170+ colleges and universities call for 'constructive engagement' with Trump administration

The head of the American Association of Colleges & Universities said higher education institutions want to engage with the Trump administration on reforms that don’t undermine their mission and purpose.

More than 170 college presidents signed a letter calling for “constructive engagement” following the administration’s push to exert control over Columbia University, Harvard University and other schools.

“They've positioned us as the enemy. They don't seek to reform it in the ways that we have argued for in this letter,” Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges & Universities, said. “They seek to destroy us and replace what they consider a liberal ideology with their own conservative ideology.”

What prompted the letter?

“When we came together, our goal was to get a sense of whether there was a will to engage in collective action, to take stock of where we are at this moment in terms of the unprecedented governmental overreach and how we can work together to achieve our shared objectives.

“We had about 193 campus leaders meet with us and there was a clear sense from the outset that there was a will to stand up at this moment against what was happening in terms of the attacks on academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and shared governance that are central to our purpose and mission at our colleges and universities.”

What do you make of Columbia agreeing to have an academic department put under supervision?

“It is certainly of grave concern to us, not only the fundamental purposes of American higher education, but democracy itself. Our Supreme Court has since 1957 talked about the transcendent value of academic freedom, the ways in which colleges and universities must have the right to determine who gets admitted, what is taught, how it is taught, and by whom.

“When this is under attack, they say we are at risk not only of undermining the integrity of American colleges and universities, but eroding national security and the strength of our democracy. And so we should all be concerned. When one institution is attacked, we must all stand up and make clear what we are at risk of losing in terms of the strength of higher education, but also democracy.

What would reforms to higher education look like?

“It means working with the government. We know that for the past several years that there's been concern about the unsustainable financial model for higher education that we can't continue to have rising tuition and burgeoning loan burdens, especially at times when job prospects for college graduates are uncertain. But there have been concerns about access to higher education and to whether or not we are teaching students 21st-century skills. We're not arguing that we can't do better. What we're arguing is that we have to partner in ways that don't undermine our mission and purposes.

“They've positioned us as the enemy. They don't seek to reform it in the ways that we have argued for in this letter. They seek to destroy us and replace what they consider a liberal ideology with their own conservative ideology.”

This interview was edited for clarity. 

Lynn Menegon produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Peter O'Dowd. James Perkins Mastromarino adapted it for the web with Grace Griffin.