28-04-2025
UNLV interim president signs on to call for constructive engagement amid ‘government overreach'
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — University of Nevada, Las Vegas Interim President Chris Heavey signed onto a statement with hundreds of university and college leaders from across the nation calling for constructive reform amid 'government overreach and political interference.'
The American Association of Colleges and Universities posted the statement titled, 'A Call for Constructive Engagement,' to its website on April 22 and has continued to accept signatures from current leaders of colleges, universities, and scholarly societies.
The statement was last updated Sunday at 3 p.m. ET with 514 signatures at the time of publication. The statement read in full:
As leaders of America's colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education. We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding.
America's system of higher learning is as varied as the goals and dreams of the students it serves. It includes research universities and community colleges; comprehensive universities and liberal arts colleges; public institutions and private ones; freestanding and multi-site campuses. Some institutions are designed for all students, and others are dedicated to serving particular groups. Yet, 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. Our colleges and universities share a commitment 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.
Because of these freedoms, American institutions of higher learning are essential to American prosperity and serve as productive partners with government in promoting the common good. Colleges and universities are engines of opportunity and mobility, anchor institutions that contribute to economic and cultural vitality regionally and in our local communities. They foster creativity and innovation, provide human resources to meet the fast-changing demands of our dynamic workforce, and are themselves major employers. They nurture the scholarly pursuits that ensure America's leadership in research, and many provide healthcare and other essential services. Most fundamentally, America's colleges and universities prepare an educated citizenry to sustain our democracy.
The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society. On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic.
Heavey's signature comes after federal immigration authorities revoked multiple UNLV international students' visas.
In March, the Education Department announced it is investigating more than 50 colleges — including UNLV — over what it called 'racial preferences' in academics or scholarships, a move that comes amid the Trump administration's wider crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. The department said 45 schools were under investigation for partnering with the Ph.D. project.
Three former UNLV professors — including Navarro Velez who died in the December 2023 shooting on UNLV's campus in which three faculty members died — participated in the program. UNLV, in a statement, acknowledged its professors' involvement in the Ph.D. project.
'UNLV is aware of the federal investigation,' the statement said. 'Three former UNLV professors were participants in the mentoring program known as the PHD Project.
The board of regents officially approved Heavey as UNLV interim president in an 11-to-one vote Thursday. Heavey stepped into the role as officer in charge after the sudden resignation of Former UNLV President Keith Whitfield in March.
University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval also signed the statement.
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