Leon Botstein Quoted in MassLive Article About Governmental Crackdowns on Education
Bard College president Leon Botstein.
Bard College President Leon Botstein was featured in an article by MassLive examining the similarities between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s crackdown on higher education in Hungary and the actions of the Trump administration in the United States. The article looks at the example of the Central European University (CEU), an institution in the Bard Experimental Humanities Collaborative Network, being forced to relocate from Budapest to Vienna and the ensuing resistance movement amongst Hungarian academics as a blueprint for actions to protect academia elsewhere. Botstein told MassLive that Orbán and Trump have been going after higher education in order to consolidate power and exert control over the process of developing and disseminating knowledge. “Viktor Orbán is an authoritarian and an opponent of democracy, and Donald Trump is an authoritarian who doesn’t respect either the Constitution or the rule of law and sees no boundary to prevent him from pursuing his own financial self-interest as well,” Botstein said.
Bard College’s Experimental Humanities Collaborative Network (EHCN) is a global network rethinking the humanities in the light of changing technologies, an increasingly connected planet, the ongoing ecological crisis, and the need to create more inclusive institutions. EHCN’s partner institutions include Universidad de los Andes, Birkbeck College at the University of London, Bard College Annandale, American University of Central Asia, Central European University, Bard College Berlin, Recovering Voices, Hampton University, Arizona State University, Al-Quds Bard College for Arts & Sciences, University of Thessaly, and European Humanities University.
Post Date: 01-06-2026
Bard College’s Experimental Humanities Collaborative Network (EHCN) is a global network rethinking the humanities in the light of changing technologies, an increasingly connected planet, the ongoing ecological crisis, and the need to create more inclusive institutions. EHCN’s partner institutions include Universidad de los Andes, Birkbeck College at the University of London, Bard College Annandale, American University of Central Asia, Central European University, Bard College Berlin, Recovering Voices, Hampton University, Arizona State University, Al-Quds Bard College for Arts & Sciences, University of Thessaly, and European Humanities University.
Post Date: 01-06-2026