This past week, Harvard University took many by surprise in a rare moment of institutional integrity. In light of the Trump administration’s demands to silence student protests, dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and freeze over $3 billion in federal funding, Harvard refused acquiescence and sued the federal government. However, as over 200 university presidents signed onto a public statement speaking out against President Donald Trump’s “unprecedented government overreach,” President Linda Mills was nowhere to be found. NYU, a leading research institution in the United States, has a responsibility to follow Harvard’s example in publicly opposing the administration’s onslaught against higher education. But given the university’s resounding silence on this escalating crackdown, chances of rivalry are likely null and void.
Since his return to office, Trump has cracked down on college campuses across the country, stripping universities of billions of dollars in federal funding. As the administration stripped Columbia University of about $400 million in federal funding “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,” Trump also launched investigations into the University of California on the basis of alleged “antisemitic hostility and hate.” Dozens of U.S. colleges across the country’s major cities that receive federal funding have been targeted for protest activity against Israel’s siege in Gaza. In this escalated attack on pro-Palestinian speech, immigration and transgender rights, NYU has successfully evaded retribution.
According to Trump’s rubric, our institution has seemingly done everything right. NYU immediately cracked down on protests in support of Palestinian resistance by falsely mischaracterizing them as antisemitism, going as far as to arrest, suspend, terminate and remove students and faculty remotely involved in any pro-Palestinian activity. In March, the Anti-Defamation League awarded NYU a B grade on its Campus Antisemitism Report Card, which evaluated the university’s creation of a Title VI coordinator and changes to its Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment policies. This grade, in comparison to other universities with similar pro-Palestinian activity, is very high.
Since protests against Israel’s war in Gaza erupted in October 2023, NYU has been an oddity in the midst of peer university administrations undergoing significant leadership changes and facing federal pressure to mitigate presumed instances of antisemitism. Just months later, the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were grilled before Congress — not about the student protesters they arrested and brutalized, but about their responses to antisemitism on campus. Soon after, Harvard and UPenn’s presidents both resigned. Columbia University’s president also resigned in August 2024 amid a federal investigation into the university’s handling of antisemitism on campus.
Harvard isn’t the only university standing up to Trump. Several universities — Rutgers University, the University of Nebraska, Indiana University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Michigan State University — have begun to form a “mutual defense compact” in resistance to the federal administration’s overreach into academic institutions. This includes coordinating legal strategies to challenge federal cuts and setting up emergency funds. This collective resistance stands in stark contrast to NYU’s silent evasive maneuvers.
To NYU: The events of the past month have demonstrated that compliance won’t save you. Columbia complied, and still lost millions in funding. Harvard refused, and they too have been met with punitive measures. NYU’s strategy may buy the university some time, but it wont buy it immunity. A university’s foundation lies in its ability to hold fast to its academic freedom and intellectual curiosity in the midst of external or political pressure. Gearing up for a fight rather than shying away from it is the best chance to preserve the value of higher education and academic freedom. Over the next four years, universities are going to get dragged through the mud no matter what. It’s time NYU has a backbone while it happens.
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