Heritage Foundation Vice President Victoria Coates sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss how her time at the University shaped her outlook on higher education and free speech on college campuses.
Since earning her Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art from Penn in 1998, Coates has become a leading conservative voice in Washington, having served as Deputy National Security Advisor in the first Trump administration. At the Heritage Foundation, Coates leads Project Esther, an initiative that frames the pro-Palestinian movement as part of a global “Hamas Support Network” and seeks to create a “blueprint” to combat antisemitism in the United States.
Project Esther has held significant influence in the second Trump administration. Analysis from the New York Times found that the White House and Congressional Republicans have acted on nearly half of Project Esther’s proposals — which notably include withholding federal funding from universities accused of antisemitism.
In Project Esther, Penn is condemned as one of 21 other universities that had professors in the double-digits supporting different “Hamas Support Organizations.” Additionally, the report detailed that the U.S. education system "fosters antisemitism” through “'pro-Palestinian,' anti-Israel, anti-Zionist narratives."
While Coates broadly described her experiences as a Penn student and faculty member as “immensely valuable” and a “wonderful experience,” she wrote in a follow-up email to the DP that universities including Penn have experienced a "sharply leftward shift” in recent years. In a previous interview with The New York Times about academia, Coates described the shift as one towards a “very noxious anti-Western worldview.”
“Recently, specifically since the October 7th attacks two years ago, campuses have become hotbeds of anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment,” Coates told the DP. “To us at Heritage, this seemed pretty destructive and wrong quite frankly.”
In particular, Coates cited her spring 2024 visit to Penn’s campus for an event with the Penn Alumni Free Speech Alliance which she said showed her the “militancy and hostility” of pro-Palestinian groups on campus
“The pro-Palestinian faction started attacking the website and making threats, so we wound up with more guns than people in the room,” Coates said. “[And that was] for me to come and say that I think antisemitism is a bad idea.”
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While Coates notes that activism — including pro-Palestinian protests — is an expression of free speech, she argued that education can be “materially undermined if these situations get out of hand.” Coates noted that she believes Penn has done “quite a good job” in balancing free speech and student safety.
Beyond the issue of antisemitism on college campuses, Coates also pointed to structural problems in higher education that she says shape academic culture and limit open expression.
“I understand the motivation behind the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs programs and that many of the intentions were good, but the outcomes have been skewed,” Coates said.
Project Esther similarly criticizes DEI programs, claiming that such policies have been used to “foster antisemitism” in the U.S. education system.
On the first day of his second term in office, Trump signed an executive order requiring federally funded universities to remove DEI programs in violation of federal civil rights laws. Coates expressed approval of Trump’s executive order, describing it as a “necessary correction.”
Last February, the University removed its central DEI website as other departments and schools across Penn fell in line with the White House’s revised policies. Multiple program names were changed — including the Wharton School's DEI concentration which was renamed to “Leading Across Differences.”
Coates also expressed support for the administration’s changes to federal funding of higher education institutions, such as the National Institutes of Health's adjustments to “indirect cost" research grants which Penn estimated would cost it $240 million.
She expressed concern that the current funding structure lacks “accountability.”
“Congress is just rolling over every year because people like the idea that they're contributing to cancer research at Penn,” Coates said. “I like that idea, but is that what's actually happening? And are the results what they should be?”
She also stated that excessive foreign funding to universities causes “warped” academic culture and accountability in universities. Project Esther similarly criticizes U.S. academic institutions for “anonymizing” donations to “hide foreign sources."
“There’s so much foreign money that goes into universities, ostensibly for research, and it’s largely unregulated,” Coates expressed. “While desirable for research, it can become problematic.”
On May 8, the Department of Education launched an investigation into Penn’s foreign funding records after reviewing foreign source gifts and contracts that appeared to be disclosed “incompletely” and "inaccurately" by the University. In a letter addressed to President Jameson, the Department of Education alleged that Penn had failed to disclose any foreign funding until 2019, despite the Section 117 reporting requirements.
Coates also shared her support for the White House’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education which Penn recently rejected. She argued that the Compact would ensure universities give faculty positions to a more “disruptive” and diverse set of voices.
She also expressed hope that the Compact would encourage universities to rethink the current tenure system. Coates noted that during her time as a Penn faculty member she often saw how tenure “stifl[ed] creativity.”
“I've seen so many people who were up and coming scholars — full of energy, enthusiasm, innovation — that would get into these [tenure-track] jobs, and then life would just become the same, ” Coates said, noting that the phenomenon was part of the reason she left academia. “That really didn’t sit right with me.”
In light of institutions like Johns Hopkins University partnering with the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, Coates expressed openness to similar partnerships with the Heritage Foundation on college campuses.
“I’m happy to come on campus and engage in any kind of civil dialogue,” Coates said. “It could be eye opening to universities.”
