On April 22, the American Association of Colleges and Universities released a public statement titled “A Call for Constructive Engagement.” According to the website, the statement was “developed in collaboration with university and college presidents and other educational leaders across the country.”

The statement expresses concern against “unprecedented government outreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” As of May 14, the statement has received 646 signatures from schools, including signatures from the University of Oregon and Portland State University.

Oregon State University, however, has not signed the statement.

David Bernell, an associate professor of political science at OSU, explained the intention and impact of the AACU’s statement: “The AACU letter represents one way in which institutions of higher education are responding to the federal government’s interactions with universities such as Harvard and Columbia.”

In April, Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to fight the university’s funding freeze.

“It’s not a petition but a statement of principles,” Bernell said. “The importance and impact of the statement are still to be determined, but there are a lot of universities that decided they wanted to make their opposition to federal actions clear right now, and to do so publicly.”

Rob Odom, vice president of University Relations and Marketing, responded as to why OSU has not signed the statement by stating in an email, “The university is actively engaged with our peer institutions and national association partners on common interests at the federal level — The university is aware of the AAC&U statement and is continuously considering what actions best promote the university interests in meaningful ways.”

In an email sent to OSU community members by Odom, it was revealed that OSU did submit a legal declaration in support of a lawsuit filed this week by the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities, the Association of American Universities and the American Council on Education that challenges actions by the National Science Foundation to cut the reimbursement rate for Facilities and Administrative costs to a maximum of 15% on new grants.

The email ended by stating, “The university continues to monitor and respond to the evolving federal landscape while staying in regular contact with state and federal elected representatives and officials to advocate on behalf of OSU students, employees and the communities we serve.”