Inside Trump's devastating attacks on higher education

When President Donald Trump started his attack on Columbia University, educators across the U.S. saw the writing on the wall: If an Ivy League school with massive funding could falter, then other schools will likely fall in line with Trump’s ridiculous demands, too.

Cracks in the foundation of higher education have already started to appear. One professor, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of losing her job, teaches gender studies at a university being targeted by Trump. 

It started with the name change of offices that might be considered to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Then, programs intended to hire and retain faculty of color were shuttered.

Graduate students, namely people of color and students on visas, were advised by professors to start using code words in the titles of their research papers out of fear that the Trump administration would flag their studies. 

Reminiscent of colleagues who teach in Iran, the professor told Daily Kos about her concerns as she notices her own actions mirroring her friends who live under an authoritarian regime. 

"Seeing some of the same considerations that my friends enact in places like Iran is just deeply upsetting,” she said. “And I don't like to make those sort of comparisons, because I think the words that we use should be really intentional so they don't lose power.”

Continuing, she said, "But you know, advising students not to travel, advising students to erase their social media accounts, advising students to title their research projects in coded ways. I mean, that's all stuff that my friends at Iranian universities would always do for self-protection."

In addition to Trump’s investigation of Columbia, eyes have been on Mahmoud Khalil—a legal permanent resident who was arrested and detained for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests—and Trump’s travel ban that’s reminiscent of his 2017 Muslim ban. 

Khalil has now been labeled a “terrorist” by the Trump administration.

“We’re professional nerds. We argue over the difference between rhetoric and discourse. To be described as ‘terrorists’ is crazy to me,” the professor told Daily Kos.

Trump has targeted universities in a couple of different ways. 

On one hand, he is claiming that universities are participating in “race-exclusionary” practices that leave out white students through  programs that specifically seek to include diverse students. On the other hand, he also purports that universities are creating antisemitic environments through their teachings on Palestine and Israel and ongoing protests on college campuses. 

But the professor said that these claims are simply an attempt to—at the very least—censor higher education. At most, they could lead to shuttering the higher education system entirely. 

“We’re sort of bracing for greater censorship. I think we're bracing for greater levels of surveillance. I think we're bracing for widespread cuts, which have already started,” she said.

In her own studies, she says she has been the target of right-wing attacks. Through closed-door meetings with an ethics review board, she discovered that she was being targeted because her research included keywords such as “women,” “muslim,” and “LGBTQ.”

Meanwhile, her university—like many others—has been silent as Columbia has given in to Trump’s demands. 

On March 21, Columbia agreed to implement policy changes to its Middle East program and to change rules regarding on-campus protests. 

“I haven't seen many comforting statements from universities that would convince me that we're protected, just as I haven't seen many comforting statements from elected officials,” the professor said.

Another professor of queer and trans studies, who also requested to remain anonymous, told Daily Kos that they’re scared of what’s happening at Columbia, and their own university’s silence hasn’t offered them any peace. 

“I'm not a U.S. citizen, and I’m a nonbinary person, they said. “I feel like a lot of the concerns my students and I have are the same. I'm looking for someone else to tell me that I'll be supported, and I haven't gotten that yet.”