We are entering the place where we are often long-awaited summer probation, and it’s time to write, think, travel, and escape the needs of the school year. But this is not a normal summer.
Faculty may take a break, but the government is actively operating the 2025 project, a blueprint for reshaping every public institution, and higher education is the crown jewel of its anti-democratic agenda. “We’re just starting out. You haven’t even seen anything yet,” Donald Trump announced at a 100-day rally in Michigan. “The architect of the right-wing cultural war has promised to further plunge higher education into “survival horror.”
We should prepare for potential attacks on higher education this summer: Pell’s qualifications reduce the eligibility of low-income students and cut student loans, more demolition of scientific research funding, repression of political certification, new endowment tax, new endowment tax, expanded intimidation for international students and academics, and expanded weapons against Title VI and Title weapons ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix ix for core ix for core ix for forfore ix forfore ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore ix ix ix forfore
We recommend mobilizing two simultaneous fronts this summer: through the mutual academic defense contract (MADC) and direct activist operations. We must build strong alliances to carry out large-scale protests. We recommend a often overlooked but strategic constituency – Veterans.
Recent polls show that most Americans oppose the Trump administration’s approach to higher education. This public sentiment brings us a key opening, and we must seize the momentum to enter the summer.
- Mobilize and form unlikely alliances
Teachers can take simple, student-centric actions this summer – stories that use #DegreesFordemoccrenapy to impact students on social media, or highlight the real-life results of their teaching and research through #What WhatWebuild – to demonstrate the value of higher education and help promote public support. Experts and blog posts highlight how higher EDs can enhance local communities, drive economic growth and improve public health and well-being in the United States are also powerful tools.
In addition, teachers must begin mobilizing large-scale peaceful protests in the streets. This will require going beyond our usual circles and forming large alliances. Now is not the time for ideological purity or partisan hesitation. At present, the threat we face goes beyond the traditional liberal conservative divisions. This is an attack on democratic institutions, civil liberties and public education itself.
In this moment, a particularly powerful, perhaps surprisingly, potential partner is the veteran community. First, we urge teachers to consider aligning with veterans this Friday to participate in the June 6 D-Day commemorative protest: Veterans oppose national fascism at National Mall and over 100 other venues across the country. This is a great way for senior Ed to appear in the June 14 No Kings Day protests.
Why join a veteran?
The shared legacy of the GI Act connects veterans to higher education. Public alliances with veterans have the potential to provide greater political credibility for teachers and broader public common sense, which will undermine the Trump administration’s divide and conquest strategies.
From black World War II veterans who catalyze the civil rights movement to the resistance of the anti-Vietnam War, veterans have been working on the frontlines of social change. Today, they stand deep in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and reduce the risk to senior workforce, which reflects the attack on higher education.
Professors and veterans are natural allies in ways beyond the consciousness of many. Since the passage of the GI Act in 1944, millions of veterans have obtained college degrees and experienced upward mobility through higher education. Veterans are protected classes of recipients of anti-discrimination laws and DEI programming. The Veterans Center and Services we created in support of them are now threatened by the Trump administration’s ideological demolition of DEI. While trust in most American institutions, including higher education, has declined, polls show that the military remains one of the few institutions most Americans still trust. This trust stems from the population breadth of the army: its members come from each region, race, income stage, and political background.
In contrast, higher education encounters image problems, often satirized as elite, distinctive and overly partisan. However, many of the most trusted professionals in society – hard work, teachers, first responders, small business owners and veterans themselves are trained and mentored. Building visible alliances with veterans can help reshape public perceptions of academia, challenging the dominant narrative that seeks isolation and legalizes higher education.
- Operation of mutual academic defense contracts
Despite pressure from public protests, the coalition buildings across agencies create networks of effective resistance. Teachers Senate Senate across the country are approving a shared academic defense compact resolution that calls on universities to jointly defend any participating institutions attacked by the government. But this is just the beginning. We need more, and these resolutions need to be achieved by creating MADC task forces for administrators and faculty on as many campuses as possible. The President and Prime Minister need to recognize the contract and task force.
We must use this summer to perfect the MADC solution language to align with the legal and financial requirements of the agency in preparation for the adoption of the resolution and the establishment of the MADC task force in early fall and to establish the infrastructure that will allow these alliances as a network that protects, resists and shares strategies.
That’s why we co-created the co-created Advanced Emergency Room, a growing national movement designed to help teacher organizations defend academic freedom and institutional autonomy. In the wake of about 5,000 professors signing a letter in all 50 states calling on agencies to unite and actively jointly defend, we are now building a network of MADCs, campus task forces and shared strategies. This summer, Stand Together provides model resolutions, organizational tools and communication support to help campuses enhance their capabilities for future combat.
We were shocked by how many faculty and staff lacked form of autonomous structures on campus. Shared governance is the fundamental pillar of academic freedom, although often obscured by the more obvious right to seek scholarships. We are working with campuses to strengthen existing faculty governance organizations by creating standpoint groups, and where they do not exist, we are helping to build American College Professors Associations and other advocacy chapters to fill this important gap.
This summer, we must think strategically and broadly. This summer, our sister institutions have established alliances in senior ED and a variety of non-academic interests. The bet is nothing more than the future of democracy.
