Jamaican students wanting to study in US urged not to be deterred by Trump policies

 

Retired provost of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, Professor Basil Wilson, says Jamaican students desiring to pursue higher learning in the United States should not be deterred by President Donald Trump's focus on international students. 

 

The assault on elite higher education began during pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations last year, but has since expanded into a broader ideological battle against the universities.

 

Funding cuts have been implemented at the institutions, and a new government anti-Semitism task force has identified at least 60 universities for review.

 

One institution, Harvard, has refused to bend to a series of demands from the Trump administration, and it was revealed Tuesday that the White House has directed federal agencies to cancel all remaining contracts with the institution. 

 

Speaking Tuesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, Jamaican-born Professor Wilson, who has resided in the US for more years than Jamaica, said he is concerned about President Trump's tendency towards totalitarianism. But he is confident that this period will pass with the end of the Trump presidency.

 

"He has really three and a half years left. Once Trump leaves the presidency, I think America will be back on track, that decency will triumph, and you will get a kind of America that we are really accustomed to in the sense that respects democracy, that respects civil rights, civil liberties, and can lead the world in terms of dealing with some of the important issues confronting humankind," he asserted. 

 

Since April, the Trump administration has already frozen $3.2 billion in research grants and attempted to ban Harvard from enrolling foreign students, a move temporarily blocked by federal courts.