Who’s Protecting Academia?
Dispatches from the frontlines of higher education under pressure
I’m writing this with the growing sense that what we’re witnessing across academia is no longer just a series of isolated incidents. It’s a structural transformation of the university: who gets to speak, who gets to stay, and whose knowledge counts.
To protect academia now means more than defending abstract freedoms. It means standing with those dismissed, deported, or discredited. It means resisting silence, naming complicity, and building cross-border alliances in a system increasingly hostile to dissent.
The Global Cost of Speaking Out
The United States has been in central focus in the last year regarding its attack on academic freedom and, even human rights. A federal trial is challenging what plaintiffs call an “ideological deportation policy” that targeted pro‑Palestinian students during the Trump administration. As reported by The Guardian, students were expelled or denied visas simply for their political beliefs a chilling precedent for academic freedom across U.S. campuses. Robert Quinn of Scholars at Risk warns of a “hastening decline” in academic freedom, citing growing political influence, funding constraints, and visa insecurities .
And another compelling critique on Verfassungsblog argues that academic freedom is being “mugged” not only when individuals lose their jobs but also when institutional autonomy is stripped as in the case of James Ryan’s forced resignation at the University of Virginia under DOJ pressure.
In Belgium, institutions like Harvard and VUB have responded to U.S. visa restrictions and political interference by setting up “safe havens” and extending solidarity campuse protective, yet patchwork solutions.
Canada offers a structured but limited model: academic freedom there is largely protected through collective bargaining agreements and provincial legislation like Quebec’s Bill 32 though some worry this grants too much power to labor arbitrators, report finds.
When Institutions Retreat: Free Speech vs. Campus Control
In the UK, a government-commissioned report found that gender-critical academics are being harassed, demoted, and denied advancement. While new legislation like the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act promises protection, its implementation remains ambiguous and politicized.
At the same time, a Guardian investigation revealed that law firm Shakespeare Martineau has helped UK universities obtain sweeping injunctions against student protests, especially those connected to Palestine solidarity. The use of civil courts to preempt campus dissent is increasingly normalized.
In the Global South: Resistance and Reinvention
In India, over 2,000 faculty members from Delhi University have signed a petition opposing the rollout of the National Education Policy’s Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), arguing that it is underfunded and unilaterally imposed. Devdiscourse reports that educators see this as part of a broader erosion of academic quality and democratic governance.
Simultaneously, many Global South universities are leading where the Global North lags. A recent opinion piece in Times Higher Education argues that despite underfunding, institutions across Kenya, Lebanon, and Colombia are building sustainable models for refugee inclusion combining academic protection with decolonial pedagogy.
Refuge Campuses and the Architecture of Academic Safety
In a more structural shift, U.S. universities like Harvard and the University of Arizona are setting up “refuge campuses” in countries including India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Peru. These campuses are meant to support international students who can no longer remain in the U.S. due to tightened visa regimes.
As University World News outlines, these hybrid global models are both promising and troubling. Are we decentralizing higher education as a form of resilience or outsourcing responsibility to private actors while states retreat?
Meanwhile, it’s not only authoritarian policies reshaping academia, new debates have erupted around AI in education. Concerns range from moral panic about students’ increasing reliance on generative AI, to warnings that overuse could impair memory and critical engagement, to more balanced voices encouraging intentional integration that preserves the analytical rigor central to scholarly work.
A groundbreaking MIT Media Lab study (June 2025) used EEG scans to show that students writing SAT-style essays with ChatGPT displayed significantly reduced brain activity, lower memory retention, and "less original" output compared to peers using only their minds or web search tools Nature).
The Inside Highered highlighted fears that uncritical AI use could erode academic rigor and exacerbate inequality, while Business Insider reported UK lecturers overhauling assignment design to counteract AI-enabled cheating.
In contrast, a recent LPU blog post (“AI in Academia: Reshaping Teaching, Research, and Learning Ecosystems”) documented how AI-powered intelligent tutors, adaptive learning platforms, and NLP-driven assistants are transforming pedagogy, research workflows, and student accessibility signaling the potential for a positive digital turn.
The Conversation also provides nuanced guidance for faculty: AI can assist with writing and analysis, but must be transparently disclosed and used as an augmentative partner rather than a shortcut to preserve academic integrity.
What this tells us:
Students and educators face a fork in the road: one where overreliance on AI risks cognitive decline and intellectual complacency, and another where thoughtful incorporation of AI can enrich learning and broaden access. This isn’t just a technology debate it's a decisive moment in how academia safeguards critical thinking in the age of intelligent machines.
🎥 “The End of Learning As We Know It?” – This week’s must-watch conversation features tech writers
and unpacking the ChatGPT revolution in education. They delve into the growing “moral panic” surrounding students’ use of AI, as parents, educators, and media voices question whether this signals the collapse of traditional learning. Their conversation unpacks generational divides, media-fueled anxiety, and the institutional paralysis that often accompanies technological change in education. As they argue, it’s not only students who must adapt, it’s the entire academic infrastructure that needs rethinking.🎧 New Episode – Political Epistemologies: Exploring the Micro-Politics of Knowledge in Central and Eastern Europe
Before you go, don’t forget to listen to the latest episode of our Protecting Academia podcast series.
In this episode, we hear from our colleague Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kleeberg, historian of science at the University of Erfurt. He discusses his work on political epistemologies and the cultures of knowledge examining how scientific habits and political frameworks intertwine in Central and Eastern Europe.
Prof. Kleeberg, co-founder of the Political Epistemologies of Central and Eastern Europe research network, explores questions of academic authority, dissidence, and gender epistemologies, alongside the micro-politics of scientific research: What happens to knowledge production when refugee scholars enter the system? How do political pressures shape the everyday choices of researchers? What counts as “science” in volatile environments?
🎙️ Tune in to explore how the intersections of politics and science reshape academic spaces in Central and Eastern Europe.
Protecting Academia Means Reimagining It
What’s clear is that protecting academia today goes beyond defending individuals it means confronting systems. It means identifying when universities are complicit. It means challenging top-down reforms, political overreach, and private funding logics that redefine who belongs in academia, and why.
This isn’t only a fight for rights. It’s a fight for what and who the university is for.