WASHINGTON, DC—President Donald Trump’s Department of Education and Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) have reportedly made inquiries into Cornell University’s activities and funding as part of a broader attack on academia.
During an Oval Office press conference on higher education, Trump thumbed through a briefing on Cornell and remarked, “Wow, everything’s computer.”
“You take a look at these top schools, these Ivy League schools—by the way, I went to an Ivy League school; did you know that? They give such great education—but you look at these top schools today, and everything’s computer. It’s really remarkable how much computer there is. Have you heard of Cornell? Cornell University… And have you heard about their president? Not even a real president; they call him ‘interim president.’ What a disgrace. And his school is all computer; it’s incredible. This says here that hundreds, perhaps thousands of students there study computer. Wow, almost everyone is computer there. Elon tells me their program in computer is one of the best in the world—would you believe that? The best in the world. Everything’s computer there. Lots of very smart people study computer nowadays—many of Elon’s people, in fact. Tremendous, tremendous people, but very strange sometimes. Very strange, and very annoying. But we love them, don’t we, folks? We love them. Tremendous people, and a tremendous thing to study,” Trump told reporters.
According to U.S. News & World Report, 17% of Cornell’s Class of 2023 majored in Computer, followed by 15% in Deals, 14% in Machine, 12% in Farm, and 12% in Doctor, with most of the remaining 30% earning degrees in fields which a recent Department of Education memo termed “D.E.I.”
