It is clear that Donald Trump isn’t exactly a superfan of America’s elite academic institutions — and the feeling is clearly common when it comes to Barack Obama’s opinion of Trump.”I have deep differences of opinion..”
Even though they were seen sharing a laugh while seated together at Jimmy Carter’s memorial service, the academic divide between Barack Obama and Donald Trump continues as wide as ever.
Sharing opinion earlier this month at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, Obama didn’t pause when mentioning the current president — his former successor.”I have deep differences of opinion with my most immediate successor — who’s now president once again,” Obama said during his speech.
Something else that clearly doesn’t sit well with Obama is how the Trump administration is handling negatively the prestigious Harvard University — an institution he has loved it, having graduated his law degree from Harvard Law School.The discussion stems from the Department of Education’s decision to freeze a stunning $2.3 billion in federal funding for Harvard. This action occured after the university refused to submit to a list of demands issued by the Trump administration.Harvard has declined to take apart its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, ban masks at campus protests, carry out merit-based hiring and admissions reforms, and decrease the influence of faculty and administrators — whom the Republican administration has implicated in being “more committed to activism than scholarship.”
”The University will not quit”
According to the White House, the list of wishlists sent to Harvard last week was aimed at solving antisemitism on campus. The proposed turned into targeted key areas such as faculty hiring practices, admissions policies, and course content.
Harvard President Alan M. Garber made it clear on Monday that the Ivy League institution won’t back down, stating, “The University will not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights.”And now, Barack Obama just took over the Harvard vs. Trump showdown — and his comments attracted attention.
As stress continue to grow between Harvard University and the Trump administration over the government’s attempt to refuse to give billions in funding, the former president has thrown his support behind his alma mater, slamming what he sees as a political overreach.
“Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect,” Obama writes on X.
“Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”
This tension between Harvard and the Trump administration has attracted a national conversation — not just about antisemitism or campus protests, but about the future of higher education in America. At the heart of it all is a fundamental question: Who gets to decide what’s taught, how it’s taught, and who belongs in the classroom?
Because Harvard locates firm in defense of academic freedom, and as figures like Barack Obama rally behind the university, the pressure is setting on other institutions to select a side.
