Viewpoint: Trump’s attack on US universities is an attack on all universities

This year marks the 80th anniversary of one of the most influential science policy papers ever published: “Science: the Endless Frontier,” a report by presidential advisor Vannevar Bush that served as the blueprint for the post-WWII rise of the US as the world’s leader in scientific research, innovation and education. Bush famously wrote: 

“Support of basic research in the public and private colleges, universities, and research institutes must leave the internal control of policy, personnel, and the method and scope of the research to the institutions themselves. This is of the utmost importance.” 

Ironically, at a time when advances in biotechnology, engineering and artificial intelligence are poised to transform science and medicine and improve lives, American universities are struggling to respond to increased political control and the prospect of draconian funding cuts. The academic and institutional autonomy and the scientific process promoted by Bush and espoused for generations as a core principle are under threat. Faced with the prospect of review and cancellation of grants that have already been awarded – to the tune of $400 million in the case of Columbia University and $9 billion in the case of Harvard  – universities must choose whether to cave in to political demands, resist, or seek a middle ground.

Academia under siege

So far, with some exceptions, the response has been unsettling. I visited the US earlier this year and observed that long-term colleagues – literally from one day to the next – were muting their voices in the face of seemingly anti-science politics and threats of budget cuts. Hundreds of webpages were taken down to be scanned for forbidden words like diversity, gender, inequity, and injustice. While Princeton and Brown are resisting, Columbia reached a settlement with the Trump administration and Harvard has been ambiguous about its plans. 

Academia is under siege, and we do not know where it will end. Academics outside the US should stand in solidarity with our American colleagues. The attacks we see inside the US should be viewed as attacks on the academic community at large – figuratively for sure, but also literally.

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Just a few days ago, the news broke that the northernmost university in the world – UiT The Arctic University of Norway – had been requested to declare that it will refrain from promoting diversity and abstain from doing research on climate and the environment as a prerequisite for being on the receiving end of a US grant. When this came into the open the university quickly withdrew its grant proposal. Even if no harm was done, this incident attests to the fact that transgressions of academic freedom are prone to spread and infect communities way beyond the major geopolitical epicenter in U.S.  As a Norwegian newspaper put it: “Trump has arrived in Tromsø”. 

The new US administration appears to see universities and academia as part of a “deep state” bureaucracy deserving of budget cuts and other reprisals. A glaring example is the backdrop of the proposed cut to the Columbia budget. According to the New York Times, about 25 years ago Trump fell out with Columbia over a property deal, suffering a loss of $400 million – the sum he now threatens to withdraw in federal funding. Perhaps a coincidence, but more likely an ill-advised payback. It is important to note that reprisals are levied to other institutions as well, such as law firms that have assisted in cases directed towards the new administration or Trump himself. We see the contours of a particular form of rule – a “retributocracy” where the urge for revenge appears to be a key driving force for political decisions.   

It is incumbent on us, as academics outside the US, to join the opposition against political infringements. But it could be seen as presumptuous of us to offer advice on how to deal with them. How can we possibly fathom the complexity of the situation at hand when the university leadership is confronted with a choice between caving in to political pressure or standing firm and risking substantial losses of funds and livelihoods? It is a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situation. 

Stand firm

Still, my hope is that strong support from academics abroad would sway decisions in the direction of resistance rather than compliance.  Seen from the outside, threats imposed by the new administration are often just departure points for negotiations; and even if the separation of powers is challenged it should still be possible to muster support from the judicial branch, as well as the legislative branch that is invested with the power of the purse. Several law firms – exposed to retributions akin to those experienced by academic institutions – have chosen to litigate rather than kneel. 

Last month, Nature published an online survey finding that 75% of US researchers who responded now consider leaving the country. Those who choose to leave should be welcomed here in Europe. Resources should be made available for this purpose, recalling the situation in the 1930s when many European scientists found refuge in Princeton, Columbia, and other US universities. Now is also the time to reduce or even remove tuition fees at European universities for American students who fear for their freedom and safety and look for other places to study. 

Attacks on universities not only harm the universities themselves, but will have disastrous effects on society at large. For example, withdrawal of funds from specific universities combined with the proposed cut to grants from the National Institutes of Health – allowing for a maximum overhead of 15% – will significantly impact medical research with long-term consequences for health. There is no better time to reaffirm the principles outlined by Vannevar Bush, which created a global framework for research, innovation and education at the world’s great universities. 

Ole Petter Ottersen is former president of Karolinska Institutet and of the University of Oslo, and founding chair  of the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. A neuroscientist, he is currently professor emeritus at the University of Oslo.