At the most recent general membership meeting there was a request that the Federation draft a statement of principles that people could sign.  Building on the statement on academic freedom developed jointly by the Senate and Federation, Senate President Brain Ayotte and I drafted the attached statement to protect higher education, 

Please note that the statement has been drafted in a manner to make it acceptable to faculty, staff, and administrators with the goal of having a broad coalition or people sign on. 

Please review and provide any comments and suggestion. This will be presented at this week’s Senate meeting so there may be some changes to the final language, however, I don’t think that we want to stray too far from the spirit of the statement.

Statement in Support of the Core Values of Higher Education

We, the undersigned, affirm our commitment to the foundational principles that define and sustain higher education in the United States. At a time when core values are being challenged—from reductions in federal research funding, to restrictions on immigration that impact our diverse academic communities, to threats against free speech and academic freedom—we stand united in support of the public mission of colleges and universities.
Public and private institutions of higher learning serve the common good through education, research, and service. They foster innovation, social mobility, and civic engagement, and they contribute directly to our nation’s global leadership by cultivating a globally competitive workforce. These outcomes are only possible in environments that are open, diverse, and intellectually free.
Research funding is a vital engine of innovation. It yields transformative benefits in health, technology, national security, and economic development. Federal investment in research provides exceptional returns to society. Undermining that investment endangers the U.S.’s leadership position, our academic institutions, and the broader public that benefits from their work.
We are deeply concerned by recent federal actions that threaten the values and infrastructure of higher education, including funding cuts, partisan attacks on academic programs, and efforts to silence dissenting voices. Such actions weaken our institutions and erode the trust and openness on which scholarship and public service depend.

We therefore affirm the following:
—A steadfast commitment to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, including the right to free speech and peaceful assembly without fear of retaliation, regardless of viewpoint or citizenship status. These protections are essential to academic inquiry and civic life.
—A strong defense of academic freedom for faculty, students, and researchers, as articulated in the joint statement of the UMass Dartmouth Faculty Senate and Faculty Federation on <DATE>. We support those academic programs and scholarship subject to targeted, partisan-based initiatives coming from the Federal government. Further, we believe that individuals should not be subject to targeted harassment because of their expertise.
—A commitment to transparent, collaborative shared governance as essential to institutional integrity and academic excellence. We support efforts to strengthen participatory decision-making at all levels of the university.

This moment calls for strong and principled leadership from all members of the UMass Dartmouth community. Silence is not neutrality—it is an abdication of our responsibility to defend higher education. We call on faculty, students, staff, administrators, alumni, and community partners to stand together in defense of the core mission, values, and freedoms that define and sustain higher education.