“Had another nation done this, we would regard this as an act of war.” — Arthur Levine, President of Brandeis University

Forget Iran for a moment. Brandeis President Arthur Levine on Trump’s treatment of American universities: “Had another nation done this, we would regard this as an act of war.” Harvard, Columbia, Penn singled out by executive order. Levine trusts it won’t happen again. He also trusted it wouldn’t happen in the first place.
Levine is back with From Upheaval to Action. Brandeis is about to announce guaranteed transparent pricing. AI threatens the university more than Trump does — a Berkeley student told his professor he didn’t need to read because AI could do it. Levine: that’s a failure of education. Reading and writing are muscles. You don’t build them by outsourcing.
On DEI: drop the term. It’s become a target for both sides. On Epstein: ethics should be woven into every subject. On the future: Henry Adams got an 18th century education at Harvard in 1850. The worst mistake is not changing. The Luddites, and perhaps even Trump, might agree.

Five Takeaways
• “An Act of War.” Trump’s treatment of universities would, had another nation done it, be regarded as war. From a university president, that’s not a metaphor.
• Transparent Pricing. Brandeis will tell students what they’ll actually pay. A small revolution in an industry that thrived on opacity.
• AI Is a Failure of Education. Reading and writing are muscles. You don’t build intellectual muscle by outsourcing to machines.
• Drop DEI. Replace it with full access. He sold the same programme to Democrats as equity and to Republicans as workforce development. Both bought it.
• The Worst Mistake Is Not Changing. Henry Adams got an 18th century education for a 20th century world. We’re doing it again.
About the Guest
Arthur Levine is the president of Brandeis University. His new book From Upheaval to Action is out now.

References
From Upheaval to Action: https://www.amazon.com/Upheaval-Action-Works-Changing-Higher/dp/1421454033
Previous Levine episode: https://keenon.substack.com/p/is-that-320000-college-degree-really
This week’s TWTW: https://keenon.substack.com/

About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow

Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction: Arthur Levine returns
00:01:17 Is the $320,000 degree worth it? Round two
00:03:07 Brandeis announces guaranteed transparent pricing
00:05:22 Trump’s war on the university: “Had another nation done this…”
00:09:28 Harvard, Columbia, Penn — singled out by executive order
00:10:48 AI: the problem and the solution
00:13:06 The Luddites and factory wages — Keen and Levine disagree
00:15:00 Are faculty the modern-day craftsmen?
00:17:15 The $320,000 bureaucratic bloat
00:17:51 Can AI replace Robert Reich and Einstein?
00:20:11 The Berkeley student who doesn’t want to read anymore
00:22:15 Should students use ChatGPT for writing?
00:25:52 Just-in-time education: “I need it by next Thursday”
00:26:24 Epstein and the ethical rot of the American elite
00:35:19 Academic freedom, Israel, and DEI: drop the term
00:41:00 Henry Adams and the 18th century education