Dear Colleagues:

The university is under attack. The Trump administration’s all-out assault on higher education, and its commitment to science, academic freedom, and civil liberties must not stand.

Faculty Associations of several campuses of the University of California call on faculty to join for an hour of action to defend higher education and political freedom at every campus this Wednesday, March 19th, at 12:00 pm.

Trump has declared he will leverage federal funding away from universities that do not promote “patriotic” values. This assault on higher education links the punitive slashing of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding, the DOE investigation into 60 universities on weaponized claims of antisemitism, and the DHS abduction of Columbia University student protestors Mahmoud Khalil and Leqaa Korda over their support for an end to the genocide.

The repression of Palestinian students and faculty is a blueprint for the repression of all of us. If the Trump administration can disappear legal permanent residents with the right to live and work in the United States merely for their views, none of us are safe. Higher education workers come from all over the world, bound by a shared commitment to foster critical intellectual inquiry through our research, teaching, and advocacy. We are in an existential fight. We must defend the university, our students, and our right to a workplace free of repression.

On Wednesday, March 19, at noon, we call on faculty to gather on their campuses in full regalia or professorial attire in black. Check with your local FA for location.

Please make signs saying “Stand Up for Science,” “Protect Free Speech,” “Hands off our students,” “Release Mahmoud Khalil and Leqaa Korda” “No caving to outside interests,” “Gov Newsom, UC Regents: Stop the cuts. Don’t Do Trump’s work for him!” and other messages in defense of academic freedom. We must stand together to affirm our commitment to each other, an independent university, and public education for the common good!

Join us to:

• Call on UC leadership to publicly denounce Trump’s assaults on higher education, academic freedom, and civil liberties.
• Demand full legal and financial support for UC community members affected by ICE raids, travel bans, terminations, and funding cuts.
• Ensure campus safety: Prohibit UCPD from cooperating with DHS/ICE and use emergency response systems to protect students, faculty, and staff.
• Urge the California legislature to condemn the Trump administration’s attack on public education and rescind the 8% cuts to UC/CSU funding and to pledge to cover all federal research funds withheld during this political crusade.

At this time of rising authoritarianism in the United States, the only way to save our universities is to stand together. We are in an existential fight. Join your local FA and call on California to defend academic freedom and civil liberties.