Cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity and diabetes, infectious diseases and organ transplantation. All are being researched at Harvard University, and all are at risk of losing federal funding, which makes up around two-thirds of Harvard’s research funding in 2024.
The Trump administration is threatening to cut $2 billion in federal funding from Harvard unless they remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs, ban masks at protests that take place on campus and start merit-based hiring and admissions reforms. I believe that defunding the first university in America that has been a cornerstone of higher education, revolutionary research and fostering the next generation of bright students has the potential to set American education back, prevent lifesaving research in medicine from occurring and lead to less enrollment in American colleges if programs don’t have the funding to continue.
America is known for its incredible colleges and universities that are seen as the pinnacle of education to many across the globe. That’s why so many students in America, including myself, work so hard throughout high school to have the chance of attending a top American school. It’s why so many work for scholarships or take out loans to pay the hefty tuition fees that are much higher than many colleges in foreign countries. If billions of dollars in federal funding are cut from universities in America, majors may be completely cut from universities, leading to some students having to look into colleges elsewhere. If a program that was previously seen as one of the best in the country suddenly loses almost all of its funding, why would I want to pay hundreds of thousands in tuition to go to a school that won’t give me the best education possible? Cheaper schools outside the U.S. would eventually catch up, and I’d rather avoid the debt of American colleges if I could get the same level of education for less.
Harvard’s work in science, especially medicine, has saved millions, if not billions, of lives across the globe, and I doubt the world would look like it does now or if it wasn’t for the research that Harvard has done. From the Smallpox vaccine in 1799, the first public demonstration of the use of anesthesia in 1846, the creation of insulin in 1922 and most recently, new cancer immunotherapy treatments that were created in 2023.
These are just some of the field-changing discoveries that save countless lives, not just in America, but all across the world. What would the world look like without medicine that millions of people rely on?
I imagine the population would be a lot smaller, and a lot more people wouldn’t have the chance to live their lives to the fullest without the vaccines and medicine that keep them going. It is unlikely I would’ve been able to see my grandfather, who was a type 1 diabetic, live into his 90’s if it wasn’t for insulin. If Harvard doesn’t have the funds to continue their forever evolving research in medicine, diseases and conditions that could potentially have effective treatments or cures may never be discovered, and if they are, it could be much later in the future.
If Harvard or other universities do agree to the Trump administration’s demands, what does that mean for students who rely on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, not to cheat the system but to have a chance of attending college when coming from less fortunate areas or diverse backgrounds?
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 61% of Asian people and 41% of white people ages 18 to 24 attended university in 2022. In comparison, 36% of black people, 36% of people of two or more races, 33% of Hispanic people, 27% of Pacific Islanders and 26% of Native Americans in the same age range pursued higher education in 2022. Historically, people of color make less on average compared to white and Asian households, leading to wealth and opportunity disparities in different racial communities. The purpose of diversity, equity and inclusion programs is to give students coming from less privileged backgrounds the chance to attend top colleges even when they don’t have the resources to compete with the applicants who have access to better resources. Without it, less people of color will have the chance to attend top universities, perpetuating a cycle of poverty based on racial wealth and opportunity disparity.
I find it unfair that a student who works hard with the resources that they are given will have less of a chance of getting into a good university in comparison to a legacy student or student from a donor family who can pay their way into college and higher status opportunities.
Whether Harvard continues to fight the demands of the Trump administration or not, there is no good outcome. Education shouldn’t be seen as dispensable. Everyone should have the right to learn, and it shouldn’t be limited by race, income, or politics.
