The global assault on universities is an attack on democracy

The global assault on universities is an attack on democracy

Nature, Published online: 22 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01260-3The global assault on universities is an attack on democracy

Global Lessons Teach Us to Protect Others to Save Democracy

The Daily is journalism that is fighting for democracy. Please join the fight by becoming a subscriber.Subscribe now If we zoom out globally to look at the Trump attacks on universities, media outlets and those who speak out, we see that a robust civil society is “the bedrock of countering rising tide of authoritarianism.”1Another way of looking at this is the idea that protecting others is one important tenet of supporting a democracy that’s un…

We know how the story began, we still don't know how it will end, but today, as many times in the past, universities are a bastion of the struggle for democracy and justice. Independence and education are greatest assets that we must preserve and defend, above all.