FOR THE WEEK OF APR 21, 2025

Academic freedom is on the line as government presses colleges to take steps or lose financial support

Showdowns over federal support for universities are among tug-of-war dramas marking the opening three months of Donald Trump's second term in the White House. The president, who first served from 2017-21, last week froze $2.2 billion in multiyear government grants to Harvard University for research and other programs after it rejected requests to overhaul hiring and report foreign students who break rules. "The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," says Harvard's president. "Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government." Trump's administration also withdrew a $60-million contract with the Boston-area school and threatened to bar it from enrolling international students.

Officials have suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for research at universities across the country in what critics say is an attack on academic freedom. The president directed the federal tax agency to consider stripping some universities of their nonprofit status over what the White House describes as their antisemitic and radical campus culture. The campaign is seen as an effort to break what Trump and some other Republicans see as liberalism's hold on higher education. "Like autocrats in China, Hungary and Russia, he's trying to crush independent universities that might challenge him," writes New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

In contrast to Harvard's defiance, Columbia University in New York City last month accepted major concessions demanded by the government, which says the school didn't suppress antisemitism on campus. To avoid losing $400 million in federal grants, half of them for medical research, Columbia put its Middle Eastern studies department under different oversight, toughened disciplinary and protest policies, and created a new security force empowered to arrest protesters and remove alleged agitators.

In Harvard's case, the government demanded that the oldest U.S. university (founded in 1636) reduce the power of students and faculty members over campus affairs; report foreign students who commit conduct violations immediately to federal authorities; conduct plagiarism (using uncredited work by others) checks on all faculty members and bring in an outside party to ensure that each academic department is "viewpoint diverse," among other steps. More than 800 faculty members urged Harvard in a March letter to "mount a coordinated opposition to these anti-democratic attacks." Across the country, universities are banding together to defend education, academic freedom, and freedom of speech. Both sides are digging in for a clash that could test government power and the independence that makes U.S. campuses a destination for scholars around the world.

Harvard president says: "No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue." – Alan Garber

Trump posts: "Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting 'Sickness?'" – On his Truth Social platform last week

Past U.S. president says: "Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions -- rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let's hope others follow suit." – Barack Obama, a Democrat who served from 2009-17

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SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.