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Susan H. Greenberg
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: President Donald Trump issued an executive order Wednesday that outlines several “forceful and unprecedented” steps his administration will implement to combat “the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and in our streets since October 7, 2023,” according to a White House fact sheet.
The order directs the Department of Justice to take “immediate action” to “protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” the fact sheet said.
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For the good of the Nation, university leadership must seize this occasion to drive essential reforms—a process some began by adopting positions of institutional neutrality and improving policies related to campus protests. Before the end of 2026, I call on every postsecondary institution to describe to the American public your commitments to rigorous teaching, pathbreaking research, and national service—commitments that make our universities a bedrock institution of the American republic.
Now the administration is back with Compact 2.0, formally titled "A National Call to Action to University Presidents and Governing Boards." It includes some rhetorical flourishes intended to make it seem less threatening to teaching, learning and research. But make no mistake: It once again asks colleges and universities to align themselves with a far-right agenda at the expense of students’ education and the public’s well-being.
