More Than 100 Higher Ed Leaders Sign Statement Against Fed's Overreach

Forbes

22-04-2025

More than 100 university and college presidents along with the leaders of various scholarly organization issued a statement today raising their concerns about the 'unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.'
Titled 'A Call for Constructive Engagement,' the statement represents a unified outcry by current college presidents about the Trump administration's escalating battle with the nation's colleges and universities. The statement grew out of meetings that had been organized by the American Association of Colleges & Universities and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to 'to take stock of the current situation and deliberate on possibilities for a unified defense of learning and higher education.'
Those actions include the withdrawal or freezing of billions of dollars in federal research grants amid the administration's allegations of campus antisemitism and other civil rights violations, the detention of hundreds of international students and the revocation of their visas, a crackdown on academic or student support programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, threats to increase the tax on private university endowment earnings, investigations of gifts from foreign donors, and demands that certain institutions change their admissions practices or academic governance.
The statement makes clear that the presidents and other leaders 'are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight," but it added, "however, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those
who learn, live, and work on our campuses."
It maintains that American institutions of higher learning 'have in common the essential freedom to determine, on academic grounds, whom to admit and what is taught, how, and by whom." They share a commitment, according to the statement, to serve as "centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation.'
The statement has already been signed by several dozen presidents and chancellors of a wide array of institutions — public research universities, private liberal arts colleges, regional universities and community colleges. Representatives of AAC&U, the American Academy of Arts and Science, Campus Compact, the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the Association of American Law Schools and Complete College America have also signed on. The statement remains open for additional signatures.
'One of the greatest strengths of American higher education is the diversity of institutional types, anchored in a common commitment to serving the public good,' said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella, in an AAC&U press release. 'The widespread support this statement has garnered demonstrates that despite differences in our respective missions, there is a willingness to speak collectively and act in solidarity to defend the core principles of academic freedom, shared governance, and institutional autonomy foundational to America's distinctive tradition of liberal education and to our nation's historic mission of educating for democracy.'
As higher education struggles to find the best way to cope with the Trump administration's actions, a new strategy seems to be emerging — collective efforts at mutual defense and institutional solidarity.
For example, faculty senates at several universities in the Big Ten Conference have created a 'mutual defense compact.' Rutgers University's faculty senate's resolution urges, among other actions, that 'all participating institutions shall commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund. This fund shall be used to provide immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement.'
Included in that support, which 'participating institutions shall make available, at the request of the institution under direct political infringement,' could also involve legal representation and countersuits, strategic communications, amicus briefs, expert testimony, legislative advocacy and relevant research.
Similar resolutions have been passed at Indiana University, the University of Nebraksa, and Michigan State University. Whether those resolutions will translate into effective advocacy and be joined by at least the majority of the 18 universities currently comprising the Big Ten remains an open question, but it signals that institutions are beginning to team up to resist the ongoing pressures brought by the Trump administration.