President Trump v.s. Harvard: Ricocheting Attacks on Higher Education

Gabriella Ronquillo ’26

As of April 14, the Trump administration has frozen 2.2 billion dollars in federal funding for research at Harvard University, citing its refusal to comply with federal orders. Notably, the federal government requested that Harvard hire a third-party to vet the student body, faculty, and leadership for “viewpoint diversity,” or a variety of social and political beliefs; limit faculty and students’ influence over university policies; and most frighteningly, act as a liaison to immigration officers by reporting misconduct of international students to the government. The ultimatum the government posed to Harvard reflects the immense power our government has over the financial stability of educational institutions. It also raises questions about the limits on the government’s power. To what extent should the government control how higher education institutions operate?

Trump’s potential intervention in university policy reflects the untangleable relationship between the education system and democracy. The Founding Fathers Benjamin Rush and Thomas Jefferson didn’t envision an America without a higher education system. As noted by Maurizio Valsania of The Conversation, Rush advocated for a national university to teach people about law and government, and Thomas Jefferson believed that democracy and liberty is safeguarded by the educated “mass of the people.”

In the 20th century Red Scare, however, higher education was put at odds with the government. During the Cold War against the Soviet Union in the late 1940s and 50s, the U.S. government searched for communist sympathizers that threatened the U.S. At that time, Harvard was also targeted by anti-communist attacks. In a 1965 article of The Harvard Crimson, alum Ben W. Heineman jr described how, in McCarthy fashion, the National Council for American Education published Red-Ucators at Harvard, a list of “subversive” Harvard professors. Higher education was no longer perceived by the government as the key to upholding democracy. Instead, universities were perceived as radicalizing agents for this country’s downfall. 

Now, President Trump has spoken out against Harvard, stating in a conference, “The students they have, the professors they have, the attitude they have is not American…So we’ll pull back the grant.” The current presidential administration affirms the views on higher education held nearly a century ago: the government must fight back against colleges and universities that are the breeding-grounds for un-American values. These same “un-American” institutions teach people how to critically think and advocate for social change as a member of a democracy. Such values are not too far from what Rush and Jefferson envisioned for how universities could help people assert their liberty and maintain power in their government. By undermining higher education, President Trump finds himself with fewer capable opponents. Therefore, getting an education is proving to be an important way of making our voices heard.

Are attacks on funding to Harvard a sign of a weakening democracy? Are the values the Trump administration has for democracy in alignment with those of our Founding Fathers? Amidst the tense and complicated relationship between the government and universities, it is crucial for students to decide.