ISSUES

Trump Picked a Fight With Higher Ed. It’s Still Learning to Punch Back.


Within his first days in office, Trump issued an executive order banning travel to the United States from seven largely Muslim countries. The decree sent colleges into a panic, as they tried to encourage students from the affected countries to remain calm — while also advising them not to travel abroad, lest they be barred re-entry.

The ensuing months, filled with a flurry of orders with far-reaching implications, challenged the deliberative nature of academe, forcing swift legal action on multiple fronts.

“There was going to have to be a more active, personal, sustained focus,” said Feldblum, who is now executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. “That was already clear by the end of 2017. But even at that point we had no idea what was coming.”

Read the full article from the Chronicle of Higher Education here.