One hundred days into the second Trump administration, college students’ lives have been altered in ways many of us could not have imagined.
Through funding cuts, the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and visa revocations, this administration has targeted programs that primarily affect college students and higher education. Most recently, these actions prompted more than 550 university leaders, including our very own president Joseph E. Aoun, to sign a declaration condemning President Donald Trump’s “overreach” and his “endangering [of] American higher education.” In an era of misinformation and consistent polarization of topics that are supposed to be considered facts, the victim of Trump’s second presidency is the truth.
Trump has used a variety of excuses for his attacks on higher education, from saying that universities’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are “radical” to branding them as “wasteful.” As this administration continues silencing universities and bullying them into submission, it’s clear that education — and its ability to advance our critical thinking skills — poses a threat to this administration.
Multiple American leaders have expressed concerns about Trump’s attacks on higher education. Former President Barack Obama spoke out against Trump’s decision to freeze $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard University — one of the few times the former president has criticized a succeeding president’s political maneuvers. Similarly, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gave a rare statement rejecting Trump’s demands to impeach a federal judge.
One of Trump’s executive orders, signed Jan. 29, is titled, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” — in it, the government claims that teaching about white privilege and pushing for transgender acceptance is “radical” and “anti-American.” The Trump administration is vilifying teachers who are attempting to facilitate respectful environments. This vilification is especially upsetting since these students are at a stage where critical thinking and empathy are pertinent for development.
The biggest threat to students unfolded March 20, when Trump signed an executive order to dissolve the Department of Education. This was yet another political move aimed to limit students’ access to learning. When the President deems these resources as unnecessary, it leaves students and their families lacking the opportunities they deserve. Describing the DoE as an unnecessary expense is absurd, especially when the services it provides all children in public schools with an education.
When you begin to attack education at the most basic level, it is obvious that your goal is to curb young childrens’ learning in the classroom, effectively preventing them from developing the necessary tools to question your agenda. “Anti-American ideologies” have never been ones that promote equality and education; they have been ones that promote hate and divisiveness in already turbulent times. The United States has always been a melting pot full of different identities and cultures that all accept and rally around Americanism.
This is where higher education can play a role. In defending themselves, universities have the opportunity to do exactly what they were created for: support freedom of information and encourage political discourse. As college students, we pay universities to grow our minds and advance our talents with the hopes that we will enter the workforce with the ability to change the world for the better.
In this new era of American politics, we the people have to define what it means to be American. When our government is signaling that universities must stay silent or risk losing their funding, research opportunities and international perspectives, we must decide which side of history we want to be on. Do we choose the side of the silenced or the side of the empowered?
If these first 100 days have shown us anything promising, it is that Trump is floundering. Last week, the Trump administration reversed the termination of thousands of international students’ Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records.
While Trump may not care for the law, the U.S. legal system is continuing to hold. Harvard has upheld its values and decided to fight back against threats of federal funding freezes to stand with its students and research the truth.
Although the next 1,361 days of this presidency may feel uncertain and our universities continue to face threats, we as students must continue to do what we do best: learn.
Ava Vitiello is a second-year political science major and columnist for The News. She can be reached at vitiello.a@northeastern.edu.
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