As President Donald Trump accelerates his crackdown on academia—slashing research funding, attacking diversity initiatives, and threatening the civil liberties of students and scholars—colleges, faculty alliances, and national academic organizations are mounting an increasingly organized resistance.
At the heart of the opposition is a growing belief that the administration’s actions constitute a systematic attack on the core values and operational autonomy of American higher education.
Mutual Defense from Within
The Big Ten Academic Alliance, a consortium of 18 major research universities, is forging a “Mutual Academic Defense Compact” (MADC) to coordinate a response to what it calls “legal, financial and political” assaults by the Trump administration. The initiative began with Rutgers University’s faculty senate, which passed a resolution on April 6 calling on other Big Ten schools to unite in defense of academic freedom.
“Senators have a moral and ethical responsibility to review matters that are impacting anything related to university level, academic freedom, curriculum, policies, etc,” said Lucille Foster, chair of the Rutgers Senate, in an interview with The Hill. “The [university] senate’s responsibility [is] to collect that information and have a pretty robust conversation about it.”
The compact proposes sharing legal counsel, public affairs resources, and rapid-response funds to support institutions under federal pressure. Faculty senates at Michigan State University, Indiana University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have since joined the effort. While some schools—especially in more conservative states—have expressed hesitation over fears of retaliation, Rutgers plans to host a convening in May to bring stakeholders into the conversation, regardless of whether they’ve signed on.
“I think very few successful things happen on a macro level,” Foster noted. “You really want to start on a ground level.”
Ivy League Legal Resistance
Elite private universities, many of which have become political targets for Trump, are also taking a stand—none more forcefully than Harvard University. After refusing to comply with a sweeping list of federal demands, the administration froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and moved to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status. The university responded with a lawsuit, accusing the government of “unlawful and beyond the government’s authority” behavior in its attempt to dictate university operations.
In a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Harvard President Alan Garber declared the university will not concede to what he called ‘the government’s unlawful attempt to control fundamental aspects of our university’s operations.’”
District court judge Allison Burroughs is now overseeing the case, which could set a critical precedent on federal authority over institutional autonomy in higher education.
Meanwhile, Columbia University’s acting president Claire Shipman—whose institution complied with earlier federal demands after $400 million in funding was pulled—joined a public letter opposing “undue government intrusion,” signed by hundreds of college presidents and released by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).
A National Statement of Principles
That AAC&U letter, released April 22, has become a manifesto for the sector. Signed by nearly 600 presidents and chancellors, it warns of “unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” While emphasizing openness to reform, the signatories reject what they describe as coercive funding tactics and top-down mandates on curriculum, admissions, and institutional governance.
“Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry,” the letter reads, “Where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions … without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation.”
Science and Immigration in the Crosshairs
The Trump administration has also set its sights on federally funded research. Agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have abruptly canceled billions in peer-reviewed grants, often without explanation. Legal challenges have followed: the ACLU and state attorneys general from 16 states are suing the NIH for what they call a “reckless purge of federal grants.”
At the same time, universities are contesting a new policy capping federal reimbursement of indirect research costs at 15%—a move that institutions say could cripple scientific infrastructure. Several academic groups and 13 research universities have filed suit to halt the policy’s implementation.
International students, too, have been swept up in the administration’s crackdown. In March and April alone, more than 1,800 foreign students had their visas revoked or rendered inactive without notice. Although the administration appeared to walk back some terminations under legal pressure, confusion remains. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later clarified that the government had not reversed course, stating, “Whenever the government catches non-US citizens breaking our laws, we will take action to revoke their status.”
This atmosphere has galvanized faculty unions, civil rights groups, and immigration advocates. Rafael Jaime, a UCLA PhD student and labor leader, described one legal victory as “a victory for international workers who overcame Trump’s fear tactics to speak out against these illegal attacks on their rights.”
A Sector Stands Its Ground
The backlash now taking shape across American higher education—from elite Ivy League campuses to public Big Ten institutions—suggests a sector increasingly unwilling to remain silent.
“Our objections,” wrote Stanford’s leadership in support of Harvard, “are rooted in the American tradition of liberty, a tradition essential to our country’s universities, and worth defending.”
In an era when political intervention in academic life is no longer hypothetical, colleges and universities are showing that they can—and will—fight back.
