Wesleyan President Michael Roth denounces Donald Trump and JD Vance, criticizes ‘institutional neutrality’ in new op-ed
Wesleyan University President Michael Roth calls Trump a “threat to higher education” and urges schools to avoid being “neutral” this election season in a new op-ed.
Many universities have recently embraced “institutional neutrality,” but “this is exactly the wrong time for such a retreat,” Roth states in an op-ed Wednesday.
“As one of the most consequential elections in American history approaches, we must do everything we can to help students work on campaigns and facilitate voting,” he states.
Roth urges academic leaders to oppose the Trump campaign, stating:
Although academic leaders usually stay neutral about a candidate’s political statements, today’s campaign rhetoric is not politics as usual. The threats to higher education made by former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance are not subtle.
Although for decades schools have interacted well with Republican and Democratic representatives, the brazen VP candidate has declared that “universities are the enemy.” The Trump agenda promises to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion departments and to punish those schools who do not live up to a right-wing version of civil rights standards.
Trump has promised to close down the Department of Education and fire the accreditors who now certify which schools are eligible for governmental support…We must not be neutral about this.
Roth also urges “institutional leaders” to condemn the “mass deportation the Republican nominees threaten,” as “schools have made a place for Dreamers.”
He further calls on educators to “give up the popular pastime of criticizing the woke and call out instead the overt racism that has rippled through the Trump campaign over the past few months.”
Roth suggests that some university leaders might “keep their heads down” to avoid negative outcomes from a Trump victory. He compares their attitudes to that of German philosopher Martin Heidegger during the Nazi rise to power.
“We should not be silenced because of fears of appearing partisan,” Roth states.
Finally, Roth laments the lack of “political and intellectual diversity” on college campuses and calls for “an affirmative action program for conservatives.”
However, “wanting more conservatives on campus is perfectly compatible with opposing the direct threats to education that we have heard over the past several months,” Roth states.
In 2022, President Roth openly condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, The College Fix previously reported.
“The decision striking down Roe doubled down on … the language of a minority of right-wing, religious ideologues,” Roth stated.
MORE: College students won’t engage in critical religious discussions: op-ed
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