Looks like President Donald Trump and the Ivy League universities have commenced a rather aggressive war of attrition, with neither side appearing to back down from their respective positions at any point soon.
Harvard University has been an especially prominent target for the Trump administration, which is rather evident in yet another presidential action issued by the White House.
According to this presidential action – “Enhancing National Security by Addressing Risks at Harvard University” – Trump makes it rather clear that hosting international students is a privilege, not an inherent right.
“Admission into the United States to attend, conduct research, or teach at our Nation’s institutions of higher education is a privilege granted by our Government, not a guarantee. That privilege is necessarily tied to the host institution’s compliance and commitment to following Federal law. Harvard University has failed in this respect, among many others,” the presidential action asserted.
Without a doubt.
And as a direct result of that failure, Harvard has now been barred from hosting additional international students via the Student Exchange Visa Program (SEVP) – at least at this juncture in time.
However, while Harvard has been publicly hammered for weeks, Trump actually pulled out the most aggressive stops with Columbia University – one of the greatest epicenters of antisemitic activity.
As detailed by The Hill in a separate report, Trump has made it abundantly clear that Columbia has gone way beyond the pale in terms of its implicit endorsement of antisemitism … and such behavior most definitely incurs consequences.
And one of the most significant consequences of all includes the loss of accreditation, which will affect a university even more drastically than restricting foreign students.
“After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus. This is not only immoral, but also unlawful. Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon declared.
Do they ever. Especially as those “accreditors” have – perhaps intentionally – played their part in rendering student debt even more unsustainable.
“Just as the Department of Education has an obligation to uphold federal antidiscrimination law, university accreditors have an obligation to ensure member institutions abide by their standards,” McMahon added.
Once again, do they ever. And, generally speaking, such “standards” do not – or should not – align with egregious antisemitism, coupled with support for terrorism.
And that’s precisely why the Trump administration may well be targeting Columbia University even more aggressively than Harvard University.
Though, at this point in time, the Trump administration is still giving the elitist university in New York City more time to wake up.
“We look forward to the Commission keeping the Department fully informed of actions taken to ensure Columbia’s compliance with accreditation standards including compliance with federal civil rights laws,” McMahon concluded smoothly.
Will Columbia University wake up?
Time remains to tell, but it would probably be wise to make sufficient adjustments to avoid a potential loss of accreditation.
Which would be devastating.
“Losing accreditation would be the biggest hit any university could take from the Trump administration. It means a school would no longer be eligible for federal student loans or Pell Grants, making an institution inaccessible to most of the country,” The Hill warned.
Hm …
The radical teachings of Columbia University becoming “inaccessible to most of the country?”
Perhaps that is not the worst outcome after all … especially if the university continues to double down on antisemitism.
Author: Ofelia Thornton
