"Hettinger's mounting discomfort with US higher education led her last spring to Class Action, a two-year-old grassroots network of students and recent graduates promoting a critique of elite institutions' contributions to an increasingly divided American society. At times, the group's criticism echoes the one exploited by Trump in his campaign to reshape US higher education to fit his ideological agenda."
"But where the administration has responded to growing mistrust in US universities by launching a scorched-earth campaign seeking to dismantle everything from equity initiatives to the principle of academic freedom itself, Class Action believes US universities have abandoned their civic duty and wants them to restore their commitment to educating students for the greater good. At a time when many universities are on the defensive, its members seek to defend the university but also transform it."
Last spring the Trump administration froze billions in federal research funding and threatened the visas of thousands of international students. Emily Hettinger, a Yale senior, joined a campus protest while feeling disillusioned with Yale's elitism and disinterest in the surrounding disadvantaged community. Her discomfort led her to Class Action, a grassroots network of students and recent graduates that critiques elite institutions' role in a divided society. Class Action calls for universities to restore civic duty and educate for the greater good, and it organized a Yale conference to draft a new academic social contract to re-envision whom higher education should serve.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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