During an appearance on CNN International’s The Brief Friday, Yale Professor Harold Koh pushed back against what he called a “caricature” of American universities, claiming they aren’t politically biased — despite a growing number of Americans who see elite academia as increasingly hostile to conservative viewpoints.
Koh dismissed criticism from the Trump administration that colleges and universities have become political arms of the left, instead describing them as neutral spaces where students “challenge ideas” and learn “important knowledge.” Among the so-called truths Koh said are taught at universities: that “climate change is caused by human beings,” that “tariffs are taxes,” and that “immigration has been good for American prosperity.”
“I think we have to think back to the unique role of universities in American society. It’s one of the few places where, like the military, young people of very different backgrounds meet and get to know each other. And there is a caricature that’s being put forward [by] the administration that these universities are just political organizations. But those of us who have attended universities, at whatever level, know that they’re places where you have ideas being challenged and where you have important knowledge.”
Critics argue this is exactly the problem — that universities are pushing a narrow ideological agenda under the guise of education, silencing debate on hot-button issues like climate policy, border security, and vaccine mandates.
The Yale professor went on to claim that those opposing the dominant narratives on these topics are promoting “falsehoods” and seeking to impose their own viewpoints. Yet, many conservatives argue it is the academic institutions themselves that have already imposed one-sided viewpoints, marginalizing dissenting voices in the classroom and punishing students and faculty who don’t conform.
Koh’s comments highlight a deep divide between the academic elite and everyday Americans, many of whom see universities not as places for open debate, but as indoctrination centers where left-wing ideology is promoted as fact.
