After civil servants, licensed with a snap of the fingers, and among them many very high level scientists, Donald Trump and his clan undertook to laminate American universities. At least the most prestigious, those who welcome a number of foreign students and teachers and who therefore represent, in addition to knowledge and science, a certain openness to the world. So many qualities as the Trumpists, in their grim ignorance, amalgally in the tote of “wokism”, a word which serves them to delegitimize anyone who dares to oppose them, consider a non-binary genre or provide the slightest support to the Gaza population. And they don’t do lace: they claim reforms and tutorship bets.
The University of Columbia has had no choice but to submit, for example accepting the Middle East department and strengthening the repression of Propalestinian demonstrations. Harvard president dared to say “no” to Donald Trump, refusing to fold despite the threats of budget cuts. Will he be the one who will allow to trigger a revolt movement against a president capable of undermining a senior information services on the sole advice of an influencer, and who prefers to play golf rather than compete in planetary crises? The shock caused by the offensive on Harvard is such that Barack Obama has broken the silence that he had imposed himself since the election of the republican billionaire, protesting against this attempt “To stifle academic freedom”. We can therefore hope that others have the courage to do the same. But nothing guarantees it. Because, in a country where the first amendment of the Constitution, a pillar of American democracy, guarantees freedom of expression, a climate of suspicion and fear begins to settle. The irrational becomes the norm, everyone knows that their life can tip over in a few hours. America, which holds its strength from the brewing of the individuals who compose it and an almost limitless creative energy, is on the way to losing the very essence of its power.
