The article, originally published by Truthout and featuring President Todd Wolfson of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), discusses the impact of Trumpism on U.S. higher education, characterizing it as a descent toward neofascism. Wolfson argues that the Trump administration targets education to suppress independent thought and dissent, citing a historical pattern seen in authoritarian regimes.
Wolfson highlights several motives behind Trump’s assaults on universities, including the political benefit of reducing college attendance among white voters, and the desire to stifle protests and campus activism. He notes that this strategy has been decades in the making, with significant beginnings in the Reagan era when funding cuts and a push for privatization began to transform universities, aligning them more with business interests than educational missions.
Additionally, Wolfson critiques the Trump administration’s tactics, such as threatening to withhold federal grants as a means to force compliance with its agenda, posing legal challenges to defend academic freedom.
While some universities have capitulated, many are responding defiantly, led by coalitions of students and faculty rather than administrators. The AAUP is actively fighting back through organizing, legal action, and advocacy for a reimagined higher education system that includes free public education and restored academic independence.
Wolfson envisions a future higher education landscape rooted in social equity, wherein education nurtures critical thinkers essential for democracy, contrasting sharply with the current neoliberal, corporatized state of U.S. institutions. The article emphasizes the urgent need for a collective effort to reclaim higher education’s foundational values in the face of existing political threats.
