THE war unleashed on American academia now has global attention. With Harvard University pushing back against the Trump administration’s attempts to bring it to heel, alumni, current and prospective students, and parents worldwide are wondering whether America could soon lose its spot as the most preferred destination for those seeking higher education. To recall, the administration has targeted several respected universities with funding cuts and other measures. Publicly, it claims these universities have failed to adequately ‘combat antisemitism’ — evidently a reaction to most young Americans refusing to accept Israel’s atrocities in Gaza as justified. However, as other observers see it, the campaign is a symptom of general conservative paranoia about the liberal values espoused by most institutions of higher learning. Through its campaign, the Trump administration wishes to assert ‘American values’ instead of ‘woke culture’. Within these values, unquestioning support for Israel ranks right at the top.

In an escalation of its campaign, the government recently attempted to block Harvard from enrolling international students. Harvard has now sued for its rights. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school stated in its plaint. The government, meanwhile, accused one of the most highly regarded universities in the world of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party”. Many are closely watching the university and cheering its stand. Columbia University, another respected institution, had disappointed many by kowtowing to the Trump administration. Harvard, on the other hand, refuses to “surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government’s illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body”, in the words of its president, Alan Garber. It is a brave stand. There are few who would dare defy the most powerful person in the world. Harvard University, though, seems intent on proving that principles are not just for textbooks, but also for everyday life.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2025