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Press Release
Knight First Amendment Institution, Columbia University
Excerpt: Multiple universities have recently announced that they will consider or rely on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA’s) definition of antisemitism in policing speech on campus.
The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “It’s disappointing that some of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education are agreeing to curtail and punish criticism of Israel in the name of fighting discrimination. As major free speech groups have recognized, using the IHRA definition of antisemitism to delineate the outer boundaries of free speech will have the effect of proscribing or deterring legitimate political speech and scholarship."
Susan H. Greenberg
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: Columbia University is preparing to strike a deal with the Trump administration, taking steps to address alleged civil rights violations on campus in exchange for the release of $400 million of withheld federal funds, The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported.
According to the Journal, the university is in discussions with the administration to pay out roughly $200 million, some of which would go to the government and some to students and professors who allegedly have had their rights violated.
Karin Fischer
Chronicle of Higher Education
Excerpt: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security set up a special unit to scrutinize international student and scholar activists for possible violations of visa or immigration law, pulling analysts from investigations in areas such as counterterrorism and cyberterrorism to handle the workload.
William C. Mao and Veronica H. Paulus
Harvard Crimson
Excerpt: One in two faculty members who responded to a survey of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences said the Trump administration’s actions have discouraged them from expressing their political views.
More than 70 percent reported feeling negatively about the state of academic freedom at United States colleges and universities. Pressure from the government was the most cited threat to academic freedom, with 85 percent of respondents identifying it as a major fear.
Cathy Young
The Bulwark
Excerpt: Last month's annual conference of the Heterodox Academy, a group founded ten years ago by psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt to support intellectual diversity in academia, had to confront a cultural and political landscape drastically changed from previous years. “HxA,” as the group styles itself, is known for taking on threats to academic freedom and intellectual openness from the progressive (or, if you will, “woke”) left. But this is 2025, not 2015. Not only is Donald Trump in the White House again, but his second administration is waging an aggressive attack on the universities in a crusade against academic “wokeness.”
Samuel A. Church and Cam N. Srivastava
Harvard Crimson
Excerpt: At an information session with more than 500 attendees, Harvard staff told international students to expect tight screening at Boston Logan International Airport and keep a careful handle on their internet presence, which could be vetted for pro-Palestine posts.
