Donald J. Trump will be the president for the next four years. Barring any incapacitation or removal from office (the latter is highly unlikely as it requires a two-thirds approval from the Senate), this will be true. Equally as important, the Trump administration has the trifecta of control over the presidency, House of Representatives, and the Senate, meaning the passage of legislation should be relatively easy for the Republican party.
Immigration and visas
President Trump has already enacted a wide slate of executive orders since taking office, of which I shall be referencing the “Everything Trump did in the first executive orders and actions of his presidency” by AP News heavily. Regarding immigration, Trump has empowered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the United States (U.S.) military to deport immigrants. The administration has targeted Chicago early on in their deportation efforts. The administration is also in the midst of attempting to redefine birthright citizenship, and officials within the administration continue to wrangle with the role of visas in American society.
I start with the administration’s immigration policy because I believe this to potentially have the most impact on Illinois Tech. It is no secret that Illinois Tech is a highly diverse school, a point which has been celebrated in publications and initiatives by the school. A significant amount of the student population is not from the United States, with Illinois Tech’s site on international students stating “more than half of Illinois Tech graduate students call a country other than the United States their home.” Threats to student’s visas and citizenships may obviously endanger a large portion of the student body, and with the volatility and severity of action some are promoting, it may happen before Illinois Tech has any time to adjust.
The tariffs
A close second for potential impact on the university is that of tariffs. The Trump administration may be breaking nearly a century’s long tradition of reducing and eliminating tariffs. In the debates, Trump discussed tariffs on China, America’s largest trading partner. Trump has discussed potential tariffs on Denmark as an attempt to force the sale of Greenland. Recently, Trump has promised a 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods, countries that are also high up on the list of trading partners, with Canada being notable for its energy and oil exports to the United States. Plans of a “global supplemental tariff” are also not off the table, increasing the price of all exports to the United States.
Many experts predict that tariffs will increase prices on the consumers, not reduce them. A Forbes article titled “Will Trump’s tariffs raise prices? what to know as he threatens goods from Canada and Mexico starting Feb 1” has plenty of references on this matter. Opening a history textbook about the “Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930” should be a clear indicator to the failures of tariffs in a global world. An increase on prices threatens to put an already economically strenuous time for Americans and the university. No matter how the university might respond, either by decreasing the quality and/or quantity of programs or by increasing prices, it is not unreasonable to assume be net negative for either the university, its students, or both.
Federal funding
In order to tighten control and ensure compliance with his own policies, Trump ordered a sudden freeze on all federal loans and grants. As NBC reports, this was meant to stop funding for the “green new scam” and “transgenderism and wokeness,” though also impacted funding for non-profits and free lunch programs. While the freeze did not seem to impact federal student loans and federal grants, and has been halted as it remains entrenched in the legal system, this demonstration of power reveals that the Trump administration is not afraid to strong arm their agenda by sudden withdrawal of federal funds. Given that higher education institutions are often targets of conservative backlash against “wokeness,” it seems possible that federal student assistance could become a target in their culture war.
According to the National Center for Education Statistic’s (NCES) College Navigator Tool, almost three thousand Illinois Tech students receive financial aid of some kind, amounting to over one hundred million dollars. Over one thousand of these students receive federal student loans, and over nine hundred federal Pell grants are awarded to students here. That is a large swath of the student population who could one day find themselves struggling or unable to attend Illinois Tech if there was a federal funding freeze on federal student assistance.
Isolationism
The Trump administration has also taken an extremely isolationist approach when compared to American politics of the last 40 plus years. The United States has already withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump has repeatedly discussed withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as evidenced by headlines such as “Trump discussed pulling U.S. from NATO” by the New York Times. Trump has threatened force to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, actions which will likely alienate America on the world stage. Republicans have also repeatedly joked/threatened to make Canada a 51st state, while polls show large resistance to such action on the Canadian side of the border.
The United States benefits greatly from being a fairly cooperative neighbor to many of its allies. We have lucrative trade deals with the European Union and China. Information, research, and intelligence is shared between us and our allies. An increasingly isolationist United States threatens the free exchange of intellect that universities such as Illinois Tech are built off of. Countries will probably be less likely to engage with research with American universities if they don’t believe it is likely to benefit them. It might also mean tighter immigration policies to the United States, threatening not only the current international student population, but the future international student population at Illinois Tech.
Culture of fear
Wide-sweeping and ill-defined anti-DEI executive efforts, stripping of protections for minorities, greater tolerance for right wing violence, and general uncertainty are all anticipated elements of the Trump presidency. Statements and actions are made suddenly, and sometimes retracted just as quickly. Resources meant to help vulnerable populations have disappeared without warning. All of this is likely to culminate in a culture of fear for many of the most vulnerable in our society over the next four years.
I am not speaking from fact here, but I believe its fair to guess that a culture of fear means a culture where less people are willing to take risks or pursue major changes in their lives. For some, college can be a major change. Potential students may be less likely to put themselves out into a world that may attack or target them. This factor is probably the hardest to quantify its impact even on society as a whole, nevertheless any individual university, but a real one I feel must be mentioned anyways.
What is the future of Illinois Tech?
Truth be told, I have no idea. I had originally intended for this article to be an interview with the university’s president, Raj Echambadi. I reached out twice through an official TechNews email, but did not receive a reply either time. The only official communication the student body has received regarding any of these issues was an email on January 31, by the new Vice Provost Dr. Jeff Terry for research. In this university-wide communication, Dr. Terry announced the suspension of all new approvals for federally funded positions, a guarantee on all present federally funded positions through the semester, and tighter restrictions on travel relating to federally funded awards and grants, as a response to the federal funding freeze.
I am personally disappointed by the lack of communication by Illinois Tech officials. For what is shaping up to be a volatile four years for students and the university alike, I feel as though there is more the school could be doing to help assure students. I have a high degree of certainty that there are discussions being had within the administration, but I do believe the school owes its students at least some communication on how those conversations are developing.
I am also a student at National Louis University (NLU), and for the last part of this article, I’d like to reference the great work they’ve been doing during this time. For the sake of safety and the integrity of their operations, I will omit some details from their communications. On November 6 2024, the same day as the national election, the NLU not only reiterated its existing resources for counseling and wellness support, but opened up new spaces for students to help meet greater demand. Later, on December 2, El Centro de Excelencia, NLU’s “inclusive space that values its Latinx students” [translated] and acts as a hub for Latinx student initiatives, announced a procession of in solidarity for undocumented students. On January 20 2024, inauguration day, the NLU announcement system was used to inform students and staff the university’s policy regarding cooperation with ICE agents, or lack thereof. Their communication is in line with Chicago Public Schools and the city as a whole, which, without speaking in specifics, includes not cooperating with ICE agents and not allowing them on NLU’s campus unless it is legally necessary.
It is this kind of consistent communication that assures me that National Lous University is not only having the conversations necessary to help students but also doing everything they can to empower and protect their students. The top-down communication makes me feel safe as a student at NLU, and though they don’t hit every topic I mention, their response thus far leads me to have greater confidence that for the other issues, they will make the right decision. I hope that Illinois Tech may follow in this path of effective communication, and itself too promise to be a safe haven for students of all walks of life during these next four years.