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A growing number of Colorado university faculty bodies have adopted resolutions asking school leaders to consider pooling resources to oppose the Trump administration’s unprecedented push to reshape colleges nationwide.
On Thursday, the University of Colorado System Faculty Council became the latest in Colorado to pass such a resolution, known as a “mutual academic defense compact.” Sixty-one percent of faculty voted in favor.
The defense compacts, which are also being considered by other faculty assemblies nationally and have been modified slightly by each school, urge Colorado university leaders to work together to defend against what they say are Trump administration attacks on academic freedom, free speech, independent governance, and research in higher education. Any compact would likely need to be approved by university leaders and boards.
American Association of University Professors Colorado Conference co-president Aaron Schneider said although the resolutions are mostly symbolic, they bring together faculty voices to hopefully “provide some backbone to our administrations.”
“It’s a call for solidarity,” he said. “It’s based on the idea that universities understand each other, that we share a mission of knowledge, of teaching, of creating an autonomous civic space for debate and democracy, and that that needs to be preserved.”
In response to the Trump administration’s actions, some Colorado university leaders have changed website wording, revised free speech policies, and dismantled campus initiatives, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Universities have lost research grants under administration changes. The Trump administration also asked universities to sign a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” that would commit schools to align with its agenda. Trump’s compact outlines provisions schools must agree to, including changes to campus free speech policies, transgender student and athlete policies, and admissions requirements.
University of Colorado System President Todd Saliman said in a Thursday statement after the faculty passed the resolution that university leadership at every level are committed to academic freedom as a foundational tenant.
A university spokesperson said CU is already part of a collective of 23 public institutions in Colorado who are represented by the Colorado Attorney General Office. CU provides funding as part of the collaboration.
“To protect academic freedom and our ability to carry out our mission, we have been laser focused on engaging in ways that are the most effective in advancing our mission,” Saliman said. “That emphasis will continue.”
The defense compact resolutions originated in March at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, where faculty encouraged Big Ten Conference school leaders to present a united front against the Trump administration.
Along with the CU System, faculty bodies approving such a resolution or something similar include Fort Lewis College; Colorado State University Fort Collins; the University of Denver; Western Colorado University; and the University of Colorado Boulder, Schneider said.
Faculty at Front Range Community College, the University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs also could consider a resolution, he said.
Colorado State University professor and faculty council member Mary Van Buren, whose council was one of the first to pass the resolution in May, said she understands school leaders are trying to preserve the institution amid threats against federal financial support.
“But where do you draw the line if you’re constantly being encroached on?” Van Buren said. “If you’re constantly making small capitulations to the administration, at what point are you just hollowing out the very core of university values?”
A Western Colorado spokesperson said the school “will not waver in upholding our commitment to academic freedom, integrity of research, and freedom of inquiry, with or without a declared compact.” A University of Denver spokesperson said “the administration is reviewing the resolution and determining the appropriate next steps.” Fort Lewis and CSU Fort Collins representatives had not issued a statement by deadline Thursday.
Faculty want universities to ‘fight against’ Trump policies
University of Colorado Boulder education school professor Deb Palmer, a Boulder Faculty Assembly member and Boulder AAUP co-president, said it’s important that university presidents know how faculty members feel about changes they’ve seen on campus in reaction to the Trump administration’s guidelines. Some are small, like a change to CU Boulder signage from all-gender restrooms to just toilets, she said.
“The main message here is that faculty would like to see the universities fight against the White House’s push to destroy our institutions, rather than just negotiate with the attackers,” she said.
Other changes have been much bigger, such as at the University of Denver. University officials ended policies aimed at helping students of color, as well as LGBTQ and low-income students, after a U.S. Department of Justice memo in July. University leaders feared that the private school could lose federal funding.
“I hope it [the resolution] communicates our deep concern for and resistance to federal interference with the autonomy of higher education institutions, and our continued investment in effective support for all students, staff, and faculty, particularly those who are most impacted by the current federal and sociopolitical landscape” said psychology professor Sarah Enos Watamura, DU’s Faculty Senate president.
These resolutions ask school leaders to go further than past statements and actions. Faculty have also said they want school leaders to not rely solely on the state Attorney General Phil Weiser to defend Colorado higher education.
In April, several Colorado school leaders signed on to an American Association of Colleges & Universities letter calling for constructive engagement with the administration. The AAC&U is a membership organization dedicated to advancing the democratic purposes of higher education.
The letter — which gained almost 500 school leaders’ signatures — said administrators are open to constructive reform from the administration, but “must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.”
School leaders that signed the letter include officials at DU, MSU Denver, CSU Fort Collins, and Colorado College.
A similar group of Colorado school leaders also signed onto an AAC&U letter against the Trump compact. The letter said the Trump administration’s compact represents coercion, not constructive engagement.
Van Buren said she’s seen school leadership be more receptive to the concerns of students and faculty since the faculty passed the defense compact in May. However, students and faculty have still needed to resist changes enacted by leaders in response to Trump, she said.
In August, CSU leaders revised free speech policies on campus and limited chalking, or writing messages in chalk on sidewalks. After student and faculty pushback, the administration rescinded the policy revisions, she said.
“I think that faculty councils, AAUP chapters, and student organizations across the state are going to continue to act in concert to communicate and oppose these changes,” Van Buren said. “But it’s up to the [university] administrations to really make this effective.”
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
