The Golden Trident

By Morgan Cranford

Education is fundamental to the liberty and innovation of our nation. However, under President Donald Trump’s latest term, higher education in the United States of America has fallen under direct attack. Trump’s campaign against Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, along with his plan to abolish the United States Department of Education, represents an era defined by a problematic view of education and what it does for our society. 

In January of 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14151, establishing that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should “terminate all mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities relating to ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’.” This portrayal of DEI programs as a radical violation of civil liberties undermines the positive work that many universities do. These programs are designed to give students from all backgrounds- regardless of race, gender identity, sexuality, age, etc.- equal access to knowledge and education. Discontinuing these programs only serves to silence already marginalized groups and reinforce the feeling of exclusion and entitlement that already exists all over this country. 

Harvard University failed to comply with this executive order, refusing to eliminate DEI programs within their school and admissions process, along with failing to comply with several other demands made by the Trump Administration (including banning face masks, reforming admissions and hiring policies to emphasize “merit-based” criteria, and conducting audits of students and staff for ideological diversity). This action prompted Trump to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding going towards Harvard University on the grounds that the school’s behavior was antisemetic and revealing of a clear political bias. In response, the university has filed a lawsuit in federal court, making the assertion that the funding freeze is in violation of First Amendment rights. The move against Harvard is part of a larger issue of the Trump Administration targeting elite universities because they are perceived as liberal strongholds. Other top universities like Princeton, Columbia, and Brown are facing similar pressures from the government but haven’t fought back against the administration to the extent that the Harvard administration has. 

The Trump Administration’s actions towards these organizations have broader implications as they fight against the right to higher education. These attacks undermine the missions of universities all over the country who aim to include everyone and be a hub for knowledge and consciousness. With efforts like the 2020 threat to deport online international university students during the pandemic, research and revenue becomes limited at these institutions. International students make up significant portions of top research universities like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Stanford and without them we only limit ourselves. At present, the United States is one of the top countries for education and research in the world; however, at the rate things are going, it may not be for much longer. 

America represents for a lot of people a place of hope and freedom, a place where they can explore and research and develop with material support from the government. The Trump Administration’s rhetoric and propaganda now encourages political interference in academic freedom, deeming certain schools “too liberal” for conservative views and eroding the principle that private universities are free from government censorship. True academic freedom allows for the acceptance of all ideas, while also allowing people the privilege to have discourse and discussion when there is disagreement. Conservative, liberal, and everything in between should be accepted in academic environments; diversity allows for growth. 

The only way that we can continue to have influence in academic spheres is to stop this harmful view of education as a weapon against conservative viewpoints. This Administration’s behavior not only undermines trust and restricts academic advancement, it also weakens institutions that are vital to American society. Schools like Harvard coming under direct attack is the first step towards a world where education is disregarded as something important to our culture, a change that will define who we are as a nation. 

The United States cannot afford to have higher education as an enemy. The citizens of this country ought to be thinking for themselves and living in a world where it is encouraged to do so. Otherwise, we become merely tools to a politicized version of academia that accepts only certain worldviews and limits academic innovation and advancement everywhere.