The Trump administration and conservative politicians have launched a broad-reaching and effective campaign against higher education and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in particular. These attacks, often amplified by neo-conservative influencers, are not simply critiques of policy or spending. At their core, they reflect anxiety over the growing presence and visibility of marginalized students and scholars within institutions that were not historically designed for them.
The phrase ivory tower has become shorthand for everything critics dislike about higher education. It evokes images of professors lost in abstract theorizing, and administrators detached from real-world problems. But there is a deeper meaning, one rooted in the racial history of academia. Whether consciously or not, the term reinforces the idea that universities are — and should remain — spaces that uphold whiteness.
When critics lament the state of the ivory tower, they are often reacting not just to elitism, but to the changing demographics and priorities of colleges and universities. As enrollment by students of color and women have been making gains and new areas of study have emerged and gained traction — from ethnic studies to gender studies to critical race theory — we’ve seen a corresponding backlash: funding cuts, attacks on DEI, and growing calls to limit what can be taught.
“Ivory” has long been a symbol of purity and exclusivity — its colonial history tied to European extraction from Africa. When applied to the university, the metaphor suggests not only elitism but also racial exclusivity. In that light, the “ivory tower” becomes not just a metaphor for detachment but for a structure built to elevate whiteness.
Black intellectuals are more likely to have their work dismissed as “activism.” Women scholars are scrutinized more harshly when they challenge dominant paradigms. Indigenous knowledge systems are often viewed as less rigorous than Western models. And public attacks tend to target the very disciplines — African American studies, feminist theory, sociology — that question existing power structures.