RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH MUTUAL ACADEMIC DEFENSE COMPACTS IN DEFENSE OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM, FREE EXPRESSION, INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY, AND THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE
Presented to the UNM Faculty Senate, April 29, 2025
Background
Members of the ad hoc Faculty Senate Social Justice Committee requested that the Ops Committee submit this resolution for consideration by the Faculty Senate. In the last several weeks, governmental bodies have defunded multiple institutions, including Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania while providing neither evidence nor due process. Restoration of funding has been held out in exchange for government overreach into universities in ways that violate academic freedom and institutional self-governance.
Executive Orders and Dear Colleague letters seek to censor speech and mandate programming at publicly funded universities. The government has deployed its Homeland Security Department ICE agents to baselessly revoke student visas to arrest and detain international students as punishment for exercising their First Amendment rights.
So far, these events have happened in relative isolation, with little communication and coordinated response across affected or soon-to-be-affected institutions. This resolution seeks common ground across institutions uniting in a common defense to collectively safeguard their shared values of academic freedom, free expression, democratic governance, civic responsibility, scientific discovery, and the pursuit of knowledge.
Resolution to Establish Mutual Academic Defense Compacts in Defense of Academic Freedom, Free Expression, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise
Whereas, escalating actions by governmental bodies threaten foundational principles of American higher education, including the autonomy of university governance, the integrity of scientific research, and the protection of the freedoms of inquiry, speech, and association;
Whereas, political actors have targeted individual institutions with legal, financial, and political incursions designed to undermine their public mission, silence dissenting voices, and exert unlawful control over academic inquiry;
Whereas, governmental actors have signaled a willingness to censor curricula, restrict inquiry, target scholars and students, and carry out politically motivated detentions;
Whereas, America’s Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) represent a longstanding tradition of academic collaboration, research excellence, and commitment to democratic values and shared governance;
Whereas, these nearly 250 APLU institutions represent more than one million faculty and staff members and 6.6 million undergraduate and graduate students;
Whereas, institutions of higher education in New Mexico—public and private, large and small— share a longstanding commitment to academic freedom, democratic governance, civic responsibility, and the pursuit of knowledge for the public good;
Whereas, New Mexico is home to a diverse higher education ecosystem that serves thousands of students and employs thousands of educators, researchers, and staff whose work supports innovation, critical inquiry, social mobility, and community engagement;
Whereas, the UNM Faculty Senate passed in 2022 a resolution on "Defending Academic Freedom to Teach About Race and Gender Justice and Critical Race Theory."
Whereas, the preservation of one institution’s integrity is the concern of all, and an infringement against one institution shall be considered an infringement against all;
Be it resolved that, the University of New Mexico Faculty Senate urges the President of the University of New Mexico to help establish a Public and Land-Grant University Mutual Academic Defense Compact (PLUMADC) among all public and land grant universities that would like to participate;
Be it further resolved that, the Faculty Senate of the University of New Mexico urges the President of the University of New Mexico to formally propose and help establish a New Mexico Higher Education Mutual Academic Defense Compact (MHEMADC) among public and private colleges and universities across New Mexico that would like to participate;
Be it further resolved that, under these compacts, participating institutions shall commit meaningful support—financial, legal, organizational, and/or strategic—to a shared or distributed defense infrastructure designed to respond immediately and collectively to attacks by the governmental actors on any member institution;
Be it further resolved that, these compacts shall facilitate the mobilization of institutional resources—including legal counsel, governance experts, public affairs professionals, faculty governance leaders, research capacity, and media relations—to coordinate a unified and robust response, including but not limited to:
Legal representation and, where appropriate, countersuit actions;
Public communication strategies to counter misinformation and defend academic principles;
Filing of amicus briefs, publication of expert testimony, and other legal interventions;
Legislative advocacy and coordinated policy engagement at the state and federal levels;
The development of collaborative strategies and frameworks to diversify funding streams beyond the federal government; and
Rapid-response research and public-education initiatives;
Be it further resolved that, this resolution be transmitted to the leadership of all Public and Land- Grant Universities across the nation and all institutions of higher education in New Mexico as well as their shared governance bodies;
Be it finally resolved that, the President of the University of New Mexico take a leading role in convening summits of faculty and administration leaders to initiate the implementation of these Compacts and affirm the collective commitment to defend academic freedom, free expression, institutional autonomy, and the public mission of higher education in New Mexico.
MOTION: That the Faculty Senate adopt the Resolution to Establish Mutual Academic Defense Compacts in Defense of Academic Freedom, Free Expression, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise
Passed at
April 29, 2025 Senate meeting at , Zoom