Negotiate tough deals with Ivy League: Rufo’s advice to Trump and what it says about US academia’s culture wars

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo is urging Donald Trump to take a hard line against Ivy League universities in a potential second term, framing them as liberal strongholds resistant to reform. This marks an escalation of long-standing Republican distrust of elite academia. Rufo’s strategy targets funding, DEI programmes, and institutional autonomy, signalling a broader cultural and political battle over who controls knowledge, influence, and values in American higher education.

Most Recent