“Flooding the zone” — throwing so much at public attention that everything becomes a blur — is a handy tactic for would-be dictators. People might protest individual, distinct infractions of personal freedom, but a bombardment is harder to counteract. Where do we start?
For us lucky Philadelphians, the Super Bowl joy offered a welcome distraction from the ongoing assaults on fundamental values: democracy, freedom of speech and national unity. At the Superdome we applauded the office of the U.S. presidency, even though the person himself publicly announced his enmity to our team and left shortly after halftime when it was clear that he had associated himself with the losing team. Although most people, often unfairly, associate negative kitchen table issues (like rising egg prices) with the sitting President, this president got a bye for the absence of deviled eggs at Super Bowl parties.
But avoidance and denial are no longer options. Some are reluctant to speak up for fear of being partisan, not wishing to oppose the political party that won the election. But the dangers before us are not really Republican or Democratic. They are instead fundamental issues of Constitutional principle and law. It’s wrong for Democrat Tracey Gordon to retaliate against Philadelphia Register of Wills employees for not contributing to her campaign. And it’s also wrong on a much larger scale for President Trump to retaliate against perceived political opponents for doing their jobs in the Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Education and across government.
Avoidance and denial are no longer options.
Republicans may in general favor a downsizing of government bureaucracy, but it is not partisan to suggest that a scalpel is a better tool than a sledgehammer for the surgery. Repressing all political speech by calling it partisan is an instrument of silence.
In the last four weeks, government and fundamental rights have been thrown into disarray. I encourage readers to pick your poison. Focus on your infraction of choice. Just please say something, do something. We can’t be blinded by the contrast of Trump’s commotion to Biden’s retreat from the public. Not all activity is positive. Some actions merit counter arguments and protests.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” a timely quotation of indeterminate origin (Edmund Burke? John Stuart Mill?), so I’ll change it to “for good people” to do nothing.
My lifetime in higher education means that my focus is on U. S. colleges and universities, a source of national pride, the envy of the world — and right now subject to irreparable harm.
Higher education under federal funding siege
In the discovery and communication of knowledge, universities have long served society as guardrails against propaganda and what is today called “fake news.” Purveyors of baseless conspiracy theories and snake-oil medicine see higher education as the enemy. While U. S. colleges and universities are far from perfect and, as I have written frequently, in need of reform, they merit well-reasoned criticism, not a hostile takeover.
The American Council on Education (ACE), the umbrella organization and lobbying group for higher education as a whole (from community colleges to the Ivy League), met recently, February 11 to 13, in Washington, D.C. In his opening remarks, ACE President Ted Mitchell, a deliberative leader who always looks for reasonable solutions, minced no words: “We’re under attack.”
While U. S. colleges and universities are far from perfect and in need of reform, they merit well-reasoned criticism, not a hostile takeover.
He pointed to the numerous executive orders and actions that have attempted to freeze federal funding and research reimbursements, causing chaos and destabilization with the ultimate goal “to cower us into silence.” As a solutions-oriented leader, Mitchell called upon colleges and universities to stick together and stop apologizing for values embedded in university mission statements.
The values of openness, fairness and opportunity remain even as the federal government tries to suppress “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Mitchell also committed to seek common ground with the administration. ACE Senior Vice President of Government Relations Jon Fansmith said that soon-to-be confirmed Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon had done a good job during Trump’s last term as head of the Small Business Association. “She is not a firebrand; she is not the person who is going to blow things up.” But Fansmith did go on to say that she “may be ordered to blow things up.”
Dear Colleague, Be afraid, be very afraid
As a former university president, I became accustomed to receiving Department of Education (DOE) emails labelled “Dear Colleague.” The topics included guidelines for enforcing Title IX regulations protecting students from sex discrimination, interpretations of civil rights standards, and other interpretations of federal regulations. Late in the evening on February 14, 2025, U. S. university presidents received a Dear Colleague valentine from Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, threatening to withhold federal funds from educational institutions that engage in programming, training or other activities broadly defined as promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. The letter reads, in part:
All educational institutions are advised to: (1) ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law; (2) cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and (3) cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race … Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding.
The letter invites commentary on this “guidance” by email or by mail to the Office of Civil Rights, U. S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S. W., Washington, D.C., 20202.
PEN America, the 100-year-old organization of writers, whose mission is to defend free expression, immediately condemned the Education Department’s threat to defund schools over DEI programs:
The administration’s outrageous ‘Dear Colleague’ letter seeks to declare it a civil rights violation for educational institutions to engage in any diversity-related programming or to promote any diversity-related ideas — potentially including everything from a panel on the Civil Rights Movement to Lunar New Year celebration. This declaration has no basis in law and is an affront to the freedom of speech and ideas in educational settings. It represents yet another twisting of civil rights law in an effort to demand ideological conformity by schools and universities and to do away with critical inquiry about race and identity.
Inside Higher Ed quotes an email from Brian Rosenberg, former president of Macalester College and current visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who calls the letter “truly dystopian.” He goes on to say, “It goes well beyond the Supreme Court ruling on admissions and declares illegal a wide range of common practices. In my career I’ve never seen language of this kind from any government agency in the United States.”
Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat who represents Washington state, is quoted as saying, “While it’s anyone’s guess what falls under the Trump administration’s definition of ‘DEI,’ there is simply no authority or basis for Trump to impose such a mandate.”
The “Dear Colleague” letter says in small print in footnote #3, “This guidance does not have the force and effect of law and does not bind the public or create new legal standards,” although it goes on to say that it is “designed to provide clarity to the public regarding existing legal requirements.” This legal disclaimer is clearly designed for future lawsuits (and may there be many). But the overall intent of the letter remains: Invoke fear of free expression.
We are dealing with a direct and blatant threat to the First Amendment.
Some may say that universities under President Biden went too far in creating discomfort among students who resented being made to feel guilty about their own purported privileged backgrounds. Some college programs may have been unjustifiably unmoved by these complaints. But, while universities can and should rethink ways to be more diverse, equitable and inclusive, that’s very different from the federal government threatening massive financial penalties unless certain words are obliterated and others substituted. We are dealing with a direct and blatant threat to the First Amendment.
The “Dear Colleague” letter sets up barriers for just about anything that pertains to race and cultural identity, obliterating them from American consciousness, pre-school through grad school. Craig Trainor writes, “Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
As I contemplate the astonishing breadth of this statement, I reflect on the many beautiful events, now in jeopardy, that I have experienced in my higher education career. I’ll mention one.
As Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, I was privileged to participate in ceremonies sponsored by the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP). This still thriving program supports school districts in the Alaska bush to provide math and science courses appropriate to college admission in engineering. Once at the University of Alaska Anchorage, the students participate in summer programs, mentoring, counseling, networking and internships. The ANSEP graduation ceremony is always a moving event, with Yupic, Aleut, Haida and other Alaska native students telling their stories of community commitment and educational growth. Is ANSEP in jeopardy? It could be. I hope not.
How are local universities coping with the federal funding freeze?
In the spirit of unity, it is essential to avoid blaming our local institutions for doing whatever they can to cope. Those that fly above the radar are under particular risk.
The University of Pennsylvania received $962,911,509 in federal awards in 2023. Penn State received $851,883,066. Lowering what is called “indirect costs” to 15 percent on these grants, as the Trump administration has planned, would be devastating. The indirect costs represent the government’s partnership with universities in research, everything including finding new cancer treatments, vaccines that might make the next pandemic less lethal, and strategies to address the needs of autistic children. Indirect costs pay for necessary staff in labs and offices to support researchers in their essential work. The University of Pennsylvania medical school plans to dissolve committees named with diversity, equity and inclusion and to review websites for these forbidden words.
It’s terrible to be forced to change the words. But what’s essential is to sustain the values.
The Daily Pennsylvania reported on February 17 that Penn has “scrubbed the University’s main Diversity and Inclusion website” and renamed it “Belonging at Penn,” which contains a statement about Penn’s “commitment to equal opportunity.”
OK! It’s terrible to be forced to change the words. But what’s essential is to sustain the values.
Other local schools, including Temple and Drexel, have not announced such measures, but, believe me, I can tell you from experience, the big February chill is running through their veins. Let’s not blame the victims.
Instead, let’s applaud Governor Josh Shapiro for suing the Trump administration for its broad freeze of federal funding, stating that Trump is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and conducting “an unconstitutional withholding of funds.” Governor Shapiro took up the cause when Republican Attorney General David Sunday declined to do so.
The lawsuits have been slowing down what appear to be illegal actions, and many more lawsuits are on the horizon. We have no guarantee, however, that Donald Trump will obey the law. The New York Times reports that Trump gave prominence to the following statement on Truth Social and then again on X:
“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
We may be overwhelmed by a flooded zone and exhausted by daily disrespect for the rule of law, but we must do something before it’s too late.
What can we do?
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- Bombard Congressional representatives with demands for guardrails against autocracy. The ACE presidents lobbying Congress last week discovered greater openness and responsiveness than they expected.
- Communicate with neighbors, friends and family, even with those who are so sick of politics that they are not listening to the news anymore.
- Support local and state action to protect citizens’ rights.
- Support federal and state funding for colleges and universities without conditions on the vocabulary they use on their websites. While some voters may have negative feelings about higher education as a whole, most are protective of their own local institutions. Please be protective of ours.
- Encourage philanthropy to make up for funds removed from colleges and universities. Give what you can.
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Correction: A previous version of this post misstated the confirmation status of the Secretary of Education.
Elaine Maimon, Ph.D., is an Advisor at the American Council on Education. She is the author of Leading Academic Change: Vision, Strategy, Transformation. Her long career in higher education has encompassed top executive positions at public universities as well as distinction as a scholar in rhetoric/composition. Her co-authored book, Writing In The Arts and Sciences, has been designated as a landmark text. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum. Follow @epmaimon on X.
