Ora Pescovitz was in a hurry. The president of Oakland University, in Michigan, had spent three hours participating in a discussion on the future of higher education and had just a few minutes to get across campus before a webinar on President Donald J. Trump’s plans for higher-education funding.
The topic was apt. Days earlier, a wide-ranging freeze on federal funding had sent heads spinning across the sector — and left presidents scrambling to figure out how their campuses might be affected. That was just one in a flurry of Trump’s opening volley of orders that carry implications for colleges.
On Thursday, the emails filling Pescovitz’s inbox showed the pressures she and other leaders are under. They included pleas from students asking her to protect them from anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-immigrant executive orders.
“It’s all been very confusing for people and it’s creating chaos,” she told The Chronicle, noting there are likely more orders and confusion on the way. To try to weather it, Pescovitz established a Strategic Response Team to respond to any future executive orders or mandates. It’s not just limited to funding, but also anything affecting student success, research, teaching, community engagement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Members of the SRT will be charged with ensuring that we act in compliance with all federal orders in a manner that is consistent with our values and goals related to maintaining the highest-quality learning environment for our students, faculty, and staff,” Pescovitz wrote in a midweek communique to her campus community.
Such orders keep coming. This week, reports circulated that a forthcoming order would begin the process of disbanding the Education Department, leaving colleges with questions ranging from Title IX enforcement to routine data-collection efforts.
We all anticipated disruption and the flurry of executive orders. The challenge was we weren’t sure what they would say.
“We all anticipated disruption and the flurry of executive orders,” said Charles L. Welch, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “The challenge was we weren’t sure what they would say. [The federal funding order] is no longer in effect, but we anticipate other executive orders, and maybe even a modified version of this one.”
There are concrete steps colleges can take now to get ready for whatever is next, Welch said. That includes taking careful inventory of federal monies coming into campus, clarifying what positions they support, and assessing how other funding streams might cover a freeze in funds. Colleges should also be making sure to draw down any available funds from the federal government as soon as they are accessible in case of a freeze. And college leaders should be communicating to legislators and others about the importance of their institution to the local economy, both directly — like jobs — and indirectly — like the value of research being done to improve manufacturing.
The first round of chaos started late January 27, when news broke about a memo from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget detailing a pause in all federal assistance, including huge chunks of money for a variety of programs vital to higher-education institutions.
Phones all across higher education began to ping and vibrate with a flood of texts and calls, multiple presidents told The Chronicle. The presidents — at research universities and small colleges alike — declined to talk on-the-record because of fears of reprisals.
Presidents called governmental-relations staff members looking for whatever details could be found. Financial-aid staffers asked if the order meant Pell Grants and other federal programs were paused. Should researchers come to work the next day? Should supplies be ordered? Lawyers looked through the language in grant awards allowing for the federal government to claw back money already distributed. Chief financial officers faced questions about how long the university could fund research if new funds didn’t show up. Communications staffers began drafting statements, and leaders reminded legislators of their campuses’ economic impact.
Presidents had known something was coming. It’s not uncommon, they said, for a new administration to put some sort of short pause on reviewing new grants as they take office. Others said they weren’t shocked Trump was following through on what he said he would do during the presidential campaign.
Michigan State University began preparations for moves by the Trump administration in early January, with the establishment of four rapid-response teams, said President Kevin Guskiewicz. One team was set up to focus on possible effects for research; one for financial and tax implications; one focused on international students; and one on campus-life issues, including undocumented students and possible U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement visits to campus. Having those teams in place allowed MSU to react in a thoughtful manner, he said. It also helped the campus community to know there were already plans in place.
The reality is what is show and what is policy doesn’t shake out for a few months.
On January 28, the White House clarified that financial aid wasn’t included in the freeze. That calmed some fears, but not all. The American Council on Education switched a planned webinar to focus on the topic. Several thousand of its members logged in, completely filling the Zoom room’s capacity. Late Tuesday, a federal judge put a stay on the action, and the next morning the memo was rescinded after intense opposition.
That didn’t stop the discussion on campuses, presidents said, just shifted it out of emergency mode.
Some presidents are adopting a wait-and-see posture. “The reality is what is show and what is policy doesn’t shake out for a few months,” said John Comerford, the president of Otterbein University, in Ohio. “It would be a mistake to overreact. They want to get a reaction. It’s a ‘stick it to the libs’ kind of thing. It’s not wise to take the bait.”
The pace of change means colleges need to be diligent in sorting through the executive measures. There’s also more to come, Comerford said. “I am much more interested in what’s going to be included in the megabill they are trying to pass, about higher education and funding,” he said. It’s also important, he said, to keep perspective. Classes were still being held on his campus, basketball games were being played, and music practices were taking place.
The battle for campus leadership, several presidents agreed, was to not allow all the uncertainty to distract them. “We have to continue to keep our focus on students and student success,” Welch said. “No matter what these orders are.”
