Wesleyan University President blasts Trump in new op-ed, claiming Trump is a ‘threat’ to higher education
President Michael Roth criticized the Republican ticket, accusing them of “overt racism” for policies on immigration, while also citing how deportations might affect international students.”
Wesleyan University President Michael Roth denounced Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, claiming that higher educational institutions cannot be neutral during the current election cycle.
President Michael Roth published an Op-Ed titled “The Neutral Turn” in which he attacked Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance for being “threats to higher education.”
Roth stated in his article, “It is urgent that the leaders of colleges and universities stand up in defense of their interests and the values of higher education,” adding that educators “[M]ust do everything we can to help students work on campaigns and facilitate voting.”
Admitting that cancel culture has led to fear amongst educators to express political stances in the “public sphere,” Roth stated that institutional neutrality cannot be embraced while Donald Trump is on the ballot, specifically saying that “This is exactly the wrong time for such a retreat.”
Calling out the Republican ticket, Roth stated “The threats to higher education made by former President Donald Trump and Sen J.D. Vance are not subtle. Although for decades schools have interacted well with Republican and Democratic representatives, the brazen VP candidate has declared that ‘universities are the enemy.’ The Trump agenda promises to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion departments and to punish those schools who do not live up to a right-wing version of civil rights standards.”
Roth added to his criticisms a note of how Trump has promised to close the Department of Education, characterizing the move as one that will “[F]ire the accreditors who now certify which schools are eligible for governmental support.”
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Roth further outlined his disapproval for Trump policies, such as deportation for illegal immigrants. Roth wrote that the move for deportations of the millions of illegal immigrants who have come to the United States illegally will negatively affect “international students” at colleges and universities.
Roth stated: “So many of our schools have made a place for Dreamers, those students who were brought to the United States as children, and whose status in a second Trump administration is uncertain. Now Trump has promised to deport legal immigrants as well. His nasty nativism is antithetical to the recruitment of international students, a practice that has been a boon to higher education and to the world. We must not be neutral about this.”
Stating that educators “[M]ust not be neutral about this,” Roth also accused the Trump campaign of “overt racism.”
