Earlier this week, inspired by a Harvard Crimson op-ed, I sent a letter to President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and Provost Francis Doyle with recommendations on how Brown might help our country’s academic institutions escape the Trump administration’s encroaching darkness.
In my letter, I did not simply request that the University take action. I proposed that the administration enlist and equip the entire Brown community — alumni, students, staff and faculty — in its effort to repel the Trump administration’s attacks. I am writing here to share the same message: Please, regardless of your relationship to Brown, advocate for the University in the face of President Trump’s academic coup.
Administrations acting alone are ill-equipped to defend against Trump’s war on academia. Without any alterations to their strategy, universities will continue to be plucked off one by one, as is happening to Columbia and Penn. In addition to universities better collaborating with each other, they can expand their capacity and improve outcomes by tapping into the power of their collective communities.
The fight for our democracy must come from the whole of the University’s community — not only its administration. We are the ultimate influencers to and for Brown. Our students are invigorated. Our alumni network spans the globe, and contains a versatile group of critical thinkers and organizers. Our staff and faculty are outspoken, talented and experts in their respective fields. If the Brown community mobilizes its unique and effective assets, Brown could lead the charge and set the tone for other institutions.
Collectively, we can — and must — fight back.
Paxson’s March 20 and March 5 letters on navigating federal actions and the recently released proposed values and voice are a good start for how Brown might navigate this moment. To complement their initiative, I urged Brown’s leadership to consider a number of other actions. Among those, was one in particular aimed at mobilizing the Brown community.
Specifically, I recommended that the University increase its communication with Brown alumni, students, staff and faculty regarding how Trump's actions impact Brown so we can amplify these threats through our social, economic and political channels.
I also recommended that Brown leadership share this effort with the Association of American Universities and encourage other universities to light up and leverage their communities.
Rather than feeling paralyzed and overwhelmed right now, we, as part of the Brown community, have an opportunity to step up and meet this moment. It’s not enough to ask others what they’re going to do. Each of us also needs to ask ourselves — “What am I going to do?”
To that end, we can all call upon the Brown administration to be a leader at this moment and then, if they equip us with the stories and information, we can advocate for and with Brown. We can each be a megaphone amplifying the impact of new federal policies to our legislators, social media channels and real world communities. We can also reach out to friends, family and neighbors affiliated with other colleges and universities and encourage them to follow suit in fighting against these threats to federal funding, individual rights and academic freedoms that touch every corner of our country.
This is a perilous moment for our nation in which our universities — and frankly, truth and science — are under attack. But this period could also be a time for our institutions to shine and to lead us away from the darkness.
The core value that led so many of us to Brown and that remains deep in our souls is that of engagement and standing up for what’s right. We now have the opportunity and obligation to put those values to action. Together, we can both spur universities to action and help them succeed!
Suzan LeVine ’93 P’25 P’27 is the former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and is an Advisory Council Member for the University’s School of Engineering. She is also a Policy Mentor at the Watson Institute. Please send responses to this op-ed to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
