The New York Times recently published an article Are We Losing Our Democracy? where they looked at various signs of dictatorship or autocracy and whether we had crossed that line. (I also provided the text in a Facebook post for those without NY Times access). I am going to look at each segment in turn and provide my own thoughts.
#9 - Attempts To Take Over Universities
Authoritarians, recognizing that universities are hotbeds of
independent thought and political dissent, often single
them out for repression. Mr. Putin and Mr. Erdogan have closed
universities. Mr. Modi’s government has arrested dissident scholars, while Mr.
Orban has appointed loyalist foundations to run universities.
Trump was once famously quoted as saying that he loved the poorly educated. He has more recently commented that smart people don't like him. There is definitely an anti-intellectual streak among those who are his strongest supporters. He's playing to their distrust of "the elites", but he's also attacking a segment of society most likely to see through his authoritarian tendencies.
His attacks on universities came via two main approaches: opposition to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and purported support for Jewish student who were recipients of antisemitic attacks. DEI was a Day One target, pushed by the Heritage Foundation and their Project 2025 attack on anything progressive. It started out as a "DEI Purge" throughout the federal workforce, spearheaded by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. It quickly expanded to an effort to eliminate DEI initiatives even among private entities, especially universities, reviled by the Right as "woke".
Other than the obvious mission of universities to educate, they are also where much of our scientific research takes place, often funded by federal government grants. Trump has threatened to withhold university funding for those that have anything to do with DEI, including classes that touch on the issue. Trump is using this fiscal threat to mold what is taught in university classrooms.
While there is no question that some demonstrators protesting Israel's actions in Gaza have targeted Jewish students with verbal abuse, and sometimes even violence, the majority are focussed on the government of Israel, not individual Jews. Trump has accused universities of antisemitism due to their supposed failure to protect Jewish students and threatened sanctions based on that pretext. Trump's Justice Department has also conflated protests in support of Palestinians in Gaza with support of Hamas and accusing them of materially supporting terrorism. They have used this excuse to revoke the visas of foreign students who were studying here legally.
A signature policy of Mr. Trump’s second term has been his
attack on higher education. He has
cut millions of dollars of research funding, tried
to dictate hiring and admissions policies and forced
the resignation of the University of Virginia’s president. It is a
sustained campaign to weaken an influential sector home to many political
progressives who do not support him — and to many young people, who typically
form the crux of anti-authoritarian protest movements.
Trump is using the threat of withholding government grants to control universities, knowing that much of the opposition to his policies come from university faculty and students.
Part I - Stifling Dissent and Free Speech
Part II - Persecution of Political Opponents
Part III - Bypassing the Legislature
Part IV - Using The Military For Domestic & Political Purposes
Part VI - Declares National Emergencies Under False Pretenses
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