Earlier this month, the UC Riverside Division of the Academic Senate adopted a resolution calling for the creation of Mutual Academic Defense Compacts among universities. The proposal urges the University of California system—and California higher education more broadly—to develop formal, collective mechanisms to defend academic freedom, free expression, institutional autonomy, and the research enterprise in the face of growing external pressure
The resolution asks UC system leadership and the UC Riverside Chancellor to take a convening role initiating discussions among faculty and administrators, reaching out to peer institutions, and exploring how such compacts could be implemented in practice. For those concerned with the future of free inquiry and institutional independence, the proposal represents a shift from individual campus defense toward collective deterrence.
Resolution to Establish Mutual Academic Defense Compacts in Defense of Academic
Freedom, Free Expression, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise
Background
The federal government has withheld funding and used other tactics to obtain concessions by
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 in order to arrest and detain international students as
punishment for exercising their First Amendment rights. This resolution seeks to unite institutions to
collectively defend and safeguard our shared values of academic freedom, free expression,
democratic governance, civic responsibility, scientific discovery, and the pursuit of knowledge in all
fields. Following the example of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which passed a similar
resolution on April 10, 2025, and the University of California, Santa Cruz (whose passed resolution
serves as a template for this resolution), we propose the following.
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 other scholarship and arts, 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 California—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, California is home to a diverse and internationally respected higher education ecosystem
that serves hundreds of thousands of students and employs tens of thousands of educators,
researchers, and staff whose work supports innovation, critical inquiry, social mobility, and
community engagement;
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 California Riverside Faculty Senate urges the President of the
University of California system and the Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside to
formally propose and help establish a Public and Land-Grant University Mutual Academic Defense
Compact (PLUMADC) among all public and land grant universities that choose to participate;
Be it further resolved that, the Faculty Senate of the University of California Riverside
urges the President of the University of California system and the Chancellor of the University of
California Riverside to formally propose and help establish a California Higher Education Mutual
Academic Defense Compact (CHEMADC) among public and private colleges and universities across
the state that choose 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 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, coalition-building, 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 California as well as
their shared governance bodies;
Be it finally resolved that, the President of the University of California system and the Chancellor of
the University of California Riverside take leading roles 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 the state.
Sponsors; Members of the UC Riverside Committee on Academic Freedom:
Quinn McFrederick, Chair
Crystal Baik
Annika Speer
Salman Asif, Ex Officio
Jennifer Doyle, Ex Officio
Adopted by the Riverside Division of the Academic Senate on December 2, 2025