APRIL 24, 2025 | NEWS | By Sydney McGarr (News Editor)
More than 150 college and university presidents, including Colorado College interim president Manya Whitaker, co-signed an April 22 letter condemning the Trump administration’s recent attempts to control higher education institution policies by manipulation of federal funding.
The letter’s co-signers include small liberal arts schools like CC as well as larger public universities. This includes all of the Ivy League schools with the exception of Dartmouth College.
Recently, the Trump administration paused billions of dollars in federal funding to several of the top universities in the country – including Harvard, Cornell and Northwestern. The restrictions are primarily intended to get institutions to penalize student protestors and make changes to their admissions policies. Harvard currently leads the group in terms of economic impact, with 2.26 billion dollars in federal funding currently impacted.
The Tuesday letter, titled “A Call for Constructive Criticism,” insists that presidents of colleges and universities “must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.”
“The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society,” the letter said. “On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic.”
The letter was published and orchestrated by the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
Since taking office for his second term, President Trump has repeatedly targeted aspects of higher education that his administration perceives as “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Many of the threatened and implemented funding pauses relate to the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of large-scale student protests surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Last month, Columbia University agreed to a list of demands by the Trump administration in exchange for the return of federal funding to their institution. The demands included a ban on masks at protests and a commitment to “greater institutional neutrality.” Columbia’s then-interim president, Katrina Armstrong, stepped down after widespread outrage over the decision.
Harvard received a similar list of demands, including a full shutdown of any programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. On April 21, Harvard sued the Trump administration, claiming that the administration has failed to provide any sufficient connection between antisemitism and the threatened funding cuts. According to CNN, administration officials have informally reached out to the university in an effort to negotiate and the university has declined.
Whitaker has not publicly commented on her decision to sign the Tuesday letter. In a March interview with The Catalyst, she asserted that CC will continue to encourage diversity, equity and inclusion programs and did not express extreme concern about potential federal funding cuts.
“Federal funding makes up a small percent of our budget,” she said at the time. “Most of our financial aid is funded through the endowment payment.”