Northwestern Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris heard news that surprised him Tuesday night, even after 24 years as a trustee: the Trump administration had frozen $790 million in federal funding for NU.
Nearly 24 hours after news of the freeze and a Board of Trustees meeting that lasted late into the night, Barris faced the Faculty Senate at its Wednesday meeting.
Barris was honest about his own uncertainty, admitting that NU had not received formal communication about the pause from the federal government.
“We know what you know,” Barris said.
It remains unclear what the demands of the Trump administration for NU will entail. However, antisemitic activity has been a major area of concern on campus over the past year and a half, he said.
Despite vehement suggestions from faculty and stakeholders encouraging NU to “stand up and fight” by resisting the federal guidelines and requesting more information from the government, Barris said responding to the necessary directives is slightly more complicated.
“I can assure you that we’re exploring all possible ways to communicate the value of higher education and of what we’re doing here at Northwestern in particular, and to mitigate the risk of this great university,” Barris said. “That said, we must comply with the law. And there are lawful obligations on what we can and cannot do.”
Barris said amid grave financial concerns coming from yesterday’s announcement, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Amanda Distel, Provost Kathleen Hagerty and University President Michael Schill have been committed to working through financial scenarios for a variety of ranges and impacts to protect the University, “now and into the future.”
Barris said “everything is on the table” to accommodate potentially hundreds of millions of lost dollars. However, tapping into the University’s endowment is a last resort, Barris said, in order to preserve the funds for future use and because costs are uniquely expensive now.
“Although we don’t know the scale of the financial impacts, we know that this will be a period of shared sacrifice,” Barris said. “That’s clear. We’re contemplating a wide range of possible actions to respond to various levels of activity.”
Going forward, Barris said that both Schill and Hagerty would be in direct communication with Senate leadership.
“The road ahead will not be easy, but what is important is that we work in an aligned way at this critical moment,” Barris said. “Board members are keenly aware of the challenges to the research, teaching and core principles of academic freedom that are stirring across the nation and through the government funding challenges that are now front and center here at Northwestern.”
Later in the meeting, the Senate discussed whether to sign a joint statement on behalf of the 18 universities in the Big Ten entitled “Statement in Support of the Core Mission and Values of Higher Education in the United States of America.”
The statement touches on the positive contributions of universities to society, research funding, academic freedom, free speech and transparent and collaborative shared governance.
Political science Prof. Ian Hurd said he and his faculty generally approved of the statement, but still felt more should be done at NU to strengthen academic freedom.
However, molecular biosciences Prof. Greg Beitel raised concerns about the risks of issuing such a statement.
“What are you betting here?” Beitel said. “The Trump administration just asked $790 million worth of grants. If they get really ticked off, which they are not hard to tick off … Is this statement going to do much, or is it just going to get us in trouble? Is it worth the risk?”
Feinberg Prof. Sara Solla strongly supported signing the agreement.
“Universities are very vulnerable at this time, and we all should keep in mind that really united we stand, and divided we fall, and there is no other outcome here,” Solla said.
After a motion was raised and seconded, the Senate voted to end the discussion on the statement, with the motion passing 49-18. The Senate then voted to endorse the statement and the motion passed. Faculty Senate President Jill Wilson said she plans to sign the statement Thursday.
During the new business portion of the meeting, several Senate members reflected on the meeting and the state of the University.
“I hope that we can find forums to just be together, that maybe don’t have agendas, maybe don’t have things we have to pass,” Communication Prof. Julie Marie Myatt said. “I just encourage all of you to find ways to sit in circles with your communities because I think that’s what everyone really needs right now.”
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