Penn Faculty Criticize Trump’s Attacks on Higher Education
In a recent piece, Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives at Penn, criticized President Trump’s (1968 Wharton graduate) administration’s actions against higher education.
Penn professors David Asch and Jonathan Zimmerman, Penn Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Amy Gadsden, and Dean Katharine Strunk of the Penn Graduate School of Education were among the nearly two dozen faculty members who co-signed the March 27 guest essay that was published in The New Republic. The essay was written in partnership with Princeton professor Julian Zelizer.
The piece said that Trump’s “myriad” attacks will “undercut their funding and trample their independence” and referred to the Trump administration’s efforts as “a war on all higher education.” Emanuel and Zelizer said that for higher education to continue to make “important, ongoing contributions to the economy, science, knowledge, and citizenship,” its institutions must “collaborate” with the government.
“America’s colleges and universities make America great. They drive innovation, prosperity, national security, and social mobility,” the article read.
The op-ed also called on university instructors to do a “better job” of expressing that higher education is a public good, as the public “often forgets” the benefits of college outside of raising individuals’ incomes, Strunk said in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“If I could ask my colleagues in higher education across the country to do one thing, it would be to spend more time explaining why colleges and universities are important for our society, our democracy, and for the world,” Strunk wrote.
Emanuel and the other Penn faculty members co-signed the piece were contacted for comment.
The piece outlined a series of arguments asserting that Trump’s “war” on colleges and universities would affect “every sector of our economy in every state, every American regardless of their politics or whether they work for a university, and the very fabric of our society.”
According to Emanuel and Zelizer, there would be “vast” repercussions if higher education “falters” because researchers, investors, and businesses will relocate their capital and expertise. The two also contended that higher education is the “eighth-largest” export from the United States and that American colleges “attract” brilliant students from around the globe.
“Through operations, employee payroll, capital improvements, student, alumni, and visitor spending, the University of Pennsylvania contributes over $37 billion to the southeastern Pennsylvania economy, including $547 million in tax revenue to Philadelphia,” the article read.
The article also claimed that civic engagement and higher education are directly related, pointing out that college graduates are more likely than their non-college-educated peers to vote, be involved in volunteer and community organizations, and donate “three times more to charity.”
Emanuel and Zelizer claim that students can gain far more from a college education than financial success.
“College fosters a transition to adulthood. By exposing students to new ideas and information, colleges challenge them to deeply self-reflect on their identities and inherited values and expand their sense of the world and its possibilities. Sharing this process with their peers fosters lifelong friendships, essential to a healthy and fulfilling life,” they wrote.
The authors acknowledged that colleges and universities are “far from perfect. ” They stated that universities needed to “dismantle restrictions” on free speech and consider ways to “adapt education to twenty-first-century technologies.”
However, they insisted that the “denigration and destruction” of American colleges is not the path to success.
“It’s vital that the public does not lose sight of our important, ongoing contributions to the economy, science, knowledge, and citizenship. This is no time to sit silently as these cherished institutions, the envy of the world, are under dire threat,” Strunk wrote.
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Penn Dems Host Scanlon to Discuss Key Political Issues
The purpose of the group’s promoting speakers like Scanlon, according to Penn Dems Vice President and first-year college student Tejas Bhatia, told The Daily Pennsylvanian, is to help people better understand the changes coming from Washington.
“I think the mission was successful because she really touched on a lot of things that students care about from issues like immigration to funding cuts,” Bhatia said. “There are things that are important, and students need to be aware of them, and we’re glad this is a space where students can learn.”
Scanlon started by summarizing the events of the previous week in Pennsylvania and Congress. She then discussed the Republican-led SAVE Act, which would require voters to provide proof of citizenship at the time of registration.
Scanlon also discussed the recent state Senate election in Pennsylvania, where Democrats captured a traditionally Republican seat in an area that U.S. President Donald Trump, a 1968 Wharton alumnus, won by 15 points last autumn.
“There’s a very narrow margin in the state Senate that Republicans control,” Scanlon said. “But we got one vote closer last night, so getting that little ray of sunshine had people pretty excited.”
When asked about changes to education spending, Scanlon highlighted the negative impact these cuts would have on Philadelphia’s already underfunded schools. She emphasized how crucial Title I funding is for public schools, pointing out that Philadelphia would lose about 5,000 teachers if reduced.
In response to these threats to education, Scanlon urged students and community members to speak out.
“We’re trying to help people understand it’s not about faceless bureaucrats in D.C.,” she said. “We’re seeing when people do speak up forcefully and contact their representatives, we’re getting some pushback and some retreat from these positions.”
For example, as part of a Penn Dems effort to encourage relationships between club members and the local government, the club set up a phone bank following Scanlon’s speech. During this time, members called representatives of the local government to urge them against cuts to education funding.
Scanlon discussed immigration as she concluded her comments, emphasizing her work to protect the large Venezuelan community in her district.
“The rest of the world has figured out that we need immigrants,” Scanlon said. “I’d like to see comprehensive immigration reforms because I believe we can have safe borders and humane policy.”
In an effort to clarify any misunderstandings and concerns about political changes, the Penn Democrats informed the DP that they want to keep inviting elected officials to speak at their meetings.
“I think a lot of people don’t have a lot of hope in the government right now,” Bhatia said. “So the opportunity to ask candid, open-ended questions to elected officials lets you get out all your fears and anxieties about political and social issues.”
Scanlon made her most recent visit to Penn in October 2024, when she attended a tabling event organized by the Penn Democrats. There, she urged young people on campus to support former Vice President Kamala Harris.
6 thoughts on “BLOG-PROJ WEEK 8”
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Penn Faculty Criticize Trump’s Attacks on Higher Education
In a recent piece, Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives at Penn, criticized President Trump’s (1968 Wharton graduate) administration’s actions against higher education.
Penn professors David Asch and Jonathan Zimmerman, Penn Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Amy Gadsden, and Dean Katharine Strunk of the Penn Graduate School of Education were among the nearly two dozen faculty members who co-signed the March 27 guest essay that was published in The New Republic. The essay was written in partnership with Princeton professor Julian Zelizer.
The piece said that Trump’s “myriad” attacks will “undercut their funding and trample their independence” and referred to the Trump administration’s efforts as “a war on all higher education.” Emanuel and Zelizer said that for higher education to continue to make “important, ongoing contributions to the economy, science, knowledge, and citizenship,” its institutions must “collaborate” with the government.
“America’s colleges and universities make America great. They drive innovation, prosperity, national security, and social mobility,” the article read.
The op-ed also called on university instructors to do a “better job” of expressing that higher education is a public good, as the public “often forgets” the benefits of college outside of raising individuals’ incomes, Strunk said in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“If I could ask my colleagues in higher education across the country to do one thing, it would be to spend more time explaining why colleges and universities are important for our society, our democracy, and for the world,” Strunk wrote.
Emanuel and the other Penn faculty members co-signed the piece were contacted for comment.
The piece outlined a series of arguments asserting that Trump’s “war” on colleges and universities would affect “every sector of our economy in every state, every American regardless of their politics or whether they work for a university, and the very fabric of our society.”
According to Emanuel and Zelizer, there would be “vast” repercussions if higher education “falters” because researchers, investors, and businesses will relocate their capital and expertise. The two also contended that higher education is the “eighth-largest” export from the United States and that American colleges “attract” brilliant students from around the globe.
“Through operations, employee payroll, capital improvements, student, alumni, and visitor spending, the University of Pennsylvania contributes over $37 billion to the southeastern Pennsylvania economy, including $547 million in tax revenue to Philadelphia,” the article read.
The article also claimed that civic engagement and higher education are directly related, pointing out that college graduates are more likely than their non-college-educated peers to vote, be involved in volunteer and community organizations, and donate “three times more to charity.”
Emanuel and Zelizer claim that students can gain far more from a college education than financial success.
“College fosters a transition to adulthood. By exposing students to new ideas and information, colleges challenge them to deeply self-reflect on their identities and inherited values and expand their sense of the world and its possibilities. Sharing this process with their peers fosters lifelong friendships, essential to a healthy and fulfilling life,” they wrote.
The authors acknowledged that colleges and universities are “far from perfect. ” They stated that universities needed to “dismantle restrictions” on free speech and consider ways to “adapt education to twenty-first-century technologies.”
However, they insisted that the “denigration and destruction” of American colleges is not the path to success.
“It’s vital that the public does not lose sight of our important, ongoing contributions to the economy, science, knowledge, and citizenship. This is no time to sit silently as these cherished institutions, the envy of the world, are under dire threat,” Strunk wrote.
**************
Penn Dems Host Scanlon to Discuss Key Political Issues
The purpose of the group’s promoting speakers like Scanlon, according to Penn Dems Vice President and first-year college student Tejas Bhatia, told The Daily Pennsylvanian, is to help people better understand the changes coming from Washington.
“I think the mission was successful because she really touched on a lot of things that students care about from issues like immigration to funding cuts,” Bhatia said. “There are things that are important, and students need to be aware of them, and we’re glad this is a space where students can learn.”
Scanlon started by summarizing the events of the previous week in Pennsylvania and Congress. She then discussed the Republican-led SAVE Act, which would require voters to provide proof of citizenship at the time of registration.
Scanlon also discussed the recent state Senate election in Pennsylvania, where Democrats captured a traditionally Republican seat in an area that U.S. President Donald Trump, a 1968 Wharton alumnus, won by 15 points last autumn.
“There’s a very narrow margin in the state Senate that Republicans control,” Scanlon said. “But we got one vote closer last night, so getting that little ray of sunshine had people pretty excited.”
When asked about changes to education spending, Scanlon highlighted the negative impact these cuts would have on Philadelphia’s already underfunded schools. She emphasized how crucial Title I funding is for public schools, pointing out that Philadelphia would lose about 5,000 teachers if reduced.
In response to these threats to education, Scanlon urged students and community members to speak out.
“We’re trying to help people understand it’s not about faceless bureaucrats in D.C.,” she said. “We’re seeing when people do speak up forcefully and contact their representatives, we’re getting some pushback and some retreat from these positions.”
For example, as part of a Penn Dems effort to encourage relationships between club members and the local government, the club set up a phone bank following Scanlon’s speech. During this time, members called representatives of the local government to urge them against cuts to education funding.
Scanlon discussed immigration as she concluded her comments, emphasizing her work to protect the large Venezuelan community in her district.
“The rest of the world has figured out that we need immigrants,” Scanlon said. “I’d like to see comprehensive immigration reforms because I believe we can have safe borders and humane policy.”
In an effort to clarify any misunderstandings and concerns about political changes, the Penn Democrats informed the DP that they want to keep inviting elected officials to speak at their meetings.
“I think a lot of people don’t have a lot of hope in the government right now,” Bhatia said. “So the opportunity to ask candid, open-ended questions to elected officials lets you get out all your fears and anxieties about political and social issues.”
Scanlon made her most recent visit to Penn in October 2024, when she attended a tabling event organized by the Penn Democrats. There, she urged young people on campus to support former Vice President Kamala Harris.
https://mmcdermott7.uneportfolio.org/week-8/