At its upcoming meeting of May 15, the UCLA Legislative Assembly of the Academic Senate is being asked to endorse the two resolutions below. One is from the UC Academic Council. The other is a statement by members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance:
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Academic Council Statement: The Defense of the University
April 8, 2025
Higher education is under direct and sustained attack. Deliberate and systemic shifts in the federal government’s approach to higher education—which include defunding crucial research, intervening in academic affairs, and policing expression—will have profound downstream consequences, threatening the integrity of knowledge production and the public role of universities in a democratic society. The mission of the University of California is thus existentially at risk.
Unity will be critical in the weeks, months, and years ahead, as the University of California fights to preserve its capacity to prepare the next generation of the workforce. These graduates will be leading health care providers, educators, authors, entrepreneurs, and innovators. Given the opportunity, they will conduct the research leading to breakthroughs in science and technology, new treatments for disease, new forms of creative expression, and new insights about the world we inhabit. Let us remember that our university played a foundational role in the development of the Internet, satellite communications, nuclear energy, biotechnology, agronomy, and many other domains that have substantially improved our collective well-being. If our research and teaching mission is compromised, what future discoveries will be lost, and at what cost to the public health and welfare of all Californians?
The Academic Senate is one of the pillars of shared governance of the University of California, along with the Regents and the administration. Policies and practices of shared governance have served the institution well during previous crises, and we will have even greater need of them as we move forward. The urgency and complexity of the problems we confront necessitate collaborative efforts. We need to stand, speak, and work together—informed by our shared, fundamental principles—in order to guard our mission. This approach requires that the Regents, President, and Chancellors of the University of California actively engage faculty and leverage their expertise to secure a strong future for the University and the many constituencies it serves. Now is the time for bravery to override fear.
We thus call on the Regents, President, and Chancellors of the University of California to expend every effort, commit necessary resources, and use all legal measures to defend our ability to conduct consequential, transformative research and provide high-quality teaching and mentoring. We call on our leaders to ensure the safety and privacy of students, faculty, and staff. And we further call on our leaders to protect academic freedom and faculty control of the curriculum—proactively and publicly.
While current events may seem shockingly unprecedented, there are historical parallels. From these we learn that the future is contingent upon how we respond now. We must come together as a community to strengthen our ability to fulfill our institutional mission and uphold our commitment to the state of California. These collective efforts extend to working together with colleagues at other universities to envision and implement plans for preserving higher education’s ability to contribute to the common good.
Let the future historical record show that we rose to the challenge of defending the University of California, and we did so in ways that did not betray its core values.
The distinctive mission of the University is to serve society as a center of higher learning, providing long-term societal benefits through transmitting advanced knowledge, discovering new knowledge, and functioning as an active working repository of organized knowledge. That obligation, more specifically, includes undergraduate education, graduate and professional education, research, and other kinds of public service, which are shaped and bounded by the central pervasive mission of discovering and advancing knowledge.
Fiat Lux.
University of California
Systemwide Academic Senate Council, 2024-2025
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Statement in Support of the Core Mission and Shared Values of Higher Education in the United States of America
Private and public higher education institutions in the United States have for over three centuries contributed to the public good, and the nation’s global leadership position, through the advancement and sharing of knowledge, and by providing pathways for workforce development.
Research funding in universities is judiciously used to drive innovation, providing an exceptional return on investment that advances economic growth, health and well-being, scientific breakthroughs, national security, and cultural and civic development. Academic research and scholarly expertise are also vital to excellent teaching and training, ensuring that the U.S. workforce of the future remains globally competitive.
Higher education in the United States continuously sets standards for international excellence and attracts students and colleagues from all over the world. The contributions of international scholars, staff, and students to U.S. higher education are integral to its leadership position.
U.S. higher education’s global excellence and public impact require working and learning environments that ensure opportunities for all. Initiatives that reduce discrimination are part of that imperative.
As recent challenges to funding and programming threaten to dismantle the core values and mission of higher education, at great detriment to the public at large and the U.S.’s international reputation, the undersigned faculty governance bodies affirm the following:[1]
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[1] This resolution was written collaboratively by faculty governance leaders at universities in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. It does not belong to the Big Ten or any member institution, and is open for any faculty governance body to endorse. It was inspired by the 2/19/25 resolution passed by the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia, “Resolution on External Challenges to Faculty Roles and Responsibilities.”
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1) Public and private universities serve the public good and contribute to the U.S.’s national and global excellence, through teaching, research, and service.
2) Cuts to research funding in higher education will undermine scientific innovation, health, societal progress, and the U.S.’s leadership position, with long-lasting detrimental impacts.
3) Academic scholarship and research, through peer review and professional accreditation, lead to evidence-based expertise, not partisan viewpoints.
4) We support academic freedom and free speech, and those who exercise their rights thereto, citizens and non-citizens alike.
5) We oppose the targeted harassment of faculty members for their expertise.
6) We support the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the right of people to peaceably assemble. All community members who engage in peaceful assembly, regardless of viewpoint or citizenship status, should have the opportunity to do so without retaliation.
7) We agree with the Department of Education that discrimination based on race, color, or national origin (Title VI), sex (Title IX), and disability (ADA) is reprehensible, affirming our legal and moral obligation as educational institutions not to discriminate based on these or other identifying characteristics. Initiatives that help to reduce such discrimination, when grounded in best practice, increase opportunities and ensure real meritocracy for all.
8) We affirm the essential role of transparent and collaborative shared governance in maintaining the integrity of our universities, and commit to its continued strengthening.
9) Lastly, we call upon faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community partners of our universities to unite in support of the core mission, values, and academic freedoms of higher education in the U.S.
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Endorsements are listed in chronological order. Time taken to endorse reflects the varying timelines and procedures of individual governance bodies.
The Ohio State University Faculty Council, endorsement vote 4/3/2025
University of Nebraska Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 4/4/2025
Northwestern University Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 4/9/2025
University of Oregon Senate, endorsement vote 4/9/2025
Michigan State University Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 4/15/2025
University of Michigan Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 4/20/2025
Purdue University Senate, endorsement vote 4/21/2025
University of Minnesota University Senate, endorsement vote 4/24/2025
University of Massachusetts-Amherst Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 4/25/2025
Rutgers University Senate, endorsement vote 4/25/2025
University of Iowa Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 4/29/2025
Pennsylvania State University Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 4/29/2025
University of California Berkeley Divisional Council, endorsement vote 4/30/2025
University of Massachusetts-Lowell Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 5/5/2025
University of Massachusetts Boston Faculty Council, endorsement vote 5/5/2025
University of Connecticut University Senate, endorsement vote 5/5/2025
University of Wisconsin Madison Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 5/6/2025
Brown University Faculty Executive Committee, endorsement vote 5/6/2025
Drake University Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 5/7/2025
University of Southern California Academic Senate, endorsement vote 5/7/2025
University of Washington Faculty Senate, endorsement vote 5/8/2025
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