The President of the United States has made it personal. Donald Trump wants Harvard humbled. He wants America’s oldest university (1636) to stop leaning left and he is willing to undermine the independence of the American University system to accomplish his goal.

Harvard is not only the senior university in America, but it is also widely regarded as one of the world’s premier research universities. Harvard recently won two “Breakthrough” prizes, known as the Oscars of science, for its discoveries of GLP-1 diabetic research and for its landmark work in gene editing. This research was supported by federal grants for the advancement of knowledge in a competitive world.

Harvard is also known for its teaching and learning in pursuit of truth, with a faculty of recognized scholars from around the world, with many “best of class” professors in a wide variety of fields of study. 

So Trump’s attack is sort of a David versus Goliath battle, one where Harvard is the Goliath and Trump is the David, slinging stones at the more honored, recognized institution of higher education with little basis (unlike the other David in history) in fact for his seemingly endless assault upon not just Harvard, but the entire higher education system in America.

Why?

It is not really complicated, as most of Trump’s assaults are not a result of deep thoughts, but are the material of more whimsical creation. In this case, the undermining of American exceptionalism in higher education, the Trumped-up charges are two-fold. First, there is antisemitism on U.S. campuses. And second, that there are too few conservatives on university faculties.

There is antisemitism on American university campuses. It exists because our campuses are veritable bastions of free speech, where we tolerate even hate speech so long as it is not accompanied by violence. And, in the case of Israel, there is a considerable bias around the globe at the brutal genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. But there has been little violence in the protests that erupted last year across American campuses. It is, in fact, free expression that belongs in the university environment.

And it is true that there are more liberal ideas expressed in our universities than in living rooms across America. But the solution to that challenge is not to regulate the balance between right vs. left faculty members, but to allow the exchange of ideas to thrive where truth stifles falsehoods, and knowledge trumps ignorance. That is the essence of higher education.

Trump’s assault will harm the country, though. In fact, it has already done great damage. Hundreds of foreign students have had their legal visas revoked, with several students literally being arrested in the streets and hallways of their campuses. Just this week, the State Department froze foreign student visa interviews. The effects of these actions are causing brilliant young scholars to self-deport and take their emerging skills to other venues on the planet where they can safely pursue their education. It is a literal “Brain Drain” underway in America for no other reason than Trump’s angst.

As a further insult to America’s history as the prime source of new knowledge, the Trump administration has severely cut funding to NIH research and the National Science Foundation, two sources of research that benefit all Americans.

 We will survive the Trump administration, but the damage Trump is doing to our foundations is deplorable and unwarranted. It is an assault upon our values and our strengths.

Jim Crawford is a retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.