Trump has largely steered clear of university visits but will break tradition on July 15th.
President Trump is set to attend a Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University on July 15th. The event is hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick, who has been a close ally of President Trump early in his second term. The President has made few college visits this time term and has enacted several executive orders aimed at accountability for administrators who have limited conservative or non-mainstream viewpoints on campuses. He also froze federal funds for universities that allowed anti-Semitic gatherings from pro-Palestinian students or did not comply with his administration’s crackdown of men in collegiate women’s sports.
President Trump’s scheduled visit was immediately met with backlash by students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon, with both circulating an open letter to the school’s administration to request it distance itself from the event and move it off campus. Others pointed out that a high-profile event featuring a Pennsylvania Senator and the President of the United States was an honor for the university and would serve as great publicity. The Carnegie Mellon fence, which is frequently used as a message board for students to post to other students, displayed the words “No Trump!” in black writing as a protest against his scheduled visit. The other side of the fence said, “CMU Community Says Stop The Summit.” The words “Stop the Summit” trended on social media among some Carnegie Mellon students.
Faculty have protested President Trump’s policies as well. Assistant Professor of Chemistry Carrie McDonough argued that the summit was a “dangerous legitimization of the Trump administration’s values. McDonough circulated a letter to other faculty and presented it to Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian on Monday after it was signed by 31 faculty members, students and alumni.
“The Trump administration has been responsible for terminating federal research grants, encouraging and engaging in the persecution of trans and gender nonconforming individuals, unjustly revoking visas of international students (including CMU students), and detaining both U.S. citizens and non-citizens without due process,” states McDonough in the letter.
In April, two Carnegie Mellon students had their student visas revoked and later reinstated after a lawsuit challenging the decision. Others have had visas revoked as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to secure the border and significantly curb illegal immigration, as well as students who participated in the violent riots against Israel in the summer of 2024.
Far from everybody agrees with McDonough and her efforts to have the summit moved. Anthony Cacciato, the president of CMU Republicans, responded with a statement of his own, arguing “The president of the United States is coming to your community, to your campus, to recognize the achievements that your school or your community has ascertained in these fields. That should speak for itself.” Cacciato also defended the student’s right to protest the event via the community fence, though he noted he disagreed with the sentiment.
Carnegie Mellon has specified to both McDonough and Cacciato that the university is not affiliated with Sen. McCormick’s event and is merely serving a host. It’s unclear whether efforts to have the summit moved and cancelled have been successful.
