We call on university and college presidents, chancellors, and boards: Do not sign. Join us in solidarity.

Across the United States, the core principles that sustain colleges and universities as engines of knowledge, innovation, and democratic life are under direct threat. Academic freedom, shared governance, and institutional autonomy have long safeguarded higher education as a space for civic contribution free from political interference and censorship. These are not partisan values. They are constitutional and democratic principles that belong to all of us.

On October 1, 2025, the Trump administration sent letters to nine major research universities announcing a new federal “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” Through this Compact, the administration seeks to leverage the full range of federal support for higher education—including research funding, student aid, tax benefits, and visa approvals—to pressure universities into adopting political mandates on governance structures, speech policies, tuition levels, and gender definitions.

This Compact is an unprecedented federal power grab. It strikes at the heart of the constitutional balance between federal authority and the independence of America’s universities, threatening the values that sustain higher education as a public good. We anticipate further directives, selective enforcement, and the targeting of additional institutions in the months ahead.

We affirm that:

• Academic freedom is essential to truth-seeking, critical inquiry, and democratic life.

• Shared governance is the cornerstone of universities as self-governing communities of learning.

• Independent scholarship and teaching cannot survive political censorship or interference.

• Federal funding must never be conditioned on ideological compliance.

• Higher education is a public good that must be protected from those who seek to control, defund, or dismantle it.

• The Compact’s promises are designed to lure institutions into accepting political control in exchange for rights they already possess.

We stand not only in opposition to the federal Compact but also for a different future for higher education—one rooted in the values of democracy and the common good. We believe in a system of higher education that is accessible and affordable, welcomes all students, upholds academic freedom, fosters inclusion and civil rights, and advances knowledge for the benefit of society. This is the affirmative vision we bring to the national debate: higher education as a shared public service, not a partisan instrument of control.

Our immediate shared focus is on the nine universities that received the administration’s letter. Their decisions will set the course for higher education nationwide. If they refuse to sign, the administration’s strategy falters. If they capitulate, the precedent spreads. 

This statement affirms shared principles and unites faculty, staff, students, alumni, and organizations across the country in a common stand. It will remain a touchstone as the situation evolves, whether additional institutions are targeted, some sign, or new federal actions emerge.

Together, we send a clear signal: higher education cannot be ruled by political fiat.

• We stand for academic freedom.

• We stand for institutional autonomy.

• We stand for a renewed vision of higher education focused on access, affordability, and inclusion.

We stand together.