The Brew: Can Trump Break the Back of Anti-Western Academia?
Branford College, John Zmirak's old dorm at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
When a nation’s elites declare war against its people, the struggle is never pretty. Nor is the outcome certain. History shows us many sad examples of small, haughty ruling classes successfully oppressing the populace — sometimes for centuries. The Mongols conquered and milked their subject peoples for many generations. The tiny fringe sect of Bolsheviks bled mighty Russia almost to death for 70 years.
And now ex-Christian white elites who hate and fear their own people dominate most Western countries from Great Britain to Australia — and on our own shores, Canada. In American blue states and cities, such alienated aristocrats wield power, bolstered by hordes of docile foreigners they have imported.
Perhaps the rankest cesspool of civilizational treason festers in academia. Not just Harvard and Georgetown, or blue state universities, either. Countless “Christian” and “Catholic” schools have traded in their birthrights for pats on the head from Caesar — and ample federal funds — and for “respectability” among the powerful pagans.
For the moment, we the people have unseated Caesar and partly restored our old Republic. And in our name, President Donald Trump is waging a multifront, dogged war to push back the oligarchs — particularly those who squat in the moral ruins of our once-great universities. The watchdog site Campus Reform compiles several encouraging headlines from the no-man’s land where the battle rages:
Brown University has agreed to a settlement with the federal government, resolving civil rights compliance investigations and unlocking more than $50 million in frozen medical research funds….
Brown must prove that it no longer uses race or ethnicity in admissions, scholarships, or any programs that promote unlawful diversity goals.
Brown agreed to align its athletic and housing classifications with federal Title IX definitions of “male” and “female” and to restrict gender-affirming care for minors through university health services.
The university pledged to maintain campus resources and conduct a third-party climate survey focused on antisemitism.
There’s even good news in Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University announced a new undergraduate program and fellowship with Israeli institutions Monday, expanding academic ties as federal pressure mounts over its alleged mishandling of campus anti-Semitism….
Harvard Medical School (HMS) also launched the Kalaniyot Fellowship to bring Israeli postdoctoral researchers to conduct multi-year biomedical studies in Boston.
The Blavatnik Family Foundation, which paused giving last year in protest of campus anti-Semitism, recently pledged $19 million to HMS. Part of that funding will support the new fellowship for Israeli researchers.
The programs follow a January settlement between Harvard and two advocacy groups that had sued the university over anti-Semitism.
At Ivy League college Dartmouth, the administration has chosen a path of peace with the Trump administration — and is reaping hate from officials at rival institutions:
Dartmouth College President Sian Beilock has sparked controversy by embracing institutional neutrality and declining to criticize the Trump administration for its legal battles against Harvard.
Beilock refused to join a coalition of universities defending Harvard University against the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze federal funding….
A professor of management at Yale University, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, stated that Beilock’s decision to remain on the outside of the controversy represents “cowardice.”
“This is a mix of cowardice, hypocrisy, and naïveté,” Sonnenfeld argued. “This is Trump’s classic playbook: divide and conquer.”
Members of the Dartmouth community have also created a petition calling for action against the Trump administration, writing that “our institutions of higher learning face an unparalleled and thoroughgoing assault from the federal government.”
Campus Reform reported in December about Dartmouth’s decision to adopt a policy of institutional restraint, joining the University of Michigan, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, The Times of Israel offers some good news from California:
Stanford University has suspended a student “co-op house” on its campus for allegedly discriminating against Jewish students by labeling them as “Zionists” and requesting that they leave the house.
The investigation into the co-op house, called Kairos, began last spring after multiple reports were filed alleging that Jewish students participating in an unnamed extracurricular activity were “asked to leave the house and told that, among other things, the presence of ‘Zionists’ in the group was making residents of the house uncomfortable,” Stanford said in a statement.
Following an investigation, the school’s Title VI office found that the unnamed extracurricular project had “nothing to do with the Middle East and that none of the students present had shared their political beliefs,” according to the school.
Not all such wholesome pressure is coming from the administration, of course. Much credit goes to private sector gadflies who monitor and expose the cultural-Marxist thrust of Diversity-Equity-Inclusion policies that openly target white people and single out Jewish ones. Christopher Rufo is perhaps the most effective tribune of the people, with his relentless drive to force our universities to respect the Civil Rights Act of 1965. Here’s Rufo’s latest reporting on bigoted policies at the University of Iowa:
The University of Iowa president should fire this employee, who is intentionally breaking the law. If not, the Board of Regents should fire the president, who, if she does not take action, is condoning it. We don’t have democracy if government employees can disregard the law. https://t.co/0kWed7OozZ
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 31, 2025
Wars against wicked elites are never quick or easy. These oligarchs have stretched their tentacles into every nook and cranny of power, bought up all the best talent, and mastered the System so they can game it. We must be dogged, relentless, and patient — and willing to replace the bastions of illegitimate power, if need be, with naked scorched earth. From it, new green shoots can sprout. If a university cannot be redeemed, then it’s better to simply shutter it.
Is This the Smoking Gun of Obama’s Attempted Coup?
Speaking of governments waging war against their people, let’s not forget that the probe into the Russia Collusion hoax — which Barack Obama orchestrated to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to Donald Trump — keeps unearthing new chunks of plutonium every day. The latest find is now in the eager hands of Senator Chuck Grassley, who has received from Tulsi Gabbard the formerly Classified Appendix (“Durham annex”) to John Durham’s 2023 Special Counsel report. Grassley’s office reports that it contains
previously classified information exposing a reported Clinton campaign plan to falsely tie President Donald Trump to Russia. The annex also goes into further detail on matters discussed in the Unclassified Report, specifically:
Potential election influence by a foreign government regarding Hillary Clinton;
False statements to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) regarding FISA renewal applications for Carter Page;
The FBI’s failure – under the leadership of then-Director James Comey – to investigate intelligence that the Clinton campaign may have created the Russia collusion hoax. Meanwhile the Comey-led FBI used the Steele Dossier – a Clinton campaign creation – to obtain FISA warrants on Carter Page.
Grassley says that
the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton’s political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means. These intelligence reports and related records, whether true or false, were buried for years. History will show that the Obama and Biden administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies were weaponized against President Trump. This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history.
Meanwhile, the first target of the Deep State during the 2016-17 coup, General Mike Flynn, is fully aware of the stakes the Trump administration is playing for. It’s the life or the death of our Republic.
ATTENTION!
Subject: Conspiracy to overthrow the United States of America.
By now, if you’re breathing, you know @BarackObama and his minions conspired to overthrow the United States of America, the presidency of the United States and to undermine the will of the majority of…
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) July 31, 2025
Stay tuned.
Arab Nations, Pressuring Israel to Settle, Denounce Hamas and Offer Coexistence
The U.N. resolution in question is far from perfect, including as it does the boilerplate condemnations of Israeli actions we’d come to expect. But sometimes a glass really is half-full. Friends of religious freedom and peaceful progress in the Holy Land should find much to welcome in a recent U.N. statement that was backed by major Muslim countries. The Independent reports:
Arab nations have taken the unprecedented step of telling Hamas to lay down its arms and surrender control of Gaza.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for the terrorist group to “disarm” and disband. It is the first time these countries have condemned Hamas and demanded it play no part in the future of Palestine.
Of course, this carrot offered to Israel comes accompanied by a stick:
The landmark shift comes after Sir Keir Starmer issued Israel with an ultimatum, pledging to recognise Palestine if Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration fails to take steps to end the war in Gaza by September.
Nevertheless, Arab governments abandoning Hamas is something to celebrate.
The declaration, produced after a United Nations conference in New York, read: “In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state.”
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot described the move as “both historic and unprecedented”.
“For the first time, Arab countries and those in the Middle East condemn Hamas, condemn October 7, call for the disarmament of Hamas, call for its exclusion from Palestinian governance, and clearly express their intention to normalise relations with Israel in the future,” he said.
Let’s pray that Israel can find a way to secure its people’s safety and leverage this new, pragmatic attitude among Arabs for a lasting path to peace.
Along The Stream…
Why are Vatican insiders comparing Israelis to Nazis? The answer isn’t pretty. Jules Gomes explains.
Later this morning, watch this sobering video warning about the dangers of flouting the First Commandment by dabbling in the occult.
John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or coauthor of 14 books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. His newest book is No Second Amendment, No First.