Latest news with #academicindependence
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Washington Post editorial admits colleges must take 'strenuous action' to restore free exchange of ideas
Harvard may win its legal battle against the Trump administration, but the fight to restore confidence in higher education as defenders of the "free exchange of ideas" would still be far from over, The Washington Post editorial board wrote on Tuesday. "In the past decade, trust in higher education has dropped precipitously. Ten years ago, a robust majority of Americans told Gallup they had a 'great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in higher education; today, only one-third of Americans say the same," the editorial stated, highlighting similar concerns over an uptick in those who say they have "very little" or "no" confidence in higher education. That percentage rose to 32% from 10% a decade ago. Such discontent with higher education has created opportunities for Republicans to seize on the trend and "attack the foundations of academic independence," the board argued. A cocktail of problems, ranging from free speech concerns to rising costs and lower returns on investment, was said to have fed into the growing distrust. In one corner, conservative faculty members have reported self-censoring due to fear of how others might respond to their opinions. The Post argued this isn't isolated to one group, however, and that left-wing voices are also choosing to stay quiet when controversial topics are discussed. "In an academic community in which 'diversity statements' are required of new hires (and professors can be denied jobs merely for criticizing them), university administrations and disciplines issue official statements embracing social justice causes, journal editors apologize for or withdraw papers that offend the left, and conservative professors are becoming an increasingly endangered species, even moderates or those on the center-left can reasonably wonder what they're allowed to say, and universities can seem drastically out of step with mainstream society," the editorial said. The editorial board went on to say that institutions of higher education lack a solid foundation to demand that the government respect their "academic freedom" unless they demand the same from their own teachers and leaders. "The worst of this political fever might be behind us, but academia will have to take strenuous action to restore its reputation as defenders of the free exchange of ideas…" "Renaming the diversity, equity and inclusion office will not suffice; they need to foster a campus environment in which the frank discussion of ideas is the core value. If they do not, they will find the public yawning as conservative attacks intensify and courts struggle to contain the damage," the Post's editorial board continued.
Globe and Mail
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Harvard granted temporary reprieve from Trump's ban on enrolling international students
Harvard University won a temporary injunction Friday to block a Trump administration decision to revoke its ability to enroll international students, a move the university said is retaliation for its refusal to surrender its academic independence. The temporary injunction, granted by a U.S. district court judge, is a reprieve for as many as 7,000 international students at Harvard, including hundreds of Canadians, who will now be closely watching as the matter is argued in court. On Thursday, the Trump administration announced that foreign students at Harvard would have to either transfer schools or lose their legal status after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked the university's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which manages foreign students' entry into the U.S. Opinion: What is happening to higher education in the U.S. right now is not reform. It is destruction Harvard president Alan Garber condemned the government's actions, which he called 'unlawful and unwarranted,' in a statement posted to the university website Friday. 'The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government's illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty and our student body,' Dr. Garber said. In its complaint filed in Massachusetts District Court, Harvard said the government's move had a 'devastating' effect on its students. 'With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body,' the complaint states. 'Countless academic programs, research laboratories, clinics, and courses supported by Harvard's international students have been thrown into disarray. The government's actions come just days before graduation. Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.' Ella Ricketts, a Harvard undergraduate from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, completed her first year of studies last month. She was volunteering at a B.C. food bank on Thursday when her phone lit up with news alerts and messages from concerned friends. She said she felt shocked and upset as the implications sank in. Affected by Trump's decision to bar international students from enrolling at Harvard? Share your thoughts with The Globe 'Harvard has been my dream for a long time, and it's a place where I really feel at home and connected to an incredible community. So it's been difficult knowing that might get taken away.' She's hopeful that Harvard's legal response to the Trump administration will help her return to school in the fall, but she has also begun to prepare for what she called 'the worst-case scenario,' that she won't be allowed back. 'You really just have to brace yourself,' she said. 'You don't know what's going to happen.' She said that, if necessary, she would consider transferring to another school in the U.S. But this news has come so late in the year, she said, that she would likely lose a semester as she waits for her application to be processed. She would also consider returning to Canada to study at a Canadian university, she said. Kirsten Weld, a Canadian-born professor of history at Harvard, said she felt like the air had gone out of her lungs when she heard the news on Thursday. 'It was truly just horrifying in the degree of escalation and the capriciousness of it. It's unbelievable to see elected officials treat people so cruelly and callously,' Prof. Weld said. According to one university website, approximately 500 to 800 Canadian students and scholars study at Harvard in a given year, part of the contingent of roughly 7,000 foreign students and scholars at the university, who make up 20 to 25 per cent of its student body. Prof. Weld said the Trump administration's actions should be seen as a warning to other institutions. 'This is the price of speaking up,' Prof. Weld said. 'Harvard has said we're not going to let ourselves be totally dominated by the federal government and have our independence and our academic freedom and our constitutional protections shredded. So the federal government's response is, 'Okay, anybody else who wants to step up, this is what's going to happen to you.' ' She said her students immediately began sending her messages asking what they should do. She said professors are telling students to stay calm and keep working and they will try to devise workarounds if the situation worsens. 'We're telling students to try and focus on their work,' she said. 'I think there are all kinds of arrangements being made right now on the fly to try and ensure the continuity of students' academic programs.' The DHS in its Thursday press release accused Harvard of creating an unsafe campus environment by allowing 'anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators' to assault Jewish students on campus. It also accused Harvard of co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending that the school had played host to and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024. The threat to Harvard's international enrolment stems from an April 16 request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation. Harvard says it provided 'thousands of data points' in response to Ms. Noem's April 16 demand. Her letter on Thursday said Harvard failed to satisfy her request, but the school said she failed to provide any further explanation. With a report from the Associated Press
