Michael Hochberg
Introduction
Recent events have highlighted the federal government’s leverage over America’s elite universities; the Trump administration has acted rapidly and with great force to punish anti-semitism on campus. By threatening to withdraw funding, the administration has demonstrated the ability to bend the universities to their will on this critical issue. But this is a short-term fix and will be reversed immediately should the threat of punishment be withdrawn: A grudging willingness by faculties dominated by the progressive left to tamp down the most extreme behaviors on campus does not represent a change in institutional culture or values. America’s elite universities need to be reshaped into institutions where the faculty and student bodies include citizens with views that broadly represent the diversity of thought across the society.
The relationship between the federal government and America’s elite universities was a driving force in the recent election cycle and has since become headline news. In a public announcement, President Trump called for the reestablishment of the American university: His intention is that American traditions and Western civilization would henceforth be valorized and Marxist indoctrination eliminated. In this vision, entrance and exit exams will be institutionalized to measure the impact of higher education; bureaucrats who enforced “diversity, equity, and inclusion” will be removed. The accreditation system for colleges and universities will be reformed to enforce these changes; those academic institutions that do not comply will find their endowments taxed. President Trump wants to make academia great again. How much of this can be done directly by the federal government is an open question.
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