On Tuesday, President Safa Zaki signed a letter in opposition to the federal government’s heightened involvement in higher education, joining over 200 leaders of colleges and universities across the country to make a call for institutional independence, academic freedom and the common good. The statement comes in the wake of increased congressional oversight imposed on the College regarding its response to student activism against the war in Gaza, as well as the Trump administration’s conditional withholding of federal funding from some of the nation’s top universities.

Published by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the letter defends the importance of higher learning as a nationwide epicenter for private research, “economic and cultural vitality” and civic engagement.

The statement, titled “A Call for Constructive Engagement,” is just over 350 words and underscores the importance of free-flowing academic and political discourse on college campuses without fear of government intervention. The College has grappled with these issues extensively since late March, when a congressional committee sent a letter to the College requesting documents about its disciplinary response to the Students for Justice in Palestine encampment in February.

“As leaders of America’s colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education,” the letter reads. “We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.”

Tuesday’s statement, signed by Zaki, expresses specific opposition to deportation as a form of government retribution against higher learning institutions. This language comes amid heightened concerns about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Bowdoin’s campus, particularly following the detainment of Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk in late March.

“Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation,” the letter reads.

The letter’s undersigned include leaders from a wide range of schools, from the entirety of the NESCAC to Ivy League universities—excluding Dartmouth College—to large state universities. As federal funding in higher education undergoes a period of uncertainty, particularly after the Trump administration’s freeze of $2.2 billion of Harvard University’s federal funding, the statement reflects a significant effort by these institutions to speak in a collective voice.

Professor of Government Andrew Rudalevige expanded on the importance of joint action in an unprecedented moment for higher education.

“Collective action is difficult. We’ve seen in some sectors a sort of willingness to cut a deal separately and hope that you can protect yourself individually. Arguably, that’s what Columbia [University] did on the first go around, and as Columbia discovered, that didn’t actually stop any demand for further compliance,” Rudalevige said. “It’s not a particularly controversial letter, but in the context of this moment,… I think it is important for colleges and universities to speak with one voice about the problematic intervention into higher education by the administration.”