“I didn’t want to be a cog in that machine any more. For some time now, I have been both disgusted and horrified by the way higher education has developed into a cash register – essentially a money-making, MBA, lawyer-run, hedge fund-cum-real estate operation, with a minor sideline in education".

Rashid Khalidi, America’s foremost scholar of Palestine, is retiring: ‘I don’t want to be a cog in the machine any more’

As the Columbia University professor steps down, he addresses student protests and how ‘higher education has developed into a hedge fund’