Leaders | The campus counter-revolution

MAGA’s remaking of universities could have dire consequences

For higher education, innovation, prosperity and freedom

Harvard University library adorned with banners spelling out 'MAGA'
image: Peter Crowther/Alamy

“THIS IS an economic revolution and we will win.” Donald Trump’s line on tariffs sounds like something from Robespierre or Engels. And as any revolutionary knows, to sweep away the old order it is not enough just to raise import duties. You also have to seize and refashion the institutions that control the culture. In America that means wresting control of Ivy League universities which play an outsize role in forming the elite (including Mr Trump’s cabinet). The MAGA plan to remake the Ivies could have terrible consequences for higher education, for innovation, for economic growth and even for what sort of country America is. And it is only just beginning.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The campus counter-revolution”

From the April 12th 2025 edition

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