On Monday, March 31, University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty hosted a teach-in to discuss how recent federal actions could impact higher education.
Presenters across departments spoke about the Trump administration’s continued targeting of colleges and universities through executive orders, investigations, funding cuts and the dismantling of the Department of Education (DOE) to over 100 attendees.
Is This a Constitutional Crisis?
Rebecca Hamlin, the director of legal studies, gave a presentation on whether the federal government’s actions toward education constitute a constitutional crisis.
Citing a professor from the University of Virginia, Hamlin said, “A constitutional crisis occurs when one branch of government, usually the executive, blatantly, flagrantly and regularly exceeds its constitutional authority,” adding that the country is not there yet.
Hamlin emphasized the uniqueness of Trump’s symbolic use of executive orders citing the over 100 executive orders Trump has signed over the past three months compared to Biden’s 162 in four years.
She specifically addressed the executive actions that impact universities, such as funding cuts for universities over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, the federal government removing restrictions on immigration enforcement actions in schools and churches and increasing the vetting and screening of visa applicants, including student visas. The federal government is now revoking visas for students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Hamlin emphasized that there are other “incredibly unusual” things involving the president legally, including Trump’s call for impeaching judges who rule against that prompted Chief Justice John Roberts to make a statement. She said that just because someone was appointed by a president does not mean that they could not vote against them.
“That’s how you know that a democracy is saving itself,” Hamlin said.
Although there are limitations to executive power, there are things Trump can do under the law that are damaging to higher education. Hamlin said that she expects to see a lot of action in the coming months as there are currently 156 active lawsuits against the Trump administration in 71 days.
Hamlin also touched on the power of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by multi-billionaire Elon Musk, an advisor to the president heads DOGE without Congressional approval or authority. Hamlin said DOGE seems to have taken over Congressional spending power.
“Elon Musk has zero constitutional authority to do anything, and Congress is just kind of asleep at the wheel,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin also expressed concerns that the conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court could “rubber stamp,” or approve without much consideration, “a lot of what the president is doing.”
“I personally think that when something that is in flagrant violation of … standing law is rubber-stamped by courts without … coherent legal arguments, that’s much more problematic … from a constitutional perspective,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin emphasized that going through the proper legal channels to enact change, both beneficial and destructive, is a strong indicator that there is not a constitutional crisis. She added that one of the best hopes for preventing further attacks on education is conservative Supreme Court judges checking Trump’s executive power.
Can Trump Kill DEI?
Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, professor of sociology and founding Director of the UMass Center for Employment Equity (CEE), discussed the administration’s targeting of DEI.
He provided a condensed history of the growth and contraction of equal opportunity movements and how universities reacted to changes in policy and culture beginning in the 1960s. Institutions responded to then-President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson’s efforts at equal employment including the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Johnson’s 1965 executive order “prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin” within government contractors.
“It’s not that the race or gender principles were erased, but they were challenged,” Tomaskovic-Devey said.
Johnson’s executive order was revoked by President Trump in an executive order aimed at dismantling DEI initiatives branded as “dangerous, demeaning and immoral race and sex-based preferences,” by the current administration who seeks to restore “merit-based opportunity.”
He went on to describe how the Regan administration in the 1980s used the “political backlash” against these movements that continued into the 1970s to undermine strides against employment discrimination, leading courts to weaken laws and retreat away from equal opportunity initiatives.
The growth of today’s understanding of DEI correlates with a “rise of a focus on fairness and respect.”
“It’s a recipe that says yeah, diversity is here, and there are all sorts of people, and the way we do it is treating other human beings fairly and with respect.”
In reference to the current administration’s stance on DEI, Tomaskovic-Devey said, “What we’re living through now is a fire hose of fear.”
Tomaskovic-Devey referenced the 2020 murder of George Floyd and following resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement as a turning point for corporate power focusing their attention on DEI efforts.
“People like JD Vance were horrified at this,” Tomaskovic-Devey said, as it was a “signal that capitalism was going to turn against them.”
Despite the continuous attacks, Tomaskovic-Devey says that it is unlikely Trump will kill DEI altogether. However, Tomaskovic-Devey said his actions will still come at a cost as he can encourage universities to retreat from being inclusive spaces, cut funding for DEI research and weaken DEI by changing the standards of what we expect from initiatives, “unless of course there is a counter pressure from you … or us.”
“Something that excites me about this moment, however fragile, is that the underlying movement is about equity and inclusion,” Tomaskovic-Devey added.
Impacts on Students
Jeffrey Blanchard, associate professor of microbiology, and Jess Dillard-Wright, Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion and associate professor of nursing, spoke on the impact of executive orders on students.
Both Blanchard and Dillard-Wright addressed the importance of introspection and emotional self-regulation during the current uncertainty.
They addressed the administration’s dismantling of the DOE, which provides about 120 billion in grant, work-study and loan funds each year via the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA). It is unclear how the DOE will continue to distribute funds and services as the workforce is being cut by almost fifty percent according to a March press release from the DOE.
“This is the way they can really hurt you,” Dillard-Wright said regarding loan funding for college students.
The Authoritarian Playbook
Kathy Roberts Forde, associate dean of Equity & Inclusion and professor of journalism, and Lauren McCarthy, professor of legal studies and political science, discussed the parallels between current federal actions that undermine democracy.
McCarthy emphasized that authoritarianism “doesn’t pop out of nowhere,” and is often the result of accumulating subtle changes or actions such as spreading disinformation to confuse and divide the public, attacking the legitimacy of the press, universities and courts and using state power to punish dissent and silence critics.
“When you start to see these things happening, your antenna should be up,” McCarthy said.
She compared steps taken by the current administration against free expression to actions in Russia, saying “the first thing they went after was universities.”
Despite some parallels to the current administration, McCarthy emphasized that the United States is not an authoritarian state or close when compared to Russia which she referenced as a “control case,” that she has researched extensively.
Forde discussed how leaders will “manufacture confusion and division,” referencing examples of Trump and allies promoting lies about election fraud, public health and campus protests. The abundance of disinformation “overwhelm[s] the public with as much noise, contradiction and outrage that they stop believing in anything at all.”
“When truth becomes relative, power wins,” Forde said.
Forde further raised concerns about journalistic freedom as Trump rescinded the Associated Press (AP)’s access to “some White House events and spaces,” according to Politico. The administration also made changes to which outlets were granted workspace in the Pentagon, a shift that “makes room for a number of right-wing and explicitly pro-Trump media outlets,” according to CNN.
Forde also mentioned the administration’s investigations of 60 colleges and universities for alleged antisemitism and how these inquiries “are being weaponized … to punish dissent critical of US and Israel policy.”
These allegations led the administration to cut $400 million in funding for Columbia University according to the AP leading the university to “overhaul its student disciplinary process,” in regard to protesting.
Forde emphasized the need for legitimate investigations into allegations of antisemitism on college campuses but stated that “this is about control.”
“Authoritarianism cannot thrive when those in power are being held accountable.”
Next Steps
Above all, the teach-in emphasized the importance of community and collective action. “The most vulnerable people are the people that are isolated,” Hamlin said. “We have to be as connected into community groups as possible.”
When asked about the university’s response to the May 7 protests last year and concerns about students having the freedom to express political beliefs, Hamlin described how faculty have been working to advocate for students. Blanchard added that “what the university did last spring was terrible and disgraceful.”
Speakers encouraged those present to attend future teach-ins, coalitions and free speech initiatives, contact state and local representatives and to be aware of their rights.
“Be a problem for your state legislators. Call them. Talk to them,” Dillard-Wright said. “Let nothing stop you. Nothing.”
“Democracy is not responsive to people who don’t make their voices heard. Democracy is not about reading people’s minds. It’s about responding to people who make their minds known,” said Jesse Rhodes, professor of political science.
Department chair and associate professor of Middle Eastern studies and public policy David Mednicoff pointed to the importance of universities continuing to remain places of intellectual freedom and exploration.
“Universities matter,” Mednicoff said. “We deserve to continue to exist, and we deserve to regulate ourselves.”
Grace Chai can be reached at [email protected]. Bella Astrofsky can be reached at [email protected]
This article has been corrected to address the incorrect spelling of “Dillard-Wright.”
