More than 150 university and college presidents co-signed a letter Tuesday condemning the Trump administration's recent efforts to dictate the policies of private higher education institutions in exchange for federal funding.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has paused billions of dollars in federal grants to several of the nation's most prestigious universities — including Harvard, Columbia and Princeton — in an attempt to get the universities to change their admissions processes and penalize student protesters.
The letter's signers, which range from large public universities to small liberal arts schools, include each of the Ivy League schools except Dartmouth College. Columbia University's acting president, Claire Shipman, signed on to the public statement after an earlier version of this article was published.
"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," the letter, orchestrated by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, says.
"We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight," the letter continues. "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," it adds.
Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, said in an email that the administration is "standing up for equality and fairness and will not be swayed by worthless letters by overpaid blowhards."
So far, the Trump administration has only paused or threatened to pause billions of dollars of federal funding, which is vital to the operations of several universities, including Columbia, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton. The moves are part of the administration's broader effort to "root out" antisemitism on college campuses.
Columbia ceded to a list of demands by the Trump administration last month in exchange for starting talks to restore funding. The demands included instituting a mask ban at protests in most cases; hiring an outsider to oversee its department of Middle East, South Asian and African studies; committing to "greater institutional neutrality"; and enlisting three dozen new security officers.
The New York City-based university's acquiescence prompted outrage among the higher education community. Columbia's interim president at the time, Katrina A. Armstrong, stepped down a week later.
Harvard was similarly sent a list of demands by the Trump administration, which mandated that the university audit the viewpoints of students and professors and shutter its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Although it initially appeared that the university would take a similar approach to Columbia, Harvard ultimately rejected the administration's orders.
Harvard, which was founded more than a century before the United States, sued the administration on Monday and asked a federal judge in Massachusetts to reverse the termination of $2.2 billion in federal grants to the university.
Tuesday's letter also denounced the Trump administration's unprecedented effort to deport international students.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has revoked hundreds of student visas from foreign students, many of whom are Middle Eastern. Immigration authorities have also apprehended foreign students, some of whom were involved in pro-Palestinian protests at universities last year.
