Against the White House 150 universities: « He wants to control us for ideological purposes »
In a letter, the leaders of American universities accuse President Trump after his threats of cutting billions of federal funds and political interference. For the administration, Harvard « is enriched with the money of the Americans in difficulty »
New York – with an unprecedented gesture, over 150 universities and colleges – from Princeton to Yale, from Brown to Cornell – signed A joint letter to denounce the « political interference » of the Administration Trump and defend the independence of the United States higher education. A wave of solidarity that arrives in the aftermath of Harvard’s decision to sue the White House, after the freezing of 2.2 billion dollars in federal funds and a series of requests that, according to the University, aim to bend academic autonomy for ideological purposes.
It is clear that the stakes go far beyond the boundaries of the prestigious Massachusetts university. As Harvardwith its 388 years of history, has become a symbol for the entire American university system: the attack on its autonomy represents a wider challenge, which concerns the academic freedom of all American institutions. «We are talking to one voice against unprecedented government interference Which is threatening American higher education « , reads the document, signed by 170 presidents and academic leaders.
The institutions do not oppose legitimate supervision, but refuse the political use of public funding to exercise ideological control: « We are open to constructive reforms, but we must reject undue pressure on what we teach, on who we take and how we form our students », reads the letter. Among the signatories there is no Columbia University of New York, which accepted some of the requests made by the White House, to avoid freezing of about 400 million in federal funding.
The clash exploded on April 14, when Harvard refused the requests of the Trump administrationwho claimed to intervene on the selection of teachers, on the content of the courses and on the disciplinary management of the University, after the establishment of a task force on anti -Semitism. An email that started by mistake, but not withdrawn from the White House, which replied with the freezing of federal funds and threatened to revoke the University’s tax exemption status and visa to foreign students.
THEUnedì Harvard filed a case at the District Court of Massachusettsclaiming that the White House has « exceeded the constitutional limits » and « abused its power to impose improper and ideological control over the university ».
President Alan Garber denounced an attack on academic autonomy and the first amendment: « The government is trying to rewrite the rules to control who we can hire and what we can teach. » Adding that the consequences will be serious and lasting: « Medical and scientific research fundamental for millions of people is now at risk ». Among the projects affected there are studies on childhood tumors, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autoimmune diseases and war injuries.
The White House, instead of reversing, reacted hard. «Public funds are a privilege and Harvard has lost this privilege Not respecting the basic conditions, « said the Harrison Fields spokesman. « The train of federal assistance to institutions such as Harvard, who enrich their scrambled bureaucrats with the taxes of American families in difficulty, is about to stop ». Behind the pressures there would be the accusation, repeatedly relaunched by Trump, that Harvard and other universities have tolerated anti-Semitism during pro-Palestine protests. But the University rejected the accusation, claiming to have started concrete actions to face any form of hatred and discrimination.
