{"id":175969,"date":"2025-04-11T02:48:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T00:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/rektors-raad-til-usa-rejsende-er-utilstraekkelige\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T10:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T08:40:16","slug":"rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

OPINION on The University Post<\/p>\n

This is a featured comment\/opinion piece. It expresses the author\u2019s own opinion.<\/p>\n

We encourage everyone to read the whole piece before commenting on social media, so that we only get constructive contributions.<\/p>\n

Disagreement is good, but remember to uphold a civil and respectful tone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, it is deeply concerning to read Rector David Dreyer Lassen\u2019s extremely cautious statement in the University Post<\/a> regarding the situation facing universities in the United States \u2014 and the University of Copenhagen\u2019s (UCPH) relationship to this situation.<\/p>\n

The rector\u2019s advice is to think carefully about what\u2019s on your computer and phone before travelling to the US, and to ensure your department head is informed.<\/p>\n

This seems overly muted, and possibly even reckless.<\/p>\n

We haven\u2019t seen the worst yet<\/h3>\n

We are dealing with a country where disappearances have become commonplace<\/a> \u2014 researchers have already been affected. Students with legal residency are having their status revoked<\/a> without being notified. Universities are being pressured to comply with demands from far-right political actors, and visitors to the US risk being detained for weeks without explanation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We are also dealing with a regime unrestrained by moral limits. We still don\u2019t know how far the US government is willing to go. Already, we\u2019ve seen US embassies attempt to pressure local service providers into bowing to the Trump administration\u2019s declared opposition to equality, diversity, and inclusion \u2014 in direct violation of the laws of the countries where these embassies are based.<\/p>\n

And we can be fairly sure that the worst is yet to come. As absurd as it may sound, we risk a US invasion of Greenland. There is every reason to believe that the Trump administration is willing to use almost anything as a pressure tactic in that context.<\/p>\n

The unimaginable<\/h3>\n

I do not agree with David Dreyer Lassen\u2019s assessment that the developments in the university sector could not have been at least partially anticipated. We\u2019ve seen similar patterns play out elsewhere \u2014 for instance, in Hungary<\/a>. And during Trump\u2019s first term, public authorities in the US were dramatically gagged<\/a>. But there is good reason to pay attention when the rector says the following<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe all read the news and can see that US universities are currently under enormous pressure, undermining both arm\u2019s length principles and academic freedoms. If you go back two years, I don\u2019t think anyone could have imagined these kinds of full-blown attacks on universities that we\u2019re now seeing in the US,\u00ab<\/p>\n

This naturally prompts the question: If things have already happened that were unimaginable two years ago \u2014 isn\u2019t it time we start getting a bit better at imagining things?<\/p>\n

A few \u2018unrealistic\u2019 scenarios<\/h3>\n

What do we do, for example, when Professor X \u2014 who the department head knows is in Boston for a conference carrying only a nearly empty laptop and phone \u2014 suddenly disappears and turns up in some detention centre where UCPH has no access to her? Was the advice to proceed with the trip as planned but with a \u2018clean\u2019 computer really sufficient?<\/p>\n

Sound unrealistic? The rector himself has acknowledged that things we couldn\u2019t imagine two years ago are now reality.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What do we do if the US government seizes control of US software firms and then mandates that iPhones, OneDrive, Windows, EndNote, Excel and Word may only be used by universities whose researchers steer clear of topics like gender, race, climate change, Russian imperialism, African American history \u2014 or, for that matter, Danish involvement in the transatlantic slave trade? Have we prepared adequately for that? Researchers at Utrecht University flagged the issue long ago and called on their leadership to take action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What if the condition is that we officially deadname [Insist on using transgender students\u2019 birth names, even when they have requested otherwise, ed.]<\/em><\/a> our non-binary and transgender students \u2014 or that researchers who have written critically about Trump on social media, perhaps even in harsh terms (I can think of at least one<\/a>) \u2014 be fired?<\/p>\n

We may already be behind<\/h3>\n

Sound unrealistic? The rector has told us that things once unimaginable are now happening.<\/p>\n

So perhaps it\u2019s time we start imagining more \u2014 and taking precautions accordingly. Most measures can likely be implemented in ways that are effective and may even benefit the university. Just look at Aarhus municipality<\/a>, where significant savings have been made by switching to an alternative European cloud provider.<\/p>\n

If those precautions turn out to be unnecessary, then that\u2019s a fortunate outcome. But we must be far better prepared if they aren\u2019t. And it is certainly not too early to start \u2014 in fact, we may already be behind.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No one could have imagined what’s happening in the US, says rector. So let\u2019s try to imagine what\u2019s next \u2014 before a professor is detained, or our tech providers can no longer be trusted, writes associate professor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":175853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","expression-opinion"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nRector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat \u2014 University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No one could have imagined what's happening in the US, says rector. So let\u2019s try to imagine what\u2019s next \u2014 before a professor is detained, or our tech providers can no longer be trusted, writes associate professor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-11T00:48:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-22T08:40:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mathilde Meile\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mathilde Meile\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mathilde Meile\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65426f96d50cb624faa90a21753339d8\"},\"headline\":\"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-11T00:48:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-22T08:40:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":796,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat \u2014 University Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-11T00:48:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-22T08:40:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65426f96d50cb624faa90a21753339d8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1592},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/\",\"name\":\"University Post\",\"description\":\"Independent of management\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65426f96d50cb624faa90a21753339d8\",\"name\":\"Mathilde Meile\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f273040465f07e12ea8b68d0a840654e3628b7bbbfcd4c99903f24a8b165bc6f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f273040465f07e12ea8b68d0a840654e3628b7bbbfcd4c99903f24a8b165bc6f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f273040465f07e12ea8b68d0a840654e3628b7bbbfcd4c99903f24a8b165bc6f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mathilde Meile\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/author\\\/mathilde-meile\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat \u2014 University Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat \u2014 University Post","og_description":"No one could have imagined what's happening in the US, says rector. So let\u2019s try to imagine what\u2019s next \u2014 before a professor is detained, or our tech providers can no longer be trusted, writes associate professor.","og_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/","og_site_name":"University Post","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis","article_published_time":"2025-04-11T00:48:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-22T08:40:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1592,"url":"http:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mathilde Meile","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg","twitter_creator":"@Uniavisen","twitter_site":"@Uniavisen","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mathilde Meile","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/"},"author":{"name":"Mathilde Meile","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/65426f96d50cb624faa90a21753339d8"},"headline":"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat","datePublished":"2025-04-11T00:48:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-22T08:40:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/"},"wordCount":796,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/","name":"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat \u2014 University Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-11T00:48:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-22T08:40:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/65426f96d50cb624faa90a21753339d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1592},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rectors-advice-for-travel-to-the-us-underestimates-the-threat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rector\u2019s advice for travel to the US underestimates the threat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of management","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/65426f96d50cb624faa90a21753339d8","name":"Mathilde Meile","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f273040465f07e12ea8b68d0a840654e3628b7bbbfcd4c99903f24a8b165bc6f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f273040465f07e12ea8b68d0a840654e3628b7bbbfcd4c99903f24a8b165bc6f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f273040465f07e12ea8b68d0a840654e3628b7bbbfcd4c99903f24a8b165bc6f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Mathilde Meile"},"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/mathilde-meile\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"expression":{"term_id":16,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":2040,"filter":"raw"},"enable_comments":true,"align_content":"alignleft","feature_color":"","article_updated":"","layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"default","highlighted_words":"","text_size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"","text":"No one could have imagined what's happening in the US, says rector. So let\u2019s try to imagine what\u2019s next \u2014 before a professor is detained, or our tech providers can no longer be trusted.","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":175852,"id":175852,"title":"Sune Auken-2","filename":"suneauken2-scaled.jpg","filesize":879432,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rektors-raad-til-usa-rejsende-er-utilstraekkelige\/sune-auken-2\/","alt":"","author":"100","description":"","caption":"","name":"sune-auken-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":175795,"date":"2025-04-07 08:25:08","modified":"2025-04-07 08:41:14","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1592,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-480x298.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-768x477.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":477,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-1280x796.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":796,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-1536x955.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":955,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-2048x1273.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1273,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-290x180.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":180,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-700x435.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":435,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-990x615.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":615}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Sune Auken","contributor_title":"Associate Professor at the Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">OPINION on The University Post<\/p>\n<p>This is a featured comment\/opinion piece. It expresses the author\u2019s own opinion.<\/p>\n<p>We encourage everyone to read the whole piece before commenting on social media, so that we only get constructive contributions.<\/p>\n<p>Disagreement is good, but remember to uphold a civil and respectful tone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, it is deeply concerning to read Rector David Dreyer Lassen\u2019s extremely cautious <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/heading-to-the-us-check-your-devices-says-rector\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement in the University Post<\/a> regarding the situation facing universities in the United States \u2014 and the University of Copenhagen\u2019s (UCPH) relationship to this situation.<\/p>\n<p>The rector\u2019s advice is to think carefully about what\u2019s on your computer and phone before travelling to the US, and to ensure your department head is informed.<\/p>\n<p>This seems overly muted, and possibly even reckless.<\/p>\n<h3>We haven\u2019t seen the worst yet<\/h3>\n<p>We are dealing with a country where <a href=\"https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/app\/profile\/danielleharlow\/viz\/UnitedStatesDisappearedTracker\/Map\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disappearances have become commonplace<\/a> \u2014 researchers have already been affected. Students with legal residency are having their <a href=\"https:\/\/zeteo.com\/p\/ice-manually-revoking-university-students-residency-status-middle-east\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">status revoked<\/a> without being notified. Universities are being pressured to comply with demands from far-right political actors, and visitors to the US risk being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/mar\/19\/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">detained for weeks without explanation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We are also dealing with a regime unrestrained by moral limits. We still don\u2019t know how far the US government is willing to go. Already, we\u2019ve seen US embassies attempt to pressure local service providers into bowing to the Trump administration\u2019s declared opposition to equality, diversity, and inclusion \u2014 in direct violation of the laws of the countries where these embassies are based.<\/p>\n<p>And we can be fairly sure that the worst is yet to come. As absurd as it may sound, we risk a US invasion of Greenland. There is every reason to believe that the Trump administration is willing to use almost anything as a pressure tactic in that context.<\/p>\n<h3>The unimaginable<\/h3>\n<p>I do not agree with David Dreyer Lassen\u2019s assessment that the developments in the university sector could not have been at least partially anticipated. We\u2019ve seen similar patterns play out elsewhere \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu\/2023\/05\/04\/orbans-assault-on-academic-freedom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">for instance, in Hungary<\/a>. And during Trump\u2019s first term, public authorities in the US were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.degruyterbrill.com\/document\/doi\/10.1515\/9788395720499-010\/html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dramatically gagged<\/a>. But there is good reason to pay attention when the <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/heading-to-the-us-check-your-devices-says-rector\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rector says the following<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe all read the news and can see that US universities are currently under enormous pressure, undermining both arm\u2019s length principles and academic freedoms. If you go back two years, I don\u2019t think anyone could have imagined these kinds of full-blown attacks on universities that we\u2019re now seeing in the US,\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>This naturally prompts the question: If things have already happened that were unimaginable two years ago \u2014 isn\u2019t it time we start getting a bit better at imagining things?<\/p>\n<h3>A few \u2018unrealistic\u2019 scenarios<\/h3>\n<p>What do we do, for example, when Professor X \u2014 who the department head knows is in Boston for a conference carrying only a nearly empty laptop and phone \u2014 suddenly disappears and turns up in some detention centre where UCPH has no access to her? Was the advice to proceed with the trip as planned but with a \u2018clean\u2019 computer really sufficient?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Sound unrealistic? The rector himself has acknowledged that things we couldn\u2019t imagine two years ago are now reality.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What do we do if the US government seizes control of US software firms and then mandates that iPhones, OneDrive, Windows, EndNote, Excel and Word may only be used by universities whose researchers steer clear of topics like gender, race, climate change, Russian imperialism, African American history \u2014 or, for that matter, Danish involvement in the transatlantic slave trade? Have we prepared adequately for that? Researchers at Utrecht University flagged the issue long ago and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uu.nl\/en\/opinion\/open-letter-to-the-executive-university-board-calling-for-a-transformation-to-digital-autonomy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called on their leadership to take action<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What if the condition is that we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wkbn.com\/news\/ohio\/some-ohio-schools-reverting-to-birth-names-catches-students-teachers-off-guard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">officially deadname <em>[Insist on using transgender students\u2019 birth names, even when they have requested otherwise, ed.]<\/em><\/a> our non-binary and transgender students \u2014 or that researchers who have written critically about Trump on social media, perhaps even in harsh terms (<a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.world\/@SuneAuken\/114279282234503896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">I can think of at least one<\/a>) \u2014 be fired?<\/p>\n<h3>We may already be behind<\/h3>\n<p>Sound unrealistic? The rector has told us that things once unimaginable are now happening.<\/p>\n<p>So perhaps it\u2019s time we start imagining more \u2014 and taking precautions accordingly. Most measures can likely be implemented in ways that are effective and may even benefit the university. <a href=\"https:\/\/itk.aarhus.dk\/nyheder\/projektnyheder\/itk-skifter-til-europaeisk-cloud-hosting-leverandoer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Just look at Aarhus municipality<\/a>, where significant savings have been made by switching to an alternative European cloud provider.<\/p>\n<p>If those precautions turn out to be unnecessary, then that\u2019s a fortunate outcome. But we must be far better prepared if they aren\u2019t. And it is certainly not too early to start \u2014 in fact, we may already be behind.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with events at the University of Copenhagen and top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":47,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":47,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":333,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":16,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":2040,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/suneauken2-1280x796.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175969"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176168,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175969\/revisions\/176168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}