Impromptu Can universities survive this?
May 27, 2025
Catherine Rampell, a columnist at The Washington Post focused on economics and education, joins fellow columnist Jason Willick, who covers law and politics, to dissect President Trump's combative stance on universities. They explore the implications of potential funding cuts aimed at higher education, particularly for international students who are vital to university finances. The conversation also unveils the political tensions in academia and discusses the looming tax increases on university endowments and their potential impact on accessibility for all students.
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Universities as Political Targets
- Universities have moved left politically and become targets because of that and due to rising authoritarian populist resentment against intellectual elites.
- The anti-Semitism claims are convenient for political agendas but don't constitute a genuine crusade by the administration.
Yale Reunion Political Anecdote
- Dana Milbank shared that the recent Yale Political Union head was a conservative, illustrating political diversity on campuses.
- This counters the narrative universities are uniformly leftist but does not change the overall political shift to the left.
Federal Funding Fuels Political Clashes
- Federal government interference with universities creates political wedge issues mostly driven by conflicting values on identity politics.
- Universities need to find ways to reduce reliance on federal funding to avoid politically motivated punishments.