Authoritarian / Unconstitutional: War on Higher Education
But the Trump administration possesses neither wisdom nor courage, and it is now in the process of using claims of antisemitism on campus as a justification for grave violations of due process and free speech. The Red Scares of 20th-century anti-communism are being replaced by a new frenzy, whipped up against left-wing supporters of the Palestinian cause.
The Trump administration sent Columbia a letter demanding that the administration make changes in its governance, its admissions processes and its academic programs "as a precondition for formal negotiations" with the administration. Yet the administration doesn't have the legal or constitutional authority to impose those demands. Columbia is still a private university that possesses its own constitutional rights.
The administration says it's just getting started. On March 10, the Department of Education notified 60 universities that they might face enforcement actions for failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment. And the president himself wrote that detaining Khalil was "the first arrest of many to come."
The Trump administration sent Columbia a letter demanding that the administration make changes in its governance, its admissions processes and its academic programs "as a precondition for formal negotiations" with the administration. Yet the administration doesn't have the legal or constitutional authority to impose those demands. Columbia is still a private university that possesses its own constitutional rights.
The administration says it's just getting started. On March 10, the Department of Education notified 60 universities that they might face enforcement actions for failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment. And the president himself wrote that detaining Khalil was "the first arrest of many to come."