Faculty senates across prominent colleges and universities are urging their leaders to adopt a special policy to fight the Trump administration’s recent attacks on institutions’ federal funding: a mutual defense compact.
On April 6, Rutgers University’s faculty senate passed a resolution establishing the Mutual Defense Compact of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, which calls on the 18 member institutions to pool financial, legal and media resources to support any one school facing “improper control over academic inquiry” from the government.
“The preservation of one institution’s integrity is the concern of all, and an infringement against one member university of the Big Ten shall be considered an infringement against all,” read the resolution.
The compact was inspired by the cancellations of federal contracts and grants for institutions that fail to comply with Trump administration’s demands. Columbia University, which was at risk of losing $400 million, acquiesced to placing its portfolio of regional studies programs under academic receivership, among other concessions.
At least 10 members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance are under investigation for either alleged antisemitic discrimination or race-based violations. Ohio State University; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Washington-Seattle; and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities are under investigation for both.
Northwestern University has lost $790 million in federal funding.
As of this morning, senates at Michigan State University, Indiana University and University of Nebraska at Lincoln have also passed the resolution. While the former is not under a formal investigation as of April 18, it has lost federal funding through USAID and has had international student visas revoked, according to its school newspaper.
Some faculty at the University of Michigan are currently fighting to pass the resolution, Michigan Advance reports. “Most schools, not just ours, have gone silent, just when we need them to speak up,” Sandra Levitsky, a professor of sociology and law at the University of Michigan, said Thursday during the faculty senate meeting.
“Hoping that our university is going to step out of this defensive crouch is not going to be enough, because the reality is, this is an existential moment for higher education and most schools, not just ours, are genuinely terrified about what might happen next.”
The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s faculty senate, which is not part of the Big Ten, established two mutual defense compacts. Each is geared toward state institutions and the country’s 250 public land-grant universities. Six other Massachusetts institutions—including Amherst, MIT and Boston University—are also under federal investigation.
Lucille Foster, chair of Rutgers’ University Senate, believes it’s important to begin coalitions on a “micro-level” to make significant progress. “I think, if you’re in charge, if you’re a CEO or a president, you can make very sweeping motions, but that isn’t the way most universities want to work. You really want to start on a ground level,” he told The Hill.
