Alliance Forms to Protect Higher Ed From Political Meddling

"The nonprofit's mission is to protect higher ed's role in fostering democracy by ensuring that colleges and universities have academic freedom, autonomy and opportunity for all students to learn and succeed, said Mike Gavin, the organization's inaugural president and CEO. "Our goal-the joke I've been making-is to make things less bad," Gavin told Inside Higher Ed. "But in the long run, what we want to see is" higher ed making good on its "democratic promises.""

"The alliance is providing "rapid-response" resources to counter and pre-empt the Trump administration's political incursions into higher ed. For example, the organization's site is already populated with reports and tool kits, including a template for how higher ed employees can respond to ICE actions as well as a guide for campus reflection and planning after the Trump administration dropped its appeal of the court order blocking its guidance to quash DEI efforts."

"The organization is also thinking long-term with a project called Democracy's Campus 2036, which aims to create a blueprint for how campuses can create "more access for more people so that the democracy thrives," Gavin said. A think tank focused on the intersection of higher education and democracy is also in the works to disseminate research and best practices across different types of institutions."

A new national coalition, the Alliance for Higher Education, launched to defend higher education from government interference and to protect its role in fostering democracy. The organization emphasizes academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and expanded opportunity for students to learn and succeed. The alliance produces rapid-response resources, reports, and tool kits to counter political incursions, including templates for responding to ICE actions and guidance for campuses after the administration dropped its appeal related to DEI guidance. The group is developing Democracy's Campus 2036 as a blueprint for access and plans a think tank to disseminate research and best practices across institutions.

Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs