Tim Tai

Around 400 faculty have signed onto a letter calling for University President Maurie McInnis to publicly defend Yale’s mission and academic freedom from political threats.

The letter, which was sent to McInnis on Wednesday, comes amid a whirlwind of policies from the Trump administration targeting scientific research and higher education. Faculty identified their concern about directives ranging from a ban on inclusive language in research papers to a significant cut in funding from the National Institutes of Health for overhead expenses, which is currently blocked in Connecticut by a federal court. Faculty also called for McInnis to collaborate with other universities in sharing resources to promote transparency.

“We stand with you, President McInnis, ready and willing to protect and uphold the mission of the University to ensure that no political or ideological agenda now or ever threatens our collective ability to carry out Yale’s mission through the free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni,” the letter states.

Faculty concern about Trump’s executive orders coalesced into a letter-writing effort after a town hall that professors Jeffrey Wickersham and Gregg Gonsalves called on Jan. 31, following a temporary federal funding freeze that threatened nearly $1 billion in research grants for Yale.

The University’s recently renewed chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which has similarly called for McInnis to issue statements about Yale’s protections for immigrant students, later joined faculty efforts to circulate the letter and gather signatures.

Professor Theodore Cohen, who co-authored the letter along with Wickersham, Gonsalves and five other faculty members, told the News that the letter presented faculty with the chance to express a strong, collective opinion.

“The importance of a collective voice to represent our joint interests had not been as clear to me as it is in this particular moment,” Cohen said. “I certainly feel that, without bringing our voices together, it’s going to be difficult to be heard.”

On Monday, McInnis issued her first public statement slamming Trump’s policies, warning that cuts to NIH indirect research cost funding undermine Yale’s core research mission. Before her statement, McInnis previously told the News that she preferred to limit her public comments while working behind the scenes with legislators to advocate for the University’s interests.

McInnis declined to answer questions about the faculty letter, instead directing the News to her Monday statement.

Cohen told the News that he is “very encouraged” by the University’s actions to protect academic freedom so far.

Wickersham echoed Cohen’s sentiments and pointed to the letter’s calls for Yale to incorporate more transparency and faculty involvement in the University’s ongoing response to political threats.

“I have every confidence that President McInnis and others are doing everything they can,” Wickersham said. “This letter is a call to action, but it’s a call to shared action, where faculty and administration and leadership take a shared ownership in the effort to find solutions collectively. Something we really want to emphasize is that no one individual, the president of the University included, can shoulder this enormous burden.”

Co-authors and signatories of the letter also stressed the letter’s call for McInnis to “link arms” with other universities.

Professor Daniel HoSang, a board member of Yale’s AAUP chapter and letter signatory, highlighted that the Trump administration’s research policies affect other institutions across Connecticut and suggested that Yale should be collaborating with neighbors such as the University of Connecticut. HoSang also pointed out that limiting research and scholarly work likely poses a “significant economic impact” on the state.

“I don’t envy anyone who’s in higher ed leadership today, including our colleagues in leadership at Yale,” HoSang said. “It’s a really difficult time, and they’re navigating very uncertain waters. A lot of the letter is an acknowledgment of that and a belief that faculty and higher ed leaders, collaborating together, are best positioned to protect not only our university but higher education as a whole.”

Professor Lucian Davis, another letter co-author, said that for now, faculty, who are “used to challenges,” will find ways to continue their research in the face of political adversity. He added that they will also have to collaborate beyond their usual research groups to overcome uncertainty amid Trump’s policies. 

Yale’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors was restarted in November.