DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> demands unprecedented control at <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ColumbiaUniversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ColumbiaUniversity</span></a>, alarming scholars and speech groups</p><p>By COLLIN BINKLEY and JAKE OFFENHARTZ<br>Updated 7:52 PM EDT, March 14, 2025</p><p>NEW YORK (AP) — "The Trump administration brushed aside decades of precedent when it ordered Columbia University to oust the leadership of an academic department, a demand seen as a direct attack on academic freedom and a warning of what’s to come for other colleges facing federal scrutiny.</p><p>"Federal officials told the university it must immediately place its <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MiddleEasternStudies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MiddleEasternStudies</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SouthAsianStudies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SouthAsianStudies</span></a>, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AfricanStudies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AfricanStudies</span></a> Department under 'academic receivership for a minimum of five years.' The demand was among several described as conditions for receiving federal funding, including $400 million already pulled over allegations of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/antisemitism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>antisemitism</span></a>.</p><p>"Across <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/academia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>academia</span></a>, it was seen as a stunning intrusion.</p><p>"'It’s an escalation of a kind that is unheard of,' said Joan Scott, a historian and member of the academic freedom committee of the American Association of University Professors [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AAUP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AAUP</span></a>]. 'Even during the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/McCarthy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>McCarthy</span></a> period in the United States, this was not done.'"</p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrests-1921e26f6b5a8585ad5cbda790846324" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">apnews.com/article/columbia-un</span><span class="invisible">iversity-mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrests-1921e26f6b5a8585ad5cbda790846324</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CharacteristicsOfFascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CharacteristicsOfFascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USPol</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DumbingUsDown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DumbingUsDown</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Authoritarianism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Authoritarianism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AcademicFreedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AcademicFreedom</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a></p>