The war against woke has reached the doors of America’s most hallowed institutions, but the university heads aren’t going down without a fight, proving once and for all that they are on the wrong side of history.
Former chair of the University of Pennsylvania’s board of trustees, Scott Bok, told Politico in an extensive interview that he believes the Trump administration’s fight against growing antisemitism on college campuses is actually “an attack on so-called woke.”
Bok said it was “clear early on” that the pushback against violent campus protests had become a political and cultural struggle that was less about antisemitism and more as a way to end DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) or other left-wing ideologies at America’s universities.
.@POTUS signs an Executive Order to overhaul the higher education accreditation system, ensuring colleges and universities deliver high-quality, high-value education free from unlawful discrimination and ideological overreach. pic.twitter.com/4Odawv9g2E
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 23, 2025
“If you look at where universities are today, and what’s going on between the government and Harvard and Penn and Columbia and Johns Hopkins and all the rest, it’s pretty clear that this has got a very broad reach in terms of what those attacking universities want to change about them,” he said.
He added that he received “lots of emails” from people mentioning George Floyd or Penn swimmer Lia (William) Thomas, which prompted him to ask, “What is George Floyd and what are trans people doing in this discussion about antisemitism and free speech?” (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)
“I think undoubtedly there was a group that was looking to this opportunity to fundamentally change things at Penn, and now we’ve seen this across other universities as well. When people started talking, for example, about 10 or 20 years of decaying culture, the loss of historic values and so on — that’s a long timeframe. If you’re saying that, what you’re really saying is that you’re uncomfortable with the direction that the school has been going and you want to fundamentally change that,” Bok said.
“I think people have come around to the point of view that I had at the beginning, which is that this is really a fight for the soul of universities,” he added.
Bill Maher asks a Columbia professor what it’s like to work for a ‘clown car’ of an institution, and the professor admits that wokeness is a real problem: Maher: “John, you work at Columbia University. Speaking of clown cars. Starting last week Trump is going to war on elite… pic.twitter.com/pOGh126bix
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) March 29, 2025
Bok is correct in his assessment that antisemitism is just one part of the conversation. Still, not only does he want the woke-ification of higher education to continue, but he also sees it as a moral imperative that university heads resist the pressure to change. (Poll Explains Fast-Changing Political Phenomenon That Could Alter Elections For Years)
“My advice would be to hold true to the values that made these universities the extraordinary institutions that they are,” he said, adding that claims on social media that “DEI went too far” are hyperbolic propaganda perpetrated against them by political parties.
To some extent, this might be true. There are pundits who make a lot of money feeding off American anxieties concerning left-wing ideologies permeating educational institutions. Still, there is a movement that goes beyond punditry that he’s flatly ignoring.
American parents are no longer walking in blind to the corrupted university systems in our country, which strip their children of their family values and national patriotism, and send them out into the world as newly-minted soldiers in their woke army. This isn’t something that can be explained by simply blaming it on viral classroom videos of blue-haired antifa-types acting like social justice militants. These parents see it at their dinner table.
UNIVERSITIES HAVE LOST TOUCH WITH AMERICANS
Prof. William Jacobson: “Trust in higher ed is at all-time lows. This isn’t just about antisemitism—every time they burn an Israeli flag, they burn an American one. Universities have lost touch with the American people.” pic.twitter.com/sQbDAGVszk
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) April 10, 2025
Children leave as freshmen, then by the time Thanksgiving break rolls around, they are lecturing their Uncle John about the patriarchal crimes he upholds. Almost every conservative family has a story like this. Going to college used to mean expanding your knowledge in preparation for a well-paying career. Now it resembles a Marxist struggle session, serving to sever the familiar bonds that used to be the cornerstone of our once healthy American society. (ROOKE: Gavin Newsom Crossed The Line, And Now He’s Paying The Price)
It’s unsustainable to allow an institution that seemingly hates our country and works toward its demise to have this much power over the cultural trajectory of our nation.
Bok is right. There is a battle for “the soul of universities,” but he and his cronies are the villains. With the Trump administration, Americans finally have a fighter willing to take them on. It’s time for our universities to become beacons of meritocracy and true virtue again.
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