With its history, wealth and influence, Harvard University is the most prestigious higher education institution in the United States. It is therefore not surprising that it has become the focus of President Donald Trump’s attacks on higher education, says Fredrik Logevall, who has been a professor of history at the private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, since 2015.
“Trump feels bitter towards Harvard and the other Ivy League universities because they have never accepted him. You could already see clearly in Project 2025 that he and his allies see higher education as a threat and an enemy of what they want to achieve,” he continues.
“What is the point of withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for research into deadly diseases? What does the United States gain by withdrawing that money?”
He finds it hard to understand the strategy behind the president’s actions, even though critics on the right have long held the view that universities are strongly influenced ideologically by the left.
“What is the point of withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for research into deadly diseases? What does the United States gain by withdrawing that money?”
Since the beginning of the year, there has been a great deal of pressure on university teachers and researchers in the United States. In early March, Columbia University in New York bowed to White House demands. Trump had cancelled SEK 4 billion in federal research funding, partly to force the university to crack down on the student movement on campus, where the Trump administration had claimed there was anti-Semitism during protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
A few weeks later, it was Harvard’s turn. The Trump administration froze funding equivalent to around SEK 20 billion, again on the grounds that the university’s management had not done enough to counter anti-Semitism on campus. The White House also demanded that Harvard change its governance and admissions processes and terminate courses in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
However, Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, refused to comply, and since then the conflict has escalated, most recently with President Trump’s demand that the university no longer accept foreign students.
“Harvard learned from the events at Columbia that if it agrees to some of Trump’s demands, he will just demand more. Harvard’s president and the rest of the administration understood that they needed to do things differently, and we are proud that they have taken such a determined stance against Trump. Even though we are worried about what lies ahead, it makes us feel stronger,” says Logevall.
He teaches and researches political history and foreign policy and has been working for some time on a biography of John F Kennedy. He has just completed the second of three parts. Earlier this week, Logevall took part in a seminar in Uppsala on what is happening in the United States and where the country is going. The seminar was organised by the Swedish Institute for North American Studies (SINAS) at Uppsala University.
How has your work been impacted by Trump’s attack on universities?
“I don’t depend on the government’s financial support in the same way as my colleagues in fields such as medicine and engineering. For them, this is an existential crisis. Trump’s policies strike at the core of what they do. I have to remind myself that I am fortunate to still be able to do my job.”
What is everyday life like for teachers and researchers at Harvard?
“A lot of people are struggling, and there are meetings held constantly. Harvard is a wealthy university and can support these researchers, at least in the short term. But not everyone can count on full support anymore, and that causes nervousness about what will happen to spread. Some research projects have already been cancelled due to the withdrawal of financial support. It is a really tragic situation.”
Is there a danger of self-censorship, of academics being more cautious?
“I have not felt that myself yet, and I hope that what is happening now will not influence what I want to say and the way I express myself. But there is obviously a risk, especially for researchers in fields that are more dependent on public funding. Those in the toughest situation are colleagues at publicly owned universities, such as the University of California and Ohio State University. They don’t have the same financial situation as we do, and it is probably only a matter of time before Trump attacks them too.”
“If you are a student from Sweden, or any other country, you ask yourself whether you really want to study at Harvard.”
International students are an important source of income for many American universities. President Trump’s move to prevent foreign students from studying at Harvard is therefore very worrying, he stresses.
“I do not think it will hold up in court, but the damage has already been done. If you are a student from Sweden, or any other country, you ask yourself whether you really want to study at Harvard. I have also received comments from students we already have here on campus that they are considering continuing their studies in Germany or Canada, for example.”
How might co-operation with Swedish and other foreign researchers be affected?
“This has very serious implications for international co-operation between researchers. Especially in sciences like medicine and engineering. Academic freedom is under attack. It is a question of having the freedom to teach what you think is appropriate for your subject and to conduct research on what you think is most pressing in your field. Without that freedom, we lose something extremely valuable to any democracy.”
Logevall holds both American and Swedish citizenship. He is a visiting professor at Uppsala University and visits Sweden 3-4 times a year, for example to lecture and collaborate in various ways with SINAS. He regularly writes debate articles in the media, including in the New York Times. Last October, he wrote one in the Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter with the headline ”Why I still believe in America.”
“I want to remain optimistic. I think there will be a battle in the coming months, but that in the end we will retain fundamental academic freedom. I hope that some Republicans who have been silent so far will realise that academic freedom is of great benefit to America; a key to who we are.”
Research universities have been a success story for the United States, he emphasises.
“Just look at all the Nobel Prize winners and all the patents for technological innovations that American universities have produced. It is incomprehensible that the Republicans in Congress are going along with Trump’s policies and that the Democrats are not speaking out more forcefully.”
