Episode 97
IN THE MAKING: Why We Must Protect Universities from Government Interference
In this special solo episode, I explore the challenges facing universities in the United States, particularly as they navigate the intersection of politics and education, addressing a significant legal settlement involving Columbia University and Donald Trump, which has broader implications for how educational institutions are perceived and treated by political powers.
Universities must maintain freedom and autonomy to fulfill their roles as centers of learning and critical inquiry. When government entities begin to dictate what can be taught and discussed, it fundamentally undermines the purpose of higher education. It is critically important to protect academic freedom, and institutions ability to operate independently from political pressures.
Recent political and economic factors have meant that universities are being seen as financial burdens, but they are essential contributors to societal growth and innovation.
So I urge you all to support the preservation of academic integrity and resist the encroachments of political influence in the classroom. Let's advocate for a future where universities can continue to thrive as bastions of knowledge and independent thought.
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Note: all the opinions in this episode belong entirely to producer and host Liam Heffernan, and are in no way affiliated with, or endorsed by, any institution, company or individual.
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Transcript
With reaction and insights to the biggest stories and breaking news from the usa and a little bit of history thrown in.
Speaker A:This is America, a history in the making.
Speaker A:Hello, it's Liam here, and I'm on my own for this one.
Speaker A:And, uh, normally I'm joined by a guest, but this is a pretty ad hoc recording of in the making.
Speaker A:Not something I plan to do, and as you know, we don't do it every week.
Speaker A:But I wanted to jump on the mic and do a quick little solo episode, because I want to talk about higher education and I want to talk about universities, because in the news recently, I've seen just.
Speaker A:Just today, actually, it's updating is the settlement between Columbia University and Donald Trump.
Speaker A:They've offered to pay $200 million over accusations that it failed to protect its Jewish students.
Speaker A:Now, this is largely a separate issue to some of the things that's going on with other universities like Harvard, but it all kind of ties into the same thing, right?
Speaker A:So since Trump has got back into the White House, there has been, and I don't like to use the term, sort of war on this, war on that.
Speaker A:But there's definitely been an agenda against colleges and universities in the US that appear to not be enthusiastically falling in line with the Trump administration.
Speaker A:We're seeing threats of economic penalties, of legal action, and you might think, why am I jumping on the mic just to talk about this?
Speaker A:But, you know, here's the thing.
Speaker A:This podcast, America A History, was launched just over two years ago now, and I did that in collaboration and still collaborate very heavily with the faculty at the University of East Anglia in the uk.
Speaker A:It's a podcast made with an awful lot of passion and love for what we talk about, because we really feel like it's important to make this podcast in the way that we make it, and we're really proud of that.
Speaker A:But here's where I'm going with this.
Speaker A:We can do the podcast.
Speaker A:Other people can do the research they want to do and the projects they want to do, and they can study what they want in the way they want, because higher education and universities have the freedom and create a safe space for people to debate, to discuss, to research, and to have the conversations that need to be had that couldn't be had in other contexts.
Speaker A:The second you start to censor what universities can do and how they do it, obviously there has to be legal parameters, of course.
Speaker A:And I'm going to just caveat by saying, you know, if Columbia University or anyone else has broken the law, then obviously they need to be held to account.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But I think that what we're seeing in the US is more than that.
Speaker A:What we're seeing is nothing short of a witch hunt against institutions that don't want to fall in line with the Trump administration.
Speaker A:The long term ramifications of strangling that autonomy that is the real lifeblood of universities and of any higher education institution is that you stop that pipeline of people being able to learn and being able to then leave university and contribute to society in a meaningful way.
Speaker A:When you start trying to control the narrative and you start trying to dictate at a federal level what universities can teach, what students can say, you're creating an unimaginable amount of issues long term.
Speaker A:And this is why institutions like colleges and universities need that independence and that autonomy.
Speaker A:That's why they've needed it up to now, and that's why they will continue needing it.
Speaker A:Within the parameters of the law, of course, and wider than this, what we're seeing at a global level, what I have seen from working with UEA and from talking to many academics and dealing with many institutions in the us, the UK and around the world since doing this podcast, is we are seeing budgets tighten, we're seeing money being cut from programs, from departments, we're seeing faculties being stripped to the bare minimum.
Speaker A:Resources are being frozen and reduced.
Speaker A:There's already an insurmountable amount of challenges that institutions in higher education have to face day to day.
Speaker A:We don't need that added pressure of federal intervention, be it in the US in the UK or anywhere.
Speaker A:So I guess more than me sort of talking about the news and giving my opinion, this is more of a plea from me as someone who deals heavily and collaborates heavily with UEA and other institutions and amazing academics and professors around the world who contribute so much to this is my plea to say we need to keep governments out of the classroom, particularly in universities.
Speaker A:We can't start dictating what's taught and how it's taught, because then what's the difference between that and just propaganda?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:I think that the whole education system worldwide is being stretched enough right now.
Speaker A:We don't need this added unnecessary intervention.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And so this is me just saying, and really just declaring just how much respect universities and colleges deserve from the decision makers at the top.
Speaker A:The contributions that the faculty, the students, that everyone who uses those facilities make, it's seen as a drain on the bottom line, right?
Speaker A:It's like, oh, we need to make cuts.
Speaker A:Let's just, let's just sack some People, or make some people done, or, you know, in the case of the US let's just, let's just sue the university because we don't like what they're doing.
Speaker A:Well, then what's left?
Speaker A:Like, you end up with people just too scared to speak out, too scared to do the work that is going to make any kind of meaningful contribution long term to society and to the world.
Speaker A:And I think that the, I think in a time when the economy is strained, it's so easy to look at universities as just these huge loss makers.
Speaker A:It's just a burden on the balance sheet.
Speaker A:But the value that they create is so much wider than that.
Speaker A:And I just hope that that gets recognized and that gets seen by people that need to see it.
Speaker A:And I'm talking to you, the decision makers at colleges, at universities all over the world don't pander to pressure to cut budgets for the sake of cutting budgets.
Speaker A:I understand you need to have those financial considerations, but let's draw a line.
Speaker A:Let's understand why you're there in the first place and why you exist in the first place.
Speaker A:Because if you start taking action like suing universities, if you're the government or, or if you're running a university just making cuts left, right and center, you're going to end up with a university that isn't actually able to deliver the value that makes it worth having in the first place.
Speaker A:And that's a real issue.
Speaker A:I don't know where I'm going with this.
Speaker A:Just, I think I've had enough.
Speaker A:I think I've seen enough in the news where universities are just targeted for.
Speaker A:And I see it as, I see it as a cost cutting exercise, I see it as a money making exercise.
Speaker A:They're easy targets now, especially in America.
Speaker A:So I just hope we recognize that.
Speaker A:And somehow the people that can do something about this, do do something about this.
Speaker A:Because I love making this podcast.
Speaker A:I know that all of the amazing faculty at UEA and all of the people that I've collaborated with around the world making this podcast also love.
Speaker A:Yeah, they love making the podcast, but it's because they love doing what they do.
Speaker A:And I can assure you there's an immense amount of value in what they do.
Speaker A:So let's support that and let's shout about that as much as we can, particularly at a time when they need people to shout for them and advocate for them.
Speaker A:And of course, you know, I want to keep this podcast going as well.
Speaker A:I'd love to.
Speaker A:You know, we do this for love.
Speaker A:And I mean if you do care to support what we do, there's a link in the show notes to do that.
Speaker A:You can just give us a dollar and it helps us keep the lights on.
Speaker A:But for me this is about trying to create some real world value for the amazing work that's being done within UEA and everywhere else.
Speaker A:So rant over I guess.
Speaker A:So we'll be back with the podcast every Tuesday as normal.
Speaker A:And please do listen out and also check out the last episode we just did as well about the Chinese Exclusion act where I spoke to Marco Tabellini from Harvard Business School.
Speaker A:Great episode, really enjoyed doing that.
Speaker A:And we've got some awesome stuff coming up too.
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