The six major associations representing higher education on Thursday released a joint response to the federal-government shutdown. Instead of calling on lawmakers to resolve the situation, the groups suggest a sort-of nationwide teach-in as an antidote to the political dysfunction that threatens to throw the economy into a tailspin.
The joint response, in the form of a letter to the members of each association, appeared as groups across the political spectrum have begun calling for an end to the crisis, including organizations that typically back Republicans nationally, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. With the exception of a few dozen Republican members of Congress and their supporters, few seem to doubt the deep and difficult consequences of the shutdown and the potential economic fallout if Congress fails to raise the government’s borrowing limit and the United States defaults on even some of its debt.
Now in its second week, the shutdown is already leaving a mark on colleges and their students and faculty members. Research projects have been interrupted, academic meetings have been postponed or canceled, and some students are being urged to put off their education until the federal-budget impasse ends.
But the letter from the six associations—the American Association of Community Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education, the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities—mentions none of that. Instead, the groups urge their members to make the most of a teachable moment.
“We call on higher-education institutions around the country to engage in conversations, lectures, and events, both on and off campus, that bring together students, business and community leaders, and the public,” the letter says. “We should focus attention on the processes that ensure responsible government and sound budget policy.”
“We are deeply concerned,” the letter continues, “by the growing resignation of the American people to this ‘new normal': the idea that Washington is so broken and dysfunctional that it cannot be fixed, only ignored or ridiculed.”
‘Beyond Dysfunctional’
The purpose of the letter was not to try to influence the debate on Capitol Hill, said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, which represents some 1,800 institutions, including both two- and four-year colleges and private, public, and for-profit institutions.
“We have two jobs,” he said. “Job 1 is explaining colleges to Congress. Job 2 is explaining Congress to colleges.”
Higher education has a role in preparing informed citizens, Mr. Hartle said, and this generation of college students might see the current impasse as another manifestation of the hyperpartisanship that has dominated politics throughout their lives. But the budget stalemate goes way beyond that, he added: “I’m not sure what the word is for something beyond dysfunctional.”
In addition, Mr. Hartle said, the associations didn’t want to be seen as taking sides in a debate in which they have very little sway over the outcome.
“We certainly want an end to the shutdown,” he said. “But it’s hard to be engaged in that process and not seem to be taking sides. That’s a losing proposition.”
