Over 200 Northeastern faculty, staff, trainees, students and alumni signed a letter addressed to Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun and senior leadership March 25, urging university leaders to release a public statement condemning the onslaught of executive orders targeting higher education from the Trump administration.
The letter, obtained by The Huntington News, includes signatories such as Kylie Ariel Bemis, a Khoury College of Computer Science assistant teaching professor who wrote a similar open letter Feb. 22 to university leadership, and Lisa Feldman Barrett, a professor of psychology at Northeastern and award-winning innovator in psychology and human neurosciences. The letter cites actions by the Trump administration in its first two months in office that signatories claimed, “would leave US institutions of higher education debilitated.”
The letter points to attempts to cap indirect costs to grants at 15% which, if enacted, the letter’s authors estimate will reduce Northeastern’s funding by $15 million annually, based on the funds awarded in Northeastern’s 2023 and 2024 fiscal years. The letter also highlights hundreds of millions of dollars in attempted cuts from NIH, cuts in federal funding to Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University, as well as slashing the workforce across NIH, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education, all of which contribute hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to Massachusetts students and researchers.
The Department of Education also oversees over $30 billion in federal loans to students in the state. The letter calls the Trump administration’s actions that intend to dictate university disciplinary policy, admissions and curricula at Columbia University an “infringement on academic freedom at a private institution.”
The letter cites 24 sources in laying out the Trump administration’s measures and potential consequences. Signatories condemned Northeastern’s lack of a public response to what they called “existential threats” and referred to targeted universities such as Columbia and Johns Hopkins which similarly did not speak out against the federal administration.
So far, most of the university’s communication has been published on its “Navigating a New Political Landscape” FAQ page, which was published Jan. 30 and last updated March 24; the page currently has 17 answers to frequently asked questions as of March 26.
“As evidenced by the administration’s recent funding cuts to other universities, silence will not save Northeastern University,” the letter reads. “The only hope for preserving the academic environment at Northeastern University is to exert strong and consistent pressure on this administration by an informed public. In this critical moment, it is our duty to inform the public of the ongoing threats to science and higher education.”
The letter emphasizes the responsibility of university leadership to speak out and ensure the community is informed.
“It would be wrong to assume that the current threats will dissolve in the same way as prior threats. … All evidence indicates that the current political moment is different,” the letter reads. “The current administration has shown that it has the political power and the plan to force colleges and universities into financial ruin.”
The letter calls on senior leadership to release a formal statement. On Feb. 12, Aoun sent his first and only signed statement to the university community since Trump was inaugurated, a message to the Northeastern community entitled “Reaffirming our Mission Together,” which addressed the university’s commitment to staying true to its values of prioritizing quality education and research initiatives.
The letter goes on to demand that the university help get scientists into media outlets, as well as lobby government officials at all levels to protect research and funding. The letter calls for a coordinated effort between universities to combat these threats. To support these demands, the letter cites sources such as Former President of Columbia University Lee Bollinger’s article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “We’re in the Midst of an Authoritarian Takeover” and the New York Times editorial board’s March 15 article, “The Authoritarian Endgame on Higher Education.”
“For over a century, scientists at Northeastern University have delivered groundbreaking scientific discoveries, including the world’s first resistance-free antibiotics and a new quantum state of matter,” the end of the letter reads. “It is up to us, the leaders and stakeholders of the University witnessing this moment, to ensure that the University continues this legacy. We strongly urge Northeastern to speak out against these existential threats.”
