It’s hard not to categorize our present global moment as a crisis. And just when we think things can’t get worse — they do.
Across the globe, we’re witnessing a rise in far-right movements and governments.
Just a few weeks ago, the AfD party in Germany secured second place. This marks the first time a far-right party has gained this level of power in the country since the Second World War. Germany is not alone in this trend: Italy, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Croatia are now led by far-right governments.
And it may come as no surprise that many of these new leaders are increasingly hostile towards universities.
In India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, universities have the lowest academic freedom since the 1940s. In Brazil, former president Jair Bolsonaro claimed that public universities transform students into leftists, gays, drug addicts and perverts.
Meanwhile in the United States, Vice President JD Vance has called universities the enemy for allegedly teaching that America is “an evil, racist nation.” (Vance was echoing President Richard Nixon who called professors and the press the enemy. President Donald Trump even signed an executive order demanding higher education institutions dismantle their DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs. He’s also pulled federal funding from universities that allow “illegal protests”, and he’s demanded that Columbia University’s Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Departments be independently reviewed.
But, despite this hostility, universities — and students — have historically been springboards for progressive change. It was student protests 25 years ago that helped lead to the downfall of apartheid in South Africa.More recently, in Bangladesh, student protests helped topple the country’s authoritarian leader. This past year, students across the world have worked to raise public awareness of acts of genocide in Gaza.
Meanwhile, here in Canada, universities are facing financial pressure because of reductions in international student permits. This drop in revenue has caused alarming budget constraints at universities, revealing a deep reliance on international students as a revenue source.
This has led to existential questions about our universities. With today’s world in crisis, what should the role of the university be? And why are our public universities so underfunded? And how can they continue to serve their communities?
Theses are big questions, ones that seemed fitting to tackle on our final episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient recorded live in front of an audience at the University of British Columbia. Joining us to tackle them was Annette Henry, a professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at UBC who is cross-appointed to the Institute for Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice. Her work examines race, class, language, gender and culture in education for Black students and educators in Canada.
We also spoke with Michelle Stack, an associate professor in UBC’s Department of Educational Studies whose work looks at educational policy, university rankings and equity and education.
At a time when critical conversations in higher education are under attack worldwide, can Canadian universities rise to the challenge and be a force for good?
