After Trump’s attacks on universities, campuses realize: If it can happen there, it can happen here
Proposed funding cuts are not about stabilizing prices at the grocery store. They are part of an ideological war launched by conservatives who want to quash critical thinking and punish their foes.
Higher education is under attack. Across the nation, universities and colleges are facing unprecedented scrutiny. Following directives issued by President Donald Trump, the federal government has launched assaults on academic freedom, research, and the right to self-expression on our campuses. The hour is now that we stand up to these bullies, not only as individual students but as a collective.
Calling this an assault is not hyperbole. It is real, systemic, and will leave the United States, and some of the world’s most renowned research institutions, like Rutgers University, worse off.
Harvard University, a leader in higher education, just recently announced a hiring freeze amid funding threats by the federal government.
This comes just days after the Trump administration announced the freeze of over $400 million in research funds to Columbia University for not stopping what it called “pro-terrorist protests.”
And most recently, a letter was sent to more than 60 universities, including Rutgers, placing them under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education.
Here is the harsh reality: If it happened there, it can happen at any university.
These actions are not about cutting our budget or stabilizing prices at the grocery store for the middle class. In fact, as Trump parades around a range of different golf courses in the weeks since his inauguration, the price of groceries has continued to soar nationally.
This is not about economics, it is an ideological war launched by conservatives who are attempting to defeat critical thinking and punish anyone who stands in the way.
Across the nation, MAGA Republicans are actively trying to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from our classrooms and institutions. We have already seen our collegiate counterparts like Ohio State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Nebraska take steps to close their campuses’ DEI offices.
This is not about economics.
These efforts will roll back decades, if not centuries, of progress. Let’s be clear, these policies are an attempt to ostracize and further marginalize our communities of color.
By wiping these offices off our campuses, we will see the erasure of belonging, challenges to original thought, and a less diverse classroom — all valuable components of a well-rounded college education.
Our universities should uplift our students, and I am proud that our state government of New Jersey has chosen to defend these ideals in higher education. May the day never come when we see these policies creep onto our campus.
At the federal level, the president’s recent decision to shutter the Department of Education would systematically harm our inner-city and low-income regions that rely on federal funding to hire educational specialists and keep classroom sizes small.
The Department of Education’s mission has never been to regulate the discussions in our classrooms; it has been to ensure equitable access in the classroom, a mission now compromised.
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We know these policies are bad for universities, and we know these policies are bad for our nation. For nearly 250 years, the American Experiment has thrived by welcoming diversity. We are a nation of immigrants built on the backs of disenfranchised communities.
By implementing these proposals, we erase the historical legacy of communities of color and only further promote hate. While these changes have not reached our doorstep yet, we know if we stand idly by, eventually they will find their way here.
So let it be known: If the day comes when this harmful virus of hate arrives on our campus, the student body of Rutgers University will protest, we will organize, and we will defeat these un-American policies.
Our motto at Rutgers is, “Sun of righteousness, shine upon the West also.” In tumultuous times, that mantra has helped Scarlet Knights everywhere serve as leaders in higher education.
In a time where the sky is clouded with political agendas and the sun is no longer visible, may we all find the light within ourselves to persevere in the face of adversity.
Jack Ramirez is the student body president at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.