Danish researcher: A fight for freedom is brewing at US universities

When Lin Adrian first walked through the doors of Northwestern University in Chicago, she was met by a silent but forceful protest: A T-shirt printed with the words »Don’t give in. It won’t stop here.«

Several professors at the university wore the T-shirt as a clear expression of the political reality they find themselves in.

»It was during my first week here, and it happened in the wake of the US Congress demanding a long list of internal documents from our legal clinic (a unit where law students work on real cases under faculty supervision — ed.), including names of students and case files,« says Lin Adrian.

The mood was tense but also resolute, she says. At the last minute, and after the clinic’s leadership filed a lawsuit, the request was withdrawn.

Like many other academic institutions, Northwestern University in Chicago has become a target of President Donald Trump’s new and hard-line approach towards the US research community.

What started as a crackdown on pro-Palestinian groups and antisemitism has evolved into a broader campaign against academic freedom and what the US government labels as woke ideology. This includes initiatives that promote diversity, gender equality, and transgender rights.

Legal aid and social justice projects targeted

Lin Adrian is a legal scholar and professor at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH), and is currently a visiting researcher at Northwestern University’s law school, which includes a legal clinic where students provide free legal aid and work on social justice initiatives. According to Lin Adrian, these activities are now also in the Trump administration’s sights.

»I’m based in the clinic that works on mediation and conflict resolution. But on the same floor there are legal aid clinics that include support of the demonstrators who blocked the highway to O’Hare Airport in protest against the war in Gaza. They were arrested, and now legal proceedings are underway,« she says.

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Trump has frozen billions in federal funding to a wide range of American universities. According to Lin Adrian, Northwestern is one of them.

The US government has, among other measures, demanded that universities shut down their diversity, equity and inclusion programmes (known as DEI) and allow for government oversight of hiring, teaching, and admissions.

Insidious self-censorship

Lin Adrian does not hesitate to call Trump’s approach to US universities »a deeply disturbing attack«:

»The other day I spoke with a very experienced colleague who has nothing to fear — she could leave the university tomorrow if she wanted to. Still, she’s cautious about what she says. It’s not just about me, she said, it’s also about my university. There is real concern about putting your institution at risk,« says Lin Adrian.

She recognises the mechanisms and the internal dialogue from her first weeks in the US.

»I started asking myself what I could post on social media, and whether I could take part in demonstrations. Could I put myself or others at risk? But after a couple of weeks, I reached a point where I thought: The worst that could happen is that I won’t be allowed back into the US. And I’ll have to live with that. I won’t censor myself,« she says.

A political attack

According to Lin Adrian, the universities are not random victims of Trump’s political offensive. On the contrary, they are a deliberately chosen battleground, because they are the producers of the knowledge that Trump doesn’t like — and because he sees them as both too elitist and too progressive.

»It is truly frightening to be in a democratic country where the government openly targets freedom of expression and the universities. It’s happening in broad daylight, and it is deeply concerning,« says Lin Adrian.

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But there is no sense of discouragement. Neither at the University of Chicago nor elsewhere in the country — quite the opposite, in fact:

»There is a large mobilisation underway at the moment. When I arrived in the US at the beginning of March, the mood was one of shock. Now, it has quietly shifted to one of determination. There are protests, declarations being signed, and actions being organised across the country. I sense a growing, albeit still cautious, resolve among both researchers and students,« she says.

Does not want to support the system

Lin Adrian is on a three-month research stay in the US and does not expect to return any time soon. Not because she feels unwelcome, but because she does not want to support a system that is increasingly undermining its own democratic institutions.

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She says she would never have scheduled her research stay in the US if she had known how the situation would develop. It is not a system she wishes to support.

And yet she is glad to be there now:

»It is valuable to be close to the resistance that is emerging. I sense that Americans appreciate having someone from the outside present to witness what is happening. It feels almost like a kind of collective relief when we talk,« she says.

Lin Adrian sees a parallel between her experiences at the university and the restorative processes that she does research on, where encounters between conflicting parties can serve as a release valve for tensions:

»When victims and offenders meet in a controlled setting, it can bring relief and understanding. That’s not what’s happening here, but there is an element of it when you are present as an outsider and simply listen. It becomes a psychological release space for many,« she says.

READ ALSO: Rector’s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat

Fear and hope

Lin Adrian holds deep respect for the many researchers and students who stand up for academic freedom. But she also fears where the current political trajectory may lead:

»My fear is that Trump will be replaced by someone smarter and more effective than him. Someone who will continue the work of systematically undermining democratic institutions. There is already a shift towards something far more authoritarian, and it’s happening openly and without shame,« she says.

Yet the ongoing mobilisation gives her energy:

»They have an incredible tradition of organising in the US. If this is to be stopped, it will be through collective action and protest. That gives me hope.«