The Trump administration’s broader campaign against higher education accuses elite universities of harbouring anti-Semitism…reports Asian Lite News
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at Harvard University, calling it an “Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution,” as his administration faces a legal battle over a freeze on federal funding.
The broadside follows Harvard’s lawsuit filed this week, challenging the Trump administration’s freeze on billions in federal support after the university refused to submit to expanded government oversight. Trump’s attack came on the heels of a new executive order targeting diversity programmes and tightening how colleges qualify for federal grants and loans.
The Trump administration’s broader campaign against higher education accuses elite universities of harbouring anti-Semitism, pushing “gender ideology,” and discriminating against white students. Several schools face threats of funding cuts, with foreign students also facing visa revocations and deportations for alleged links to pro-Palestinian protests.
“Harvard admits people from all over the world who want to rip our country apart,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, branding the university a “liberal mess.”
The administration claims last year’s wave of protests against Israel’s war in Gaza was rife with anti-Semitism. In response, Harvard disciplined dozens of students, including denying degrees to 12. Critics, however, say Trump is weaponising the issue to justify sweeping political interference in academia.
A federal judge in New Hampshire on Thursday delivered a setback to Trump’s education push, ruling that funds could not be withheld from public schools that adopt diversity policies. The ruling specifically protects the National Education Association (NEA) and Black teacher recruitment non-profit CBED from funding cuts.
Jewish lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, issued a joint letter condemning what they called the exploitation of anti-Semitism for political ends. “We reject policies that pit communities against each other,” they wrote.
Critics warn Trump’s moves threaten the very foundations of academic freedom. Professor Kirsten Weld, of Harvard’s AAUP chapter, described the administration’s efforts as “authoritarian” and aimed at dismantling the higher education sector.
