‘We are on the front lines of a war against civil society by the new administration’
In the first of three University of Pennsylvania forums last Thursday, several university heavyweights talked about “How Politics are Reshaping America’s Great Universities.”
Panelists included Wesleyan University President Michael Roth, New York University President Emeritus John Sexton, and Irene Mulvey, former president of the American Association of University Professors.
“Over the past decade, both state and federal government actors have exerted increasing pressure and influence on higher education,” the event description reads. “They have threatened to withhold funding [and they have sought to influence the hiring of faculty and the content of the curriculum, sometimes successfully.”
The panelists also considered “current threats […] that could transform” the academy.
Roth took “current” literally as he said higher ed is “on the front lines of a war against civil society by the new administration,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Roth, who’s ripped the reversal of Roe v. Wade (“the language of a minority of right-wing, religious ideologues”) and Donald Trump’s alleged attacks on democracy and “rule of law,” and has advocated universities take political stands against Trump, criticized the influence of wealthy donors.
“These are rich guys trying to have their way,” Roth said. “You know something about that at Penn. You have billionaires who are used to throwing their weight around, and they’ve done it here. And now they are doing it throughout the whole country.”
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Roth (pictured) appeared to be referencing the withdrawal of Stone Ridge Asset Management CEO Ross Stevens’ $100 million donation following former Penn President Liz Magill’s late-2023 congressional testimony on campus antisemitism.
The AAUP’s Mulvey referred to Magill’s (and others’) testimonial travails as a “witch hunt” and “unAmerican.”
Mulvey also said “attacks” on DEI — diversity, equity, and inclusion — were “attempts to revive the prejudices of the past and erase any progress we’ve made toward becoming a multiracial democracy.”
DEI programs merely are an “attempt to enact racial justice,” Mulvey claimed, and added they should continue “whether it says DEI on the door or not.”
Mulvey also said “entire fields of study” are being attacked now instead of individual professors “based on ideology preferred by the party in power.” To this, Roth said it will be “people studying gender and feminist studies [that] will go first.”
There was a bit of actual introspection among the panelists; Roth said elite institutions especially “foster an atmosphere of condescension and a monoculture of political homogeneity,” while Penn’s Eric Feldman noted academics “have to ‘think long and hard about the criticisms [and] where they came from.'”
The next two forums, “The Price of Knowledge: Is a College Degree Worth the Cost?” and “The Opening of the American Mind: Higher Education in the Future,” take place on February 26 and April 9 respectively.
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IMAGES: U. Pennsylvania; CBS Mornings/Youtube
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