We rise up to save higher education

It is clear that higher education is under attack. The Trump administration has frozen funding for science, from cancer research to reproductive care; has hamstrung student financial aid programs; has stripped colleges and universities of diversity, equity and inclusion programming; has strangled affirmative action designed to expand access to college; and is demanding that some institutions sign a "compact" that forces them to adopt Trump's ideology in exchange for federal funding.

On Nov. 7, students, faculty and staff rose up at more than 100 universities and colleges across the country and said, "no more." Through teach-ins, rallies, walkouts and marches, university communities rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to control academia and vowed to set a better course for the future of higher education, particularly as the country approaches the 2026 midterm elections.

Loyalty oath rejected

Much of the action, led by Students Rise Up, the Sunrise Movement, the American Association of University Professors and others, focused on Trump's so-called Compact for Excellence in Higher Education. Essentially a loyalty oath, the compact would force universities to adopt Trump's priorities in exchange for favorable treatment, including access to federal funding.

Specifically, universities that sign the compact would be prohibited from considering race or sex in hiring and admissions and would have to freeze tuition for five years, limit international student enrollment, require standardized tests for applicants, eliminate departments that "punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas," and publish anonymous reports from students and staff on compliance with the compact.

Initially distributed to nine elite universities, all but two rejected the compact. Now the compact is offered to any college or university that wants to sign up.

"At a time when higher education is under relentless political attack, the universities that refused to sign onto Trump's Faustian bargain showed real courage and integrity," said AFT President Randi Weingarten. "They chose to stand with students, educators, and the principles of academic freedom, institutional integrity and the very soul of higher education, instead of bowing to partisan pressure."

Hundreds of activists protested outside billionaire Marc Rowan's office in New York City, urging other universities to reject the compact and condemning its demands. Rowan, the author of the compact, is CEO of Apollo Global Management, an asset management company. Banners at the protest included "Tell Billionaire Marc Rowan Hands Off Higher Ed" and, in a nod to paving a better way forward, "Higher Ed Is a Public Good."

"The Trump agenda for higher ed is a dangerous one," said James Davis, president of the Professional Staff Congress, which represents faculty and staff at the City University of New York. "They want to control hiring. They want to control all the core academic functions of the university, and they're using federal funding as blackmail to do that."

Protests were widespread and included actions in Atlanta-where Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University joined forces-and at the University of Kansas and the University of Connecticut. At Brown University, people dipped their hands in paint to sign a banner against the compact. And in Pennsylvania, activists across the state targeted U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick with messages about affordability and life-saving research. In Philadelphia alone, the AFT was represented by the Temple Association of University Professionals, United Academics of Philadelphia, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the Faculty and Staff Federation of Community College of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania AAUP chapter.

Among other issues, activists also demanded affordable college; an end to student debt; protection for immigrant and international students; inclusive, gender-affirming policies; and support for scientific research.

The action is ongoing: Activists can sign the AFT's petition against the compact and follow our campaign for higher education-Saving Lives, Building Futures, Powering the Economy-not only for more opportunities to defend our colleges and universities from political and economic attacks, but also for ways to advance a bolder, collective vision of higher education as a public good.

[Virginia Myers]