it was "a great day for America".
In 2020, the Harvard Law Review published articles questioning his handling of the pandemic and his attempts to contest the election, and several Harvard professors, such as Lawrence Lessig (constitutional law) and Steven Pinker (psychology), were openly critical of Trump and his administration.
After the assault on the Capitol on 6 January 2021, several Harvard alumni and professors called for the revocation of the honorary degree that the university conferred on Trump in 2005.
While Harvard did not formally accede, pressure continued because of his prominent role as a coup-maker in the events of 6 January, and two US universities revoked the honorary doctorates they had given to Donald Trump after his supporters' assault on the Capitol. One was Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and the other a private one, Wagner College in Staten Island, New York.
In December 2023, Trump attacked then Harvard president Claudine Gay for her actions in the face of"anti-Semitic" protests on campus and her testimony to Congress on free speech. When Gay resigned in January 2024 following accusations of plagiarism, Trump celebrated her departure on his Tuiter clone.
Now, Trump is already in "death to intelligence" mode and has cancelled all federal contracts with the university, some $100 million, while threatening to continue to freeze billions in other funding.
Since April, the Trump administration has frozen approximately $3.2 billion in grants and contracts with the university, and has continued to push to the point of prohibiting Harvard University from enrolling foreign students, a move Harvard continues to resist.
These actions are part of Trump's strategy to corner the academic centre and bend it into giving in to his demands, as it is strongly opposed to government intervention in the admissions and recruitment process.
Trump doesn't just want intelligence to die, he wants to dance on its ashes and have his herd of scowling, bison-horned followers clap and cheer as they fire their rifles into the air.
