WSU does not join other universities in letter condemning funding threats

President Donald Trump’s assault on college campuses in the form of threats, or freezing of grants that are the lifeblood of research at those institutions, has prompted college officials to send a collective message that they remain committed to battle the “unprecedented government overreach and political interference.”

As such, the American Association of Colleges and Universities issued a letter signed by 562 colleges and universities as of Tuesday afternoon. Those signatures include those by Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh, Eastern Washington University President Shari McMahan and University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce.

Absent from that list, despite a letter signed by professors seeking her to join her colleagues, was Washington State University President Elizabeth Cantwell, who did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Norman Lewis, a WSU regents professor of biological chemistry, said he also reached out to Cantwell and WSU Provost T. Chris Riley-Tillman to make sure days ago that they were aware of the letter and asked them to make their positions clear.

“They should really reach out to, you know, students, the faculty, the staff and other stakeholders with some kind of response,” Lewis said of Cantwell and Riley-Tillman. “And by extrapolation, if they’re not going to sign, explain why not.”

“Well,” Lewis continued, “nothing has happened.”

The letter, which was written in conjunction with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, created in 1780 by several founding fathers of the United States, noted that the universities and colleges welcome legitimate government oversight.

“However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses,” the letter reads in part. “Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation.”

While the letter did not specify a course of action, the collective stance showed that institutions of higher learning are beginning to resist.

“When we are teaming up with higher ed across the board, it’s more than just about what the elite think,” Richard K. Lyons, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, told the New York Times. “At some level, that really disparate, wide-angle, wonderful group of colleges and universities that signed the message, I find quite heartening.”

In a statement to The Spokesman-Review, EWU provided a comment McMahan wrote to others who reached out about why she joined her colleagues in signing the letter.

“Since the AACU letter was published, we saw that it strongly aligns with our values, and we took steps to add our name,” McMahan wrote. “I remain focused on creating a supportive and inclusive environment where EWU students can thrive and succeed, and we’ll continue to uphold the values of our university.”

The letter of solidarity follows actions by the Trump administration to freeze grants, moves that sometimes appear based on words in those grants that apparently don’t align with Trump’s stated effort to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

That included the cancellation earlier this month of a $59 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the University of Idaho that forced the layoffs of 26 full- and part-time employees.

The USDA letter that announced the grant’s termination also noted that Idaho could resubmit a request for funding, but the USDA has changed the name of the funding program from Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities to “Advancing Markets for Producers.”

Like WSU, UI, Idaho State University, Montana State University and the University of Montana also were not included among the institutions that signed along with the 562 other colleges and universities. However, the list included Western Washington University, Central Washington University, Evergreen State College, several of UW’s satellite campuses and Whitman College.

The joint statement from university leaders follows efforts by colleagues at Harvard University to resist Trump’s freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding and his administration launching numerous investigations of Harvard’s operations. It has also threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

The fear of becoming the next Harvard is real for many schools, Michael S. Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, told the New York Times.

Roth, who signed the letter, has been a vocal critic of the administration’s actions and recently participated in a “Hands Off” protest near the school’s campus in Middletown, Connecticut.

Roth said he was not surprised that some universities had turned down the opportunity to sign.

“This administration is very ready to exact retribution on its foes,” Roth told the New York Times. “I asked a lot of people to sign, and many people said: ‘I can’t sign. I’m afraid.’”

Cougar response

In a letter sent to WSU’s Cantwell a few days ago, WSU English Professor Jon Hegglund made Cantwell aware of the letter and asked her to sign on behalf of the university.

“As the state’s second-largest university and only land-grant institution, WSU should publicly support and affirm the principles expressed in the AAC&U statement,” Hegglund wrote in a letter also signed by WSU Professors Elizabeth Siler, Nishant Shahani and Pamela Thoma.

Hegglund quoted the letter that read, in part: “Colleges and universities are engines of opportunity and mobility, anchor institutions that contribute to economic and cultural vitality regionally and in our local communities. They foster creativity and innovation, provide human resources to meet the fast-changing demands of our dynamic workforce, and are themselves major employers.”

“These sentences describe the land-grant mission of WSU perfectly,” Hegglund wrote. “Where is the controversy in giving full-throated support to these core principles?”

He noted that universities remain “very much at risk” at this time of uncertainty.

“While you might be under legal guidance to remain reticent about voicing support for the autonomy and independence of WSU’s research, teaching, and service activities for fear of political retribution, know that your faculty, students, and staff are counting on you to act as a courageous leader in these frightening times,” Hegglund wrote.

While Cantwell did not respond to messages seeking comment, WSU spokesman Phil Weiler issued a statement .

“Like many universities across the country, WSU is navigating a combination of financial pressures and rapid changes in higher education,” Weiler wrote in part, “While WSU is proactively addressing these challenges, we are also thoughtfully standing up for the freedoms of our students and faculty and for public higher education in general.

“WSU will continue to work closely with other land-grant universities and with our elected officials on both sides of the aisle in the state and federal government to highlight the impact that our institution – and our amazing students, faculty and staff – have on our communities and on the nation.”

Lewis, the Regents professor, came to Pullman in 1990.

Originally from Scotland, Lewis heads WSU’s Institute for Biological Chemistry. Much of his research into plant biology, including the study of how some plants produce medicines that are used for treating cancer, relies on grants.

“I used to tell people that I began life as an organic chemist. I then became a professional beggar … and I’m finishing up as an English major for writing grants and papers,” he said.

But Lewis is proud of the team that WSU has formed over more than three decades on campus. And, he said the students and faculty deserve to know where the college leadership stands.

“I think it would be constructive for the university to strongly consider signing off on it,” he said of the letter. “And, if they’re not going to sign off on it, make it crystal clear what the reasons are, because folks will just jump to, you know, whatever interpretation that they might want to give it.

“My hope would be, to use that old expression, that cooler heads can prevail,” he continued. “But, you’ve got to be at the party to be part of the conversation.”