Higher Education Isn’t the Enemy

By Robert E. Rubin

Writing in The Atlantic, Robert Rubin argues that America's higher education system faces an existential threat—not just from campus protests over Gaza and Israel, but from a coordinated assault on academic freedom itself. Rubin warns that while we focus on images of universities in turmoil, we're missing a bigger danger: the systematic undermining of institutions that have been central to American strength for decades.

What's really at stake? Rubin points out that while the U.S. has less than 5% of the world's population, it hosts 65% of the top 20 universities globally. These institutions don't just educate—they drive economic growth, maintain America's geopolitical edge, and create the kind of informed citizenry democracy requires. Rubin’s stark conclusion: "We can have the world's greatest higher-education system, or we can have colleges where open exchange is undermined by pressure campaigns. We can't have both."