'A Hallmark of Autocracy': Flurry of Trump Attacks on Universities Sparks Alarm

Amid a week of scrutiny from the Trump administration on higher education, the U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it has opened investigations into dozens of universities for "allegedly engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs." The department is also probing whether six universities awarded "impermissible race-based scholarships."

The investigations are part of the administration's wider crackdown on so-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and initiatives, and comes as the Trump administration is also taking aim at universities with the purported goal of rooting out antisemitism on college campuses.

The newly announced investigations from Department of Education follows a memo issued last month by the department warning that colleges and universities that receive federal funding must cease using "race-based preferences" in admissions, scholarships, compensation, and other areas.

“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement released Friday. "Today's announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes."

Forty-five schools, including Ivy League institutions such as Yale University, are facing inquiries because of their alleged partnership with the PhD Project, an organization that supports people from historically underrepresented groups in obtaining business PhDs, according to a recent annual report from the group.

The Department of Education is also investigating six schools for "allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and one university for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race."

Meanwhile, the Department of Education on Thursday sent letters to 60 universities "warning them of potential enforcement actions" if they do not take adequate steps to protect Jewish students. Schools that received letters from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights include multiple University of California schools, multiple State University of New York schools, Harvard University, and others.

"I don't take a back seat to anyone on the subject of antisemitism. Jews are being used here as a fig leaf to advance a broader attack on universities and higher learning," wrote Josh Marshall, the founder of the outlet Talking Points Memo, in response to the Thursday statement from the Department of Education. "Trump wants to bring Universities to heel and obedience. Jews are just a convenient cudgel here and just as disposable."

U.S. President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order on January 29 pledging to combat antisemitism on college campuses, has vowed to crack down on pro-Palestine protesters at universities.

Columbia University, in particular, has borne the brunt of Trump's scrutiny—despite the fact that university administration has already demonstrated it is willing to resort to punitive measures to quell student protest.

In a March 7 press release, members of Trump's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia, and a day later immigration agents arrested a recent Columbia University graduate who played a major role in pro-Palestine demonstrations last year. The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, has been widely decried.

The Trump administration sent a letter to Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong on Thursday outlining a series of demands that Columbia must comply with in order to maintain a "continued financial relationship" between the school and the government.

The policy shifts outlined in the letter include implementing a mask ban and the granting of "full law enforcement authority, including arrest and removal of agitators," for university security. The letter requires that Columbia complete disciplinary proceedings for students involved in last year's Gaza Solidarity Encampments and occupation of Hamilton Hall. "Meaningful discipline means expulsion or multi-year suspension," according to the letter.

On Thursday, Columbia issued expulsions, multi-year suspensions, and temporary degree revocations for students involved in the Hamilton occupation.

"If the government can do this to universities, we don't live in a free society. Five alarm fire," wrote Brendan Nyhan, a professor and political scientist at Dartmouth College, of the Trump administration's demands.

Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, released a statement decrying the demands the Trump administration is placing on Columbia.

"The subjugation of universities to official power is a hallmark of autocracy. No one should be under any illusions about what’s going on here," said Jaffer.