The University of Oregon Senate has voted in favor of urging UO President John Karl Scholz to establish a Mutual Academic Defense Compact with other universities of the Big 10 Academic Alliance during a Wednesday senate meeting. The resolution was passed with 31 “yes” votes.
The compact, first written and passed by its senate as a recommendation to its president by Rutgers University, would have each university commit “meaningful resources” to a shared defense fund. This fund would be used to support any of the participating institutions from political or legal infringement.
The proposed resolution by UO’s senate was sponsored by Alison Schmitke, the senate president, and Dyana Mason, the senate vice president.
According to Sandy Weintraub, Senate secretary, 10 university senates have passed the resolution and four others currently have it on the agenda. UO is the 11th university to pass the resolution.
In addition to what Rutgers wrote in their original resolution, UO uniquely added pieces of their own. These include: recognizing that the federal government is undermining due process and targeting scholars and students, carrying out politically motivated detentions, censoring curricula and creating oversight committees to surveil academic activities.
Both Rutgers’ resolution and UO’s proposed resolution outline “escalating political action from governing bodies” as a threat to the autonomy of university governance, integrity of scientific research and freedom of speech.
The resolution urges President Scholz to create this compact and take a leadership role in communicating this resolution to other institutions and convening a summit of Big 10 academic and legal leadership to initiate this compact.
Under the compact, each participating university would have legal counsel, governance experts and public affairs offices at their disposal if they are under direct political infringement in order to create a “unified and vigorous response.”
This can include countersuit action, strategic public communication and expert testimony.
Recently, some universities have already faced cuts or threats from the Trump administration. Columbia University and Harvard University have both faced threats of federal funding or had federal funding cuts.
According to Alison Schmitke, members of the Big 10 Academic Alliance will be immediately notified that the resolution has passed.
