Kuala Lampur, March 4 -- Universities are often presented as "neutral" institutions, places where knowledge is produced, debated, and disseminated without external interference.

Administrators and policymakers frequently assert that universities should stay "above politics," as though they exist in a vacuum, untouched by the power struggles shaping the societies in which they operate.

This belief is not only naive - it is dangerous. Universities are, and always have been, deeply political actors.

Their decisions about funding, curriculum, faculty hiring, and student activism are shaped by political and economic interests. More importantly, they do not just reflect the world; they shape it.

Denying this reality does not make universiti...