Colleges fight back: Elite schools join forces to resist Trump’s demands

A group of colleges and universities has formed a discreet alliance to strategize ways to combat President Donald Trump’s attempts to compel the schools to adopt a list of demands that align with his agenda.

Separate from the schools or groups that have spoken out in opposition to Trump’s latest efforts to alter the status quo, the collection of colleges currently building strategies includes approximately 10 schools located mostly in blue states, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Leaders of those schools have reportedly discussed strategies to push back on the administration, which has withheld, or threatened to withhold, critical federal funding in order to force the colleges to agree to a list of demands.

High-level figures at the recently allied group of schools have maintained close contact to discuss what they’re willing to compromise on when negotiating with the Trump administration. The allied group agrees that losing academic independence and its autonomy over admissions, hiring and curriculum is unacceptable.

Those same fears are what sparked pushback and a lawsuit from Harvard University, which the administration recently targeted by freezing $2.2 billion in funding.

Behind the scenes, leaders at the collection of schools have discussed responses for various courses of action the administration could take. However, one area they are unprepared for is if the government begins denying schools the ability to enroll international students or faculty, the Journal reported.

In combining their mission to deport undocumented immigrants and exert control over higher education institutions, the Trump administration had begun revoking visas from foreign students who participated in certain political protests or had infractions on their records. While that practice has ended, the administration could decide to target international students in other ways.

Already, the administration has tried to compel Harvard to promise to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security.

The collective of schools is secretive, and their discussions are reportedly separate from the public opposition that the American Association of Colleges and Universities issued or the recent push from faculty at the Big Ten schools to get leaders to publicly reject the administration’s efforts.

But even in secret, the recent news of the collection of schools bolsters the idea that most colleges or universities could team up to fight back against the Trump administration, regardless of the category they fall into.