Pentagon Halts Cooperation with MIT, Yale, and Columbia University Over Anti-Americanism Allegations

The administration of President Donald Trump has taken another step in escalating the conflict with the American academic community. Secretary of Defense Amy Hegseth announced the suspension of Department of Defense cooperation programs with elite universities, which in her view have become centers of anti-American and anti-military indoctrination. The decision concerns, among others, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yale University, and Columbia University.The Ivy League is an association of eight prestigious private universities in the northeastern United States, known for their high level of education and historical ties to the American power elite. These institutions, including Harvard and Yale, have long been a primary source of recruitment for the upper echelons of state administration, diplomacy, and the officer corps. In an official statement, the Pentagon announced it is halting all cooperation with these institutions. This includes the participation of officers in the universities' educational and research programs, the organization of internships and placements for students in military units, and recruitment through the ROTC program. The decision is temporary, and its reversal will be conditional on "deep changes in campus climate." According to Hegseth, universities foster an atmosphere of hostility towards American values and institutions, manifested in antisemitic protests and anti-military demonstrations that have hampered recruitment. „Our elite universities are turning American youth into anti‑American radicals. It’s time the Pentagon stopped funding its own destruction.” (Our elite universities are turning American youth into anti‑American radicals. It's time the Pentagon stopped funding its own destruction.) — Amy Hegseth The reaction from the academic community was swift and firm. MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen rejected the allegations, pointing to the university's long and fruitful history of cooperation with the military. She emphasized that MIT educates thousands of future leaders for public service, including the armed forces, and that this cooperation serves innovation and national security. The Pentagon's decision fits into a broader conflict between the Trump administration and American universities, which are often perceived by conservatives as bastions of the progressive left.

Perspektywy mediów: Liberal media portray the decision as an attack on academic freedom and university independence, motivated by politics. Conservative media depict it as a necessary response to campus radicalization and a defense of traditional values.