Duke, you have a choice: Stay silent as federal attacks on higher education escalate, or take a stand in defense of your students and your core values.
As of today, you have failed to stand up to federal pressure, avoiding actions that could make a real impact — such as barring ICE from the career fair on Jan. 30.
The problem isn’t just that Trump is targeting universities, it’s that you’re doing nothing to stop it.
I attended a Jan. 17 webinar where three university presidents, Patricia McGuire, Michael Gavin and Michael S. Roth, issued an ominous warning: The Trump administration threatened the students of universities in American democracy. After attending, I thought it important to shed light on university leaders you should take inspiration from.
The Trump administration’s attacks on diversity and equity can be considered a deliberate effort to undermine universities and silence marginalized voices. While some university leaders are actively resisting, you continue to hide behind the curtain, rather than dealing with the administration’s actions head-on.
Their hostility toward higher education isn’t new — but it’s escalating. From executive orders gutting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs to direct threats against academic freedom, this administration is actively working to dismantle your core values of diversity and inclusion. It won’t stop there.
In light of this, does your silence protect your students? I wouldn’t think so — laying low is simply not a feasible path. Firstly, if you are a top 10 university, you are already on the map. Secondly, if you’re as big as 8600 acres, you can’t hide. Thirdly, whether or not you appear on Fox News, if Trump wants to pause your federal grants, he will —and if the courts stop him, there’s always the possibility that he’ll find another way. Ultimately, you won’t be safe in the next four years. Hiding won't save you.
What truly protects your students? Letting an agency with a record of terrorizing immigrant communities recruit on campus — or standing with other universities to challenge this administration’s attacks? Note that dismantling DEI programs is the first step down a path toward broader anti-intellectualism.
Vice President JD Vance said, “universities are the enemy,” and former President Richard Nixon said, “Professors are the enemy.” These statements reflect a broader fear of the transformative power of education, the very power that McGuire, Gavin and Roth are prepared to defend. They stand ready to protect the institutions offering higher education, including yours.
This disregard for expertise isn’t just shaping university policy — it’s defining leadership at the highest levels of government. McGuire put it plainly, “How did we fall so far that it's possible for an entire administration to come in to have people who are so thoroughly uneducated, lacking in knowledge about the areas,” followed by a mention of Pete Hegseth’s nomination as Secretary of Defense as an example. Hegseth, a white man, was in the military for a few years and then was a Fox News host. The previous Secretary of Defense was Lloyd James Austin, a Black and highly decorated four-star general with decades of military experience. They don’t care about expertise, or education anymore. Our Cabinet nominations reflect that.
Duke should’ve been ready the day Trump got elected into office; higher education has been under attack since Trump came into office in 2016. As Gavin noted, the previous Trump administration created a federal “playbook” that states have since followed, significantly impacting the sector. One major shift has been the heightened scrutiny of DEI, which Gavin highlighted as a critical area of contention.
By targeting DEI programs, the administration is effectively dismantling initiatives designed to level the playing field for historically marginalized communities — particularly Black, Latino, Indigenous and other underrepresented groups (48% of your newest undergraduate class). Naturally, this racialized approach affects who has access to knowledge and perpetuates systemic inequities. Accepting these threats as the norm further endangers the systems designed to protect your students. Speaking out against these threats helps protect your students.
History is on your side too. Higher education has been a breeding ground for activism. From the Civil Rights Movement, to the Vietnam War protests, to apartheid divestment campaigns, students have consistently forced change when institutions refused to act. Duke itself is no stranger to this history: The 1969 Allen Building Takeover is a documented, and now celebrated, example.
Students have continually put their bodies on the line to remind universities of their responsibility to the public good — an effort that continues today. The 2016 sit-in against labor injustices. Black Lives Matter sit-ins. The protests to divest — from climate change, and the Gaza war. Yet, the university is standing idly by, refusing to acknowledge the parallels between student actions from decades past and now.
McGuire, Gavin and Roth were different than I had expected. They were free-spirits who seemed to genuinely care about their student population; they were outspoken defenders of the fundamental values behind higher education. A breath of fresh air I so desperately crave from my own university.
This got me thinking why elite universities, such as University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Johns Hopkins and my own, have chosen to not speak out against the administration. “Presidents are paid too damn much sometimes, excuse my French,” McGuire answered my question.
She’s right, after all, if you’re making millions, why would you take the risks necessary to protect vulnerable students?
Defending education is not a political stance; it’s a moral obligation. One I hope you uphold.
Duke, the world is watching. Will you lead, or will you hide?
Noor Nazir is a Trinity sophomore.
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