Some of the nation’s most prestigious universities have put together a private group to fight against the Trump administration’s policies regarding research funding and academic independence in higher education, people familiar with the effort told The Wall Street Journal.
The creation of the informal collective, which includes about 10 universities that are mostly in blue states, was particularly spurred by the administration’s recent list of demands for widespread cultural change at Harvard, which many universities consider an assault on independence.
The leaders of the new group hope it will prove to be a more powerful effort than recent public resolutions from university-aligned organizations.
The new group, which includes individual trustees and presidents of universities, has discussed how to respond to various demands given by the Trump administration, which has frozen or canceled billions in research funding at colleges it says haven’t done enough to counter antisemitism on their campuses.
The group’s goal is to make sure other universities don’t reach deals that create a worrisome precedent that others would be under pressure to follow, such as what has happened to some top law firms in their dealings with the administration.
Ted Mitchell, who leads the American Council on Education, told the Journal that he was aware of the informal discussions.
“I’m encouraged that they’re going on,” he said. “This kind of exchange helps institutions understand the impacts of government actions across campuses and to identify critical nonnegotiables that have no place in government regulation.”
A person familiar with the group of university leaders said members expect their ranks will increase in number, but that current members think of themselves “as ground zero of resistance.”
However, some people familiar with the group said that putting together a coalition in which some colleges are members creates an out-group of those that are not members, a dynamic that could serve to divide universities at a moment they’re hoping to band together.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Comments