On Thursday, April 24th, President Trump signed an executive order addressing college accreditors and directing the Secretary of Education to suspend or terminate accreditation engaging in “unlawful discrimination” under the guise of DEI and increasing competition in the accreditation process. This is just the latest in the conflict between American universities and President Trump’s administration. Earlier this year President Trump began his crusade against universities by targeting indigenous and hispanic serving institutions’ federal funding. However, these actions soon spread to other colleges, mainly those with a neutral or pro-Palestinian stance on the Gaza conflict, as with Columbia University. Other impacted institutions include Howard University, a Historically Black College/University whose funding has been reduced for “sustainability purposes”, despite Trump’s claim to “protect HBCUs”. Actions taken by the Trump administration include cutting funding for research, aid, and grants towards universities/colleges. In response to President Trump’s actions, 150 Colleges and Universities signed a statement opposing what they described as “government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live and work on our campuses.” Supporting the statement were notable Ivy Leagues such as Harvard, Princeton and Brown. Harvard also sued the government over its $2.2 billion dollar freeze on federal aid and threat to revoke its tax-exempt status due to its response to pro-Palestine protests.
While most of the conflict is accredited to the new administration's stance on Palestine, particularly pro-Palestine protests, there is also the issue of border controls and international students. This past spring break colleges and universities recommended international students remain inside the US to avoid any conflicts with border control, especially in light of the arrests/investigations by ICE of students like Mahmoud Khalil or Yunseo Chung, who both attend or attended Columbia University. However as summer break approaches foreign students face the hard decision of going home and risking their position at US institutions or remaining in the country.
Famous college application counselors/influencers are now advising their students to tailor their application to new standards which exclude certain activities such as activism or community engagement through helping marginalized communities. Furthermore, as colleges comply with the government's demands such as punishing pro-Palestine protesters, reworking departments and weakening DEI projects, universities face an ethical dilemma of balancing values and educational opportunities.
Perhaps there is hope for change; polls found that 56% of Americans oppose President Trump’s stance and actions towards higher education institutions. Considering Trump won the popular vote, this means his very own supporters do not support his actions towards U.S. universities, which could pressure the administration to reconsider their current course of action. Nonetheless, there are Americans excited about this change believing this is the push colleges needed to move away from ‘leftist’ leanings. One activist for reforms in US higher education, Christopher Rufo, argues that colleges, especially Ivy Leagues, have become too one-sided politically. He added that he thinks certain programs are unnecessary, particularly those related to marginalized groups. As a board member of New College of Florida he has used his position to dismantle the gender studies program and abolish the DEI department.
The conflict between President Trump and higher education institutions leaves us with more questions than answers; what will colleges look like in the future? Will Ivy Leagues lose their prestige in light of this conflict? And in a broader sense, will U.S. higher education lose its global respect and status? Only time will tell, but for any future college applicants, like me, worried about these developments, it is important for us to keep up with the developments in this conflict.