AMSTERDAM, Sept 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The Trump administration is attacking 
higher education institutions in the United States as authoritarian 
governments seek to quash independent thought, the former president of 
Harvard University said Wednesday.

The prestigious university is at loggerheads with Trump, who believes Ivy 
League schools are unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias 
and anti-Semitism, particularly around the protests against Israel's campaign 
in Gaza.

Trump has sought to cut more than $2.6 billion of funding to Harvard, and has 
moved to block entry of international students -- a quarter of its student 
body.

"The truth here is that our government, the American government, is attacking 
higher ed and universities," Claudine Gay told the Netherlands Institute for 
Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences in Amsterdam.

"The agenda here is about destroying knowledge institutions because they are 
centres of independent thought and information," she added.

"That is the story. Nothing justifies that. Nothing explains that. Other than 
authoritarians don't like independent centres of thought and information," 
said Gay in rare public comments.

- 'Distressing' compliance policy -

Gay, the first black woman to lead Harvard in its 368-year history, stepped 
down in January 2024 amid a row over alleged anti-Semitism on campus 
following protests about the Gaza war.

Her resignation followed a heated appearance at a Capitol Hill hearing.
Republican lawmaker Elise Stefanik likened student calls for a new intifada -
- an Arabic word for uprising that harks back to the first Palestinian revolt 
against Israel in 1987 -- to inciting "genocide against the Jewish people in 
Israel and globally."

When Stefanik asked Gay whether such calls would violate Harvard's code of 
conduct, Gay replied: "We embrace a commitment to free expression even of 
views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful.

"When speech crosses into conduct that violates our policies, including 
policies against bullying, harassment or intimidation, we take action," she 
said during the hearing.

The blowback to the Congress hearing was rapid and intense.

Former Harvard student and multi-million-dollar donor Bill Ackman claimed 
that the high-profile row had led to "billions of dollars of cancelled, 
paused, and withdrawn donations to the university".

Gay apologised but eventually resigned in January 2024 after allegations that 
she improperly cited scholarly sources in her academic work added to the 
pressure.

In her comments in the Netherlands, she said Harvard appeared to be moving 
towards a policy of "compliance" with Trump's demands.

"This is distressing... Not only for those of us who are on campus and face 
the consequences directly, but also for all of those in higher ed who look to 
Harvard for leadership and guidance."