President Donald Trump speaking at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. (Gage Skidmore)
This piece is from the CU Independent’s opinion section. Any opinions or views do not represent the CU Independent.
I hope the American people — and the world — are prepared for what President Donald Trump’s leadership means for the future of education, democracy and the youth of our country. The rise of right-wing anti-intellectualism has fostered a dangerous climate where expertise is dismissed, critical thinking is discouraged and higher education is defamed. The University of Colorado Boulder, like many universities, has felt these challenges, especially with the renaming of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, a sign of the ongoing struggle to protect academic integrity and inclusivity.
This ideological shift has paved the way for authoritarian overreach, with many willing to trade hard-won rights for the illusion of strength. History repeatedly warns us of the dangers of such complacency — when citizens stop questioning their leaders, power consolidates, dissent is silenced and democracy erodes. What matters is not whether Trump and his administration will continue to push the limits of his authority, but whether the American people will recognize it, and allow it to happen.
The rise of anti-intellectualism in the U.S. has gone hand in hand with President Trump’s immediate executive actions announced within the first couple of days of his reign, ultimately vilifying higher education and diversity initiatives. Leaders with authoritative right-wing tendencies have historically relied on anti-intellectualism to maintain control by discouraging critical thinking and silencing opposition. By undermining experts, universities and the media, the agitators shape narratives to fit an agenda, using extreme emotion and misinformation to sway public opinion.
For instance, in his interview for TIME 2024 Person of the Year, Trump said, “… we’re at the bottom of every list in terms of education, and we’re at the top of the list in terms of the cost per pupil…” Fact checkers have proven these claims false referencing solid national and international data.
This climate has sparked a national backlash against initiatives like CU Boulder’s DEI efforts. Following recent federal executive actions, the official CU Boulder DEI website appears to be completely down. CU Boulder has been seemingly reluctant and obviously careful to directly address these actions, sending out a statement through CU Boulder Today reading:
“The University of Colorado Boulder is evaluating relevant executive orders in coordination with CU system, other CU campuses and higher education groups… For further information, please contact the CU System office.”
On Jan. 28, Fox News published an article claiming that CU Boulder’s internal databases exposed a concerning “race-based hiring” initiative. However, the report appears to deliberately misrepresent the university’s efforts, only offering a couple weakly placed “allegedly”s to contradict its own sensationalist headline — followed by a small correction note buried at the bottom of the page. The article also takes aim at CU Boulder’s Faculty Diversity Action Plan, attempting to frame CU Boulder in an adversarial light:
“The University of Colorado Boulder allegedly discriminated against potential employees by race, according to recently obtained university records.”
It cites a Wall Street Journal op-ed that points out a 2022 estimation that 90% or more of the 20 recent hires at CU Boulder were either FDAP or spousal hires. Immediately following this statistic is a university statement to Fox News Digital clarifying that 21% of the university tenured and tenure-track faculty were hired through FDAP during that time period. Fox News also cites a Department of Ethnic Studies’ request to fill an urgent need for BIPOC femme/women of color faculty, particularly within a thematic cluster focused on racism and racial inequality.
Cluster hiring is a well-established practice where universities recruit multiple scholars based on shared, interdisciplinary research interests. In other words, CU Boulder was implementing a strategic hiring approach to build a faculty that reflects the diversity of the disciplines being studied — hardly the grand conspiracy to dismantle “American values” that some would like to imagine. And those supposedly damning “internal documents” Fox hyped up? They were simply preliminary proposals that still had to clear multiple layers of approval, HR training and policy oversight before anyone was actually hired.
While Fox attempts to misrepresent CU Boulder’s FDAP – an initiative to diversify faculty and improve faculty retention – the outlet continues to spread hate and misinformation that aligns with the anti-education ideologies pushed by the Trump administration. CU Boulder’s FDAP Program summary is still present on the internet but now is only featured under a CU Boulder Today post from 2021. When attempting to click on the link to the original FDAP page, an unsettling “Page not Found” meets your screen.
When people aren’t encouraged to think critically, those in power can push their agendas with little resistance. This connects directly to the political fatigue many Americans feel post-election. Media literacy alone isn’t enough anymore — schools and universities are struggling to keep up with the flood of anti-intellectual propaganda. Misinformation spreads faster than facts, making real change harder to achieve. Historically, this tactic — overloading people with disinformation while restricting education — has been a common theme in early authoritarian regimes.
Meanwhile, Trump is once again pushing to eliminate the Department of Education and erase academic studies on BIPOC communities, LGBTQ+ identities and anything his administration deems part of DEI programs. Instead, he wants schools to promote and “instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible Nation.” Of course, dissolving a federal department requires congressional approval. With any luck, Congress will choose education and progress over delusional revisionist nationalism.
Trump and his administration are not simply reshaping U.S. policy; he is laying the groundwork for an authoritarian shift. His presidency has been defined by a monomaniacal, aggressive and anti-academic approach to U.S. politics, where disagreement is met with punishment and threats of judiciary action, rather than debate or due process.
It’s no surprise that efforts to reshape education focus almost entirely on the young minds of America. By promoting state-approved patriotism and sanitizing history, the system presents a narrow, curated version of the past — one that shapes a more compliant workforce.
That said, this type of movement has its benefits. In Trump’s defense—historically nothing has better proven to quash free thought and expression than a hyper-nationalistically educated right wing youth.
Despite the current administration portraying universities as ideological adversaries, CU Boulder claims to remain committed to ethical hiring practices that prioritize true expertise whether it’s in women’s studies or mechanical engineering. The exaggerated, divisive news stories only fuel confusion — playing right into the regime’s goals. The battles will begin in classrooms and schools, then spread into homes, where “what to think” turns into a weapon, and “what’s real” becomes a genuine question of reality itself.
Contact CU Independent Guest Writer Bell Piccirillo at Isabella.Piccirillo@colorado.edu.
