Malevolence Compounded by Incompetence, Higher Education Edition

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

Michael S. Schmidt and Michael C. Bender at NYT:

Harvard University received an emailed letter from the Trump administration last Friday that included a series of demands about hiring, admissions and curriculum so onerous that school officials decided they had no choice but to take on the White House.

The university announced its intentions on Monday, setting off a tectonic battle between one of the country’s most prestigious universities and a U.S. president. Then, almost immediately, came a frantic call from a Trump official.

The April 11 letter from the White House’s task force on antisemitism, this official told Harvard, should not have been sent and was “unauthorized,” two people familiar with the matter said.

Trump's efforts to discourage international students will hurt American students, especially those from modest backgrounds. Stephanie Saul and Troy Closson at NYT:

For years, American colleges and universities have attracted growing numbers of international students who often pay full tuition, effectively subsidizing domestic students.

But the Trump administration’s recent move to deport hundreds of students here on visas, and his trade war with China, have stoked fears that the United States is no longer a welcoming place for international students. This week, the administration also asked Harvard to hand over lists of foreign students, adding to a sense of panic on campuses.
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Losing foreign students could also be bad for the broader economy, experts say. International students pumped nearly $44 billion into the American economy and generated 378,000 jobs last year alone, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, which promotes international education.

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International student enrollment had been on an upward trajectory for decades. Gaurav Khanna, an economist at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied foreign students, said the revenue they bring in helped some public universities weather the Great Recession.

Dr. Khanna’s research found schools that could attract students from abroad were often able to avoid raising in-state tuition for domestic students and major research and instructional cuts.

“To keep doors open for local students, you need to let in more international students,” he said.

"Retaliation Is Real"

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

 Zachariah Hughes at Anchorage Daily News:

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a room full of Alaska nonprofit leaders that the tumult of tariffs, executive orders, court battles, and cuts to federal services under the Trump administration are exceptionally concerning.

“We are all afraid,” Murkowski said, taking a long pause. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”

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“It’s called the checks and balances. And right, now we are not balancing as the Congress,” Murkowski said.

She expressed alarm at how the judiciary was increasingly being treated as a partisan entity, saying it was putting America in “a very dangerous place, because you stop believing in the rule of law.” And she called on Alaskans to “be affirmative” in protesting on behalf of programs they want to remain in place so that elected leaders are kept aware of where support and frustration exist among constituents.

“I think it’s important the concerns continue to be raised rather than letting the fatigue of the chaos grind you down,” Murkowski said.

Jade Walker at CNN:

Defy President Donald Trump and retribution will be swift. That’s the message the White House is sending to Harvard University after the school refused to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies, audit the viewpoints of students, faculty and staff and alter rules for on-campus protests. In response, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal grants at Harvard. The IRS is reportedly making plans to rescind the university's tax-exempt status. The Department of Homeland Security canceled two federal grants worth $2.7 million and threatened to strip Harvard of its ability to enroll international students unless it turns over its disciplinary records. And Trump trashed the school in a rant on his Truth Social site. As the university grapples with the sudden loss of funding, Harvard researchers are scrambling to figure out what to do about studies that are already in progress. Yet even as each school weighs having to cut budgets and staff, nearly 800 faculty members have signed a letter urging the university to resist the Trump administration’s demands.

Plouffe at Harvard

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, appeared at Harvard's Institute of Politics on Wednesday. He took questions about Obama's New Hampshire loss during the Democratic primaries, Sarah Palin, and the future of grassroots organizing.