Universities everywhere are in crisis

The Hindu

6 days ago

On July 21, a federal judge challenged the U.S. administration's reasons for slashing billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard University. The funding threats and cuts reflect a larger worldwide trend of right-wing governments forcing higher education institutions with their ideological agendas. Across the world, universities, once imagined as havens of free inquiry, are now being transformed into sites of political control.
Weaponised budgets
This pressure is particularly evident in the U.S., where Ivy League universities have become the centre of a cultural conflict. Portraying these institutions as havens for 'anti-Americanism', Mr. Trump tightened visas for overseas students and threatened funding cuts to colleges that defied his definition of 'free speech'. The U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions gave right-wing activists even more confidence and spurred calls for broad changes in admissions rules. While Columbia University was pushed into adopting a strict definition of antisemitism, a measure critics say silences legitimate debate about Israel and Palestine, the 2024 congressional campaign forced Harvard's president, Claudine Gay, to resign. Major donors withdrew millions in funding from institutions that resisted these pressures, leaving faculty fearful that discussions on race, gender, or foreign policy might provoke similar reprisals.
The effects are felt globally. In Australia, using the nebulous concept of 'national interest', ministers have vetoed peer-reviewed humanities research proposals covering topics such as climate activism and Indigenous politics. Law faculties have faced criticism for deviating from 'black letter law' and incorporating decolonisation into their courses. Universities are also under pressure to pass anti-foreign interference audits to protect rich international student enrolment and engage in persuasive self-censorship on sensitive subjects, such as China, Palestine, and Australia's colonial past.
In India, populist leaders see public universities as elitist strongholds. Police visit campuses to quell dissent; budgets are cut; and vice-chancellors replaced. Jawaharlal Nehru University, once a hub of open debate, now frequently faces the label of 'anti-national'. In 2023, the University Grants Commission mandated compulsory courses in 'Indian knowledge systems'; this is seen as advancing Hindu nationalist narratives. The South Asian University, established by SAARC as an international institution, pressured a faculty member to leave after his PhD student cited Noam Chomsky's criticism of the Modi government.
From Budapest to Bahrain, the pattern is clear. Viktor Orbán forced Central European University out of Hungary. Turkey dismissed thousands of academics who supported a peace petition. Brazil and the Philippines drastically cut social sciences' funding, silencing studies on inequality. Gulf states impose tight restrictions on conversations about religion, gender, and labour rights. Independent research is now seen across continents as a threat to national security.
Along with these direct attacks is a quieter but equally destructive force: the neoliberal makeover of higher education. Rankings, patent creation, and the pursuit of student 'employability' are transforming universities into corporate entities. People discount feminist studies, sociology, history and other subjects which explore power dynamics as unnecessary extravagances. Students become paying customers, faculty members turn into disposable service providers, and trustees prioritise brand management above intellectual exploration. The far right exploits this market-driven logic, portraying universities as taxpayer-funded breeding grounds for sedition, while simultaneously cutting public funding essential for maintaining intellectual diversity.
Defending the commons
According to the Academic Freedom Index, produced by V-Dem and partner organisations, academic freedom declined in 34 countries between 2014 and 2024, not only in autocracies but in democracies as well. Indicators measuring institutional autonomy, freedom of research, and campus integrity dropped to their lowest levels since the early 1980s. Every erosion of academic freedom limits society's ability to tackle pressing global challenges such as climate change, the impacts of AI, and democratic deterioration.
Despite these challenges, hope remains. Networks of academics, students, and civil society groups around the world are resisting ideological pressure. Faculty groups and student coalitions in the U.S. actively promote inclusive education, which forces some colleges to rethink too rigid definitions of antisemitism. Legal collectives and independent academic platforms still guard areas for critical inquiry in India.
However, survival alone is insufficient. Universities must recover their public agenda. Governing boards should shield hiring, promotions, and funding decisions from political interference. Donors must support uncomfortable inquiry rather than dictate it. Alumni can fund independent academic chairs or legal defence efforts. Faculty members must engage in university governance instead of leaving it to bureaucrats, while students should remember that campuses are democratic commons, not merely credential factories. If fear, profit motives, or majoritarian arrogance dictate what can be taught or expressed, we risk inheriting not just weakened universities but diminished democracies.
Amrita Nambiar, Assistant Professor of Law, Vinayaka Mission's Law School, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation (DU); Amrithnath Sreedevi Babu, Sessional Academic and PhD candidate, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Australia