Editor’s note: This story was updated to include information on growing list of names added to the statement.
The presidents of two central Pennsylvania colleges are among the more than 180 college and university leaders condemning the ongoing assault on higher education independence.
The heads of Dickinson College and Franklin & Marshall College are among the signatories of a statement released by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, condemning the Trump administration’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.”
Dickinson’s John E. Jones III and F&M’s Barbara K. Altmann were part of the higher education roster endorsing the message – “A Call for Constructive Engagement”.
“I joined my colleagues in signing the letter to signify my support for reasoned dialogue,” Jones said in an email to PennLive. “I am opposed to edicts that interfere with the fundamental right of colleges and universities to self-govern. To be sure, there are important issues that warrant discussion, but I take issue with the administration’s heavy-handed approach.”
The joint message marks the first time college and university leaders have spoken out en masse about the current political landscape, according to the association.
“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight,” the letter said. “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.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the list had grown to more than 300 leaders, and included another cadre of heads of Pennsylvania schools, including Ursinis, Muhlenberg, Bucknell, Carnegie Mellon, St. Joseph’s, Haverford, University of Scranton, Temple, Villanova and York College.
The roster includes J. Larry Jameson, president of the University of Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump’s alma mater. He attended the Wharton School at UPenn from 1966 until 1968.
Trump in March announced a freeze of $175 million in federal funding to Penn after the university failed to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports. Trump earlier signed an executive order threatening to halt federal funding to universities that allow the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
“Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation,” the statement continued.
“The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society. On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic.”
Tuesday’s statement was issued in the wake of a federal lawsuit filed by Harvard University against the Trump administration in response to the White House’s order to freeze billions in federal funding.
Trump last week froze $2.26 billion in federal funds and another $1 billion in grants to Harvard in retaliation of the Ivy League school’s refusal to capitulate to his demands for policy changes.
Trump has also threatened to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status.
The president has threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts to colleges and universities that revoke his demands to dismantle “woke” ideology and refuse to align with conservative policies.
The other eight Pennsylvania college presidents who signed the statement are:
- Ronald B. Cole, Allegheny College
- Wendy Cadge, Bryn Mawr College
- Elizabeth M. Meade, Cedar Crest College
- Wendy E. Raymond, Haverford College
- James A. Troha, Juniata College
- Nicole Hurd, Lafayette College
- Jonathan D. Green, Susquehanna University
- Valerie Smith, Swarthmore College
None of the Commonwealth’s state-related institutional leaders signed the letter. Politics PA reported that the president of the Association of American Universities (AAU) – the prestigious association of 71 top research universities in the U.S. and Canada – to which Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh belong – did sign it.
In February, under pressure from the White House, the University of Pennsylvania removed references to DEI from its offices, websites and policies, and the phrase “affirmative action.”
The school renamed its “Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy,” the “Policy on Equal Opportunity.”