American higher education stands at a crossroads. After decades of public disinvestment, political interference, and manufactured mistrust, the very institutions that sustain free inquiry and democratic possibility are under concerted attack. These threats imperil not only our colleges and universities but also the civic fabric and future they sustain.
Students and workers have borne the brunt of decades of disinvestment by leaders from both major parties at the state and federal levels. Our students deserve affordable higher education, one that opens up lives of possibility rather than straitjackets of debt. Our students deserve an education that reflects appreciation of diverse backgrounds and fosters dignity, solidarity, and inclusion. Our faculty and staff deserve workplaces that recognize the dignity and worth of those employed on their campuses rather than turning campus workers into part-timers and subcontracted staff.
At the same time, research, the pursuit of new knowledge and understanding, is also under siege. Political interference, funding cuts, and ideological attacks threaten the independence of scientific inquiry, the humanities, and the arts alike. A democracy cannot thrive when research is censored, captured, or defunded.
We—students, faculty, staff, alumni, college leadership, and community allies—join together across institutions, states, and sectors to defend and transform higher education as a cornerstone of American democracy and a public good that belongs to all. We affirm that colleges and universities must remain places of open learning, shared governance, fair opportunity, and independent thought: where research and teaching serve society; where access, affordability, and fair working conditions make that mission possible; and where knowledge serves people, not power.
These principles express our shared commitments and guide our collective action. Member organizations may emphasize different aspects in their own work, but we stand together on this common ground.
