A letter from the Ferris State Torch, the Michigan Daily, the Grand Valley Lanthorn and The Eastern Echo
Editor’s note: This editorial was written collaboratively by Michigan Daily, Grand Valley Lanthorn and Ferris State Torch staff. The Eastern Echo has signed on in solidarity.
President Donald Trump’s administration has initiated a continuous assault on university life, the First Amendment, student journalism and civil rights just 86 days into his term. Our papers — the Michigan Daily, the Grand Valley Lanthorn and the Ferris State Torch — have witnessed the onslaught to varying degrees in our own backyards. As journalists and students, we are watching an attack on the rights of our peers with a simultaneous shift to cowardice by university administrations. This is not just happening in Michigan but across the entire country.
Following a summer of protests and the violent removal of a pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Michigan, there has been retaliation from the highest office in the country. After the federal government dangled $400 million of federal funding in their faces, Columbia administrators agreed to ban protesting students from wearing face masks, hire additional security personnel and review the school’s Middle Eastern studies department. These concessions are taking place on varying scales across the country, with the University of Maine as another example. To win back funding, the institution announced it will not allow transgender women to compete in women’s sports.
When students enroll in school, they do so under the assumption that their university will look out for them. That assumption has been proven wrong. Universities are failing to deliver for their students, as administrators have prioritized their pocketbooks over the security of their students.
Student journalists and activist groups have warned that the values defining higher education are under attack. As diversity, equity and inclusion programs come under assault, immigration officers descend upon our campuses and LGBTQ+ protections are stripped away, our schools have either stood in silence or actively fallen in line with the president’s demands, and in the process, our universities have been pulled from under us.
In a shameful move, U-M announced campus-wide cuts to DEI initiatives through the closure of both its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Office of Health, Equity and Inclusion. The Wall Street Journal reports that University of Michigan President Santa Ono is “ready to play ball with Trump’s Washington.” He’s not the only one.
At Grand Valley State University, students and faculty have expressed concern over a lack of communication about campus immigration and customs enforcement guidelines. In March, the GVSU administration altered and cut language in the university’s harassment policy to fall in line with the most recent federal court rulings, which reverted Title IX policies to those of the first Trump administration.
For Ferris State University, a lack of student protests has seemingly equated to little to no concerns about federal crackdowns. However, we argue that it’s a safe bet that targeted community members are most likely living with fear. At the very least, we think our universities should be affirming the safety of students who have drawn the ire of the federal government.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security revoked the visas of current and former U-M, GVSU and Central Michigan University students. Places of higher education have a duty to protect students, whether that be from ICE arrests, the federal government’s gutting of resources for marginalized students or the erasure of scholarship and curricula. However, none of our schools have appropriately safeguarded students from the federal government’s harm.
Following the detainment of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University doctoral student who wrote a pro-Palestine op-ed in her school’s newspaper, Tufts’ president issued a statement of support for Ozturk and called for her release. We applaud the actions being taken by Tufts University and feel higher-ed administrations nationwide should exert the same strength to shield their students from Trump’s grip.
Just this week, Harvard refused to capitulate to the Trump administration’s demands, saying the university is “not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.” We believe that Harvard’s stance should be replicated by other universities. While not all higher-ed institutions are private like Harvard, the protection of students should be universal.
At the moment, we don’t feel our institutions would stand up and speak out. We’ve seen our administrations quickly cave to the pressure of both the Trump administration and wealthy benefactors time and time again. Above all, university officials appear to be more worried about their finances than the communities they are meant to serve.
Our papers cover these issues to help students parse through the hectic media landscape. In most cases, university leadership either briefly responds through email or flat-out declines to comment. Administrators should be engaging in communication with student reporters during this difficult time. We feel that instead of supporting their students, many higher-ed officials are cowardly hiding behind a wall of vague and ambiguous policy.
As journalists, we feel a responsibility to amplify campus voices, and as scholars ourselves, we’re imploring our administrations to safeguard students from harm’s way and preserve freedom of expression. It’s up to students and university community members to continue speaking out and advocating for the future they want to see on their campuses — a space free of repression and oppression — in Michigan and beyond.