Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon participated in a roundtable discussion with university leaders, think tank professionals, and education advocates about the need for reforms to address the far-left ideological capture of American universities. The roundtable, entitled “Biased Professors, Woke Administrators, and the End of Free Inquiry on U.S. Campuses,” was hosted at the White House and included dozens of additional stakeholders. This is the second installment in the White House roundtable series addressing the problems eroding public confidence in higher education.
Secretary McMahon discussed how activist-driven ideologies have reshaped universities both ideologically and administratively. The roundtable focused on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies and the woke monoculture that now permeates academic life, from freshman orientation to general education to the bias response teams that actively police thought and speech. She also spotlighted how the agency is working to reorient the academy back toward its tradition mission of truth-seeking, free inquiry, and rigorous academics.
“It was an honor to be at the White House today with this dedicated coalition of students, faculty, institutional leaders, and policy advocates to highlight the issue of woke ideology and the capture of our institutions of higher education. DEI policies have turned universities from free marketplaces of ideas to purveyors of manufactured ideological conformity, chilling free speech and undermining academic rigor,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “We are committed to working with higher education leaders to reverse course from these decades of decline and create a golden age of academia – committed to reason, merit, and individual excellence.”
Roundtable participants included Matthew Spalding, Vice President of Washington Operations and Dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College and New College of Florida board member; Nicole Neily, President and Founder of Defending Education; Dr. Christopher Schorr, Director of the America First Policy Institute’s Higher Education Reform Initiative; Trevor Tobey, Rice University Student Body President; Allie Coghan, Former University of Wyoming Student; Brette Powell, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison; and Karalee Geis, White House Office of Public Liaison.
Background
In October, the Trump Administration circulated a draft “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education” to several universities outlining a range of overdue reforms to improve public confidence in higher education. The Administration continues to solicit stakeholder feedback to ensure the enormous public investment in postsecondary education is advancing rigorous academic research, powering economic growth, and delivering value to students and taxpayers.
On November 19, Secretary McMahon participated in the first installment of a three-part higher education roundtable series at the White House entitled “Administrative Bloat and Low-Value Programs: How U.S. Universities are Failing American Families and How They Can Reform.” The discussion, featuring university leaders from Texas, Florida, and West Virginia, focused on the issue of affordability in higher education and key provisions of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including new borrowing caps on graduate student loans, which will reduce costs in higher education and increase accountability.
See today’s roundtable remarks delivered by Secretary McMahon here.