University of Minnesota Senate approves resolution to unify Big Ten schools against Trump actions

The University of Minnesota Senate approved a resolution Thursday to band together with other Big Ten schools to fight any action the Trump administration might take against a conference university.

The University Senate — a group of more than 200 faculty, staff and students from across the U’s system — approved the “mutual academic defense compact” resolution 139-6.

The resolution to establish the compact, which would pool legal and financial resources to help any Big Ten institution under “political or legal infringement,” is likely the most significant public response that the U has taken to oppose President Donald Trump’s actions since he was inaugurated for a second term in January.

Each of the Big Ten’s 18 universities are expected to consider similar resolutions. According to the Washington Post, faculty and university senates at six Big Ten schools have signed the resolution, but the final decision lies with university administrators.

V.V. Ganeshananthan, a U Senate member and English professor at the school, brought forth the resolution and highlighted its main points. She said at the meeting that she wants university leadership “to fight for us.”

“The costs of inaction are becoming devastatingly clear,” Ganeshananthan said. “It’s clear that every moment we wait leaves us less equipped to respond.”

She called the resolution to join forces a “substantive and common sense” action.

“Our best bet is safety in numbers,” said David Fox, a Faculty Senate member and professor in the College of Science and Engineering, adding that the U doesn’t have the hefty endowment Harvard does.

Alexander Campbell, an undergraduate student, said he disagreed with some concerns that the resolution could put a target on the U’s back. Instead, he said, it would make the school stronger.

The resolution said “escalating politically motivated actions by governmental bodies pose a significant threat to the foundational principles of American higher education.” It called out the Trump administration for targeting universities to undermine their mission, silence dissenting voices and exert improper control over academics.

“The preservation of one institution’s integrity is the concern of all,” the resolution said, “and an infringement against one member university of the Big Ten shall be considered an infringement against all.”

The resolution requests that U President Rebecca Cunningham propose and help establish the compact.

The Trump administration has made significant changes affecting higher education, including cutting research funding and humanities grants, detaining or revoking international students’ visas without due process and cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Ivy League schools have been particularly targeted by the president, who canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, prompting the New York City school to share a list of policy changes and administrative actions it was making — something some saw as acquiescing to the government’s demands.

Meanwhile, Harvard has sued the administration over proposed funding cuts and what the school sees as threats to academic freedom, including Trump’s demand to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

At the University of Minnesota, its law school paused a search for an assistant dean of DEI amid Trump’s ban of such programs in the federal government. The U’s Twin Cities campus is also under a new investigation by the federal Department of Education for allegations of antisemitism.

And in March, the U’s Board of Regents passed a controversial resolution that some faculty said curtails their academic freedom and freedom of speech. Its passage came after some state lawmakers requested that U groups remove public statements — many of which supported the Palestinians — from the university’s website in 2023.