AhlulBayt News Agency: More than 220 college and university leaders around the United States have denounced the US President Donald Trump administration’s dangerous “overreach” into academic affairs.
Trump has launched a widely condemned crackdown against top US universities, including Harvard, over what is widely perceived as part of his administration’s measures against free speech.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the academics described the Trump administration move as “unprecedented government overreach and political interference ... endangering American higher education.”
The scholars warned that such political interference risks undermining academic freedom nationwide.
Signatories included officials from major public research institutions—including the University of Virginia and University of Wisconsin-Madison—as well as smaller private colleges such as Amherst and Kenyon.
The statement, signed by a total of 224 people as of Tuesday afternoon, centers on the growing concerns that the Trump administration is attacking academic freedom.
“We must oppose undue government intrusion into the lives of those who learn, live and work on our campuses,” it said.
Several signatory university presidents—including Harvard’s Alan M. Garber—now confront severe financial threats due to the administration’s sweeping cuts to research funding. Garber revealed Monday that Harvard filed its lawsuit after rejecting ultimatums requiring plagiarism investigations of faculty and mandatory “viewpoint diversity” monitors across departments.
The administration retaliated by freezing $2.2 billion in federal funds when Harvard declined these conditions.
Universities across the US and Europe have seen massive protests condemning Israel’s devastating Gaza offensive that started on October 7, 2023, leaving the blockaded Palestinian enclave in ruins.
The Trump administration has begun acting on its warning to deport international students participating in pro-Palestinian protests, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing the revocation of at least 300 student visas this week.
Officials allege these students threaten America’s “foreign policy and security interests” through their criticism of Israel’s ongoing, genocidal assault on Gaza’s civilian population.
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