US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Credit: Jim Watson via TNS
This morning, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened college campus protesters with arrests and federal funding cuts.
This post arrives in light of a scheduled protest of Ohio Senate Bill 1 — which aims to make significant changes to Ohio’s public higher education system, namely by overhauling programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion, per prior Lantern reporting — on the Oval today. In his post, Trump threatened to cut off all federal funding to any education institutions that allow “illegal protests,” while also threatening to imprison or permanently send protesters “back to the country from which they came.”
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
When asked about this post, university spokesperson Ben Johnson said Ohio State remains committed to free speech.
“We have an unwavering commitment to freedom of speech and expression,” Johnson said. “As always, space standards apply and trained staff will be present in accordance with standard protocols.
Today’s scheduled protest follows Thursday’s University Senate meeting, at which President Ted Carter Jr. announced various DEI programming cuts, per prior Lantern reporting. Specifically, Carter announced the closing of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Center for Belonging and Social Change.
Carter attributed the institutional changes taking place at Ohio State to the federal government — namely the potential for the university to lose “federal dollars that are so important to our student, academic and operational success” — SB 1 and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s indications to the university that his office agrees with the federal government’s position on diversity, equity and inclusion, per prior Lantern reporting.
Additionally, the Department of Education released its “Dear colleague” letter Feb. 14, which threatened to remove federal funding from institutions of higher education that failed to comply with eliminating DEI initiatives by Feb. 28, per prior Lantern reporting.
