Higher education in the US is in a difficult moment, but one effective path to preserve its mission is actually clear
University of Virginia made the news after its president stepped down following pressure from the Trump administration over the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Many responded with dissatisfaction with elites for not doing enough to resist what are viewed as harmful, authoritarian orders that threaten universities and civil society. One UVA professor suggests that the university’s decision to capitulate was the worst among difficult options under consideration. The dissatisfaction can be unpacked into the following:
- Criticism of the process: elites not taking sufficiently forceful efforts to push back on the pressure
- Disapproval of the outcome: elite institutions to caving to pressure, or what some even view as extortion
There may be something to the observation that elite resistance, especially in higher education, hasn’t been as forceful as it has the potential to be. Columbia University’s appeasement is another notable example, despite having top legal talent, resources to fight, and support from a substantial portion of students, faculty, and alumni.
Existing university resistance has taken the form of faculty letter writing, public expressions of concern, and participation in weekend protests. Though important, these steps may not impose high enough costs for institutions to change their behavior.
Imposing costs on compliance
So what can increase the costs of compliance? An incomplete list includes:
- Coordinated civil disobedience by students, faculty, alumni, and other stakeholders:
- Bonus for multi-disciplinary, multi-university organization. Political science and economics faculty, who specialize in coordination problems and collective action, are uniquely positioned to lead such efforts (especially the tenured faculty who benefit from more protections and flexibility).
- Pressure from alumni and donors
- Reputational damage, both domestically and internationally
- Faculty flight and brain drain (hard to reverse once it happens)
How can this play out?
If these efforts precipitate but do not succeed:
- Medium-long term, America may experiences a brain drain and diminished federal budget (as a result of political decisions and their economic consequences). Elite universities of today may cease to be as respected internationally, as they will ironically be left with with fewer federal research funds and will find it increasingly hard to compete for top talent. The hope that private funding will somehow make up the difference may be illusory and a profound misunderstanding of conditions that make the US a scientific and technological powerhouse.
- Last-resort actions may include some private universities moving abroad. Central European University’s move from Budapest as a result of an authoritarian crackdown by Viktor Orban was a loss for Hungary, but a gain for Vienna where it’s currently located.
If these efforts succeed, in the near-term, the momentum can energize allies outside of higher education. Political scientist Adam Bonica wrote about activism on college campuses, also noting the importance of faculty being in solidarity with students. As emphasised in this Democratic Erosion Consortium article, the existence of an independent academic sector is necessarily incompatible with authoritarian governance.
The payoff for successful resistance by higher education means preserving the opportunity for America’s incredible universities to continue their mission of not only providing education but serving as engines of social, economic, and scientific progress.