Although it has faded from the headlines in the last few weeks, amidst the endless tsunami of Trump news, the administration’s assault on elite universities has not abated.
It seems to me that universities like Harvard, with an international reputation and considerable financial and management resources, needs to stop seeing themselves as 'American' and become international - in fact they should have done so decades ago, not least for their own protection.
By now, these universities could have set up their own campuses in Europe, in China, in Singapore, in Tokyo, and in Dubai. Had they done so, they might still be primarily American in outlook, but financially and politically would be far less vulnerable to the political vagaries of the American government, or indeed the economic woes of the American economy.
It is not too late; there are many struggling universities in Europe that would welcome a takeover and injection of both status and funding, and Harvard's collaborations with, for example, top Chinese universities like Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, could easily be extended into a shared campus.
As it stands, at the very least the reputation of American universities will be damaged simply by being in Trump's dumbed down America. At worst, Trump's ire could actually bring down such institutions, by hacking away at their finances and destroying public trust by making intellectual pursuits a political pariah in a land that embraces stupidity.
The Trump-led backlash against atheist elitism and the universities is certainly, and unsurprisingly, turning out to be like a bull in a china shop. We have to ask what compelled so many Americans, myself included, to vote for this. One reason might be, as you said, "These voters derive little benefit from the research done at places like Harvard."
It seems to me that universities like Harvard, with an international reputation and considerable financial and management resources, needs to stop seeing themselves as 'American' and become international - in fact they should have done so decades ago, not least for their own protection.
By now, these universities could have set up their own campuses in Europe, in China, in Singapore, in Tokyo, and in Dubai. Had they done so, they might still be primarily American in outlook, but financially and politically would be far less vulnerable to the political vagaries of the American government, or indeed the economic woes of the American economy.
It is not too late; there are many struggling universities in Europe that would welcome a takeover and injection of both status and funding, and Harvard's collaborations with, for example, top Chinese universities like Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, could easily be extended into a shared campus.
As it stands, at the very least the reputation of American universities will be damaged simply by being in Trump's dumbed down America. At worst, Trump's ire could actually bring down such institutions, by hacking away at their finances and destroying public trust by making intellectual pursuits a political pariah in a land that embraces stupidity.
The Trump-led backlash against atheist elitism and the universities is certainly, and unsurprisingly, turning out to be like a bull in a china shop. We have to ask what compelled so many Americans, myself included, to vote for this. One reason might be, as you said, "These voters derive little benefit from the research done at places like Harvard."