Higher education inspires people to question authority, engage in critical thinking and share controversial ideas.
College campuses have always been bastions of free speech and free association. At times, they’ve been places of protests, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; student activism on college campuses is almost as old as college itself.
It also shouldn’t come as a surprise that just two months into his term, Donald Trump is targeting university systems.
It started in March, when the U.S. Department of Education issued warnings of “potential enforcement actions” to a list of 60 universities under investigation for antisemitic harassment and discrimination. Three State University of New York campuses—at Binghamton, Purchase and in Rockland County—are on that list.
United University Professions, the nation’s largest higher education union that I am privileged to lead as president, represents the faculty and staff at Binghamton and Purchase.
Columbia University in New York City has just ceded to Trump’s demands on academic freedom and disciplinary policies. Columbia faced the loss of some $400 million in federal funding if it did not comply with the demands, which may stem from his decades-old grudge over—ironically—a $400 million real estate deal with the university that fell through, according to The New York Times.
Certainly, Columbia was under incredible pressure, but bending the knee to the new administration won’t guarantee the restoration of the funds. What it does is establish a damaging precedent in the face of an administration acting more and more like an authoritarian regime.
UUP has spoken out against all forms of antisemitism and discrimination and we always will. Our union has always supported the free exchange of thought and expression, regardless of whether we support or oppose those statements of free speech.
But the targeting of Columbia and other colleges like the University of Pennsylvania, which is facing the loss of $175 million in federal funding—in large part—over its handling of transgender athletes, has escalated things to an entirely unacceptable level. This is federal overreach on steroids—and it’s straight out of Project 2025.
Remember Project 2025? That’s the blueprint for the new administration put together that scores of higher education leaders, myself included, warned would be quickly implemented if Trump won the presidential election.
One of the tenets of Project 2025 is the false assumption that what’s taught at mainstream colleges and universities is inherently leftist, politically motivated and at times anti-American. Thus, it’s just to impose conservative ideology in its place.
Almost every attack against higher ed under the new administration, from eradicating diversity, equity and inclusion and quietly shutting down offices that enforce civil rights and antidiscrimination laws to reining in college programs such as Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies, has come direct from the pages of Project 2025.
And the campuses under the angry glare of the Trump administration have a Hobson’s choice: fall to the administration’s demands regarding disciplinary procedures, admissions and academic freedom or defy them, which risks a financial hit that could ruin them.
This, of course, is outrageous and cannot be tolerated. It shakes the very foundation of our higher education system’s autonomy and threatens the excellence of higher education in America.
Here’s what’s certain: The members of United University Professions believe in free speech, academic freedom and self-governance. This union believes in the democratic process, and we put that belief into practice in how we express our views and how we operate our union.
We will protect our colleagues at Binghamton, Purchase and throughout the SUNY system against demagoguery and illegal control by the federal government.
Our members are already speaking out against the dangerous and destructive disruption of the federal grant system for scientific research—a system which remains in chaos, despite federal court orders to restore the funding. The Trump administration has done everything possible to flout these court orders and sow chaos. We stand united in our opposition to this.
Make no mistake: United University Professions will do everything possible within democratic and lawful means to protect public higher education, and that effort will begin with protecting the autonomy of our members and the campuses at which they teach.
Dr. Fred Kowal is President of the 35,000 member United University Professions, which represents faculty on 29 New York State Campuses. UUP is an affiliate of NYSUT, The American Federation of Teachers, The National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
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