Liam Glavin ‘27 (he/him) is a government major from Falls Church, VA. He loves running, reading and spending time with friends and hopes to instill values of political and civic engagement across the community. Contact him at ljglavin@wm.edu.
Since the start of the new Trump administration, Republicans have been on a racist tirade, threatening and attempting to dismantle Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs at universities across the country. They’ve been successful in many cases, including at the University of Virginia.
These conservative efforts have been widely successful because of what the Trump administration has threatened against universities: the withholding of millions and even billions of dollars in critical federal funding, if, for example, they don’t end their diversity programs or if they don’t viciously crack down on pro-Palestinian, anti-genocide student protestors.
While I’m deeply concerned about the implications of us possibly losing millions of dollars in critical funding for research and other university functions, I feel that I worry more about the consequences of us capitulating to a fascist and racist presidential administration attempting to remake higher education for the worst — especially to the detriment of the many marginalized students who go here.
The Flat Hat recently reported that the College of William and Mary changed the title of Chief Diversity Officer to Senior Advisor to the President. We also renamed the Center for Student Diversity to the Student Center for Inclusive Excellence. These changes follow the Board of Visitors passing a resolution that affirmed a commitment to a “values-based” and “merit-based” education, without explicitly calling for the dismantling of DEI or other diversity programs.
I worry that these capitulations are half measures that will not ultimately stop the Trump administration from withholding millions of dollars in critical funding from the College. I’m incredibly concerned that as long as basic structures (whatever we call them) still exist across this university to care for the experiences, lives and plight of marginalized students, then we will not be spared from devastating funding cuts. We need a different approach. We should fight the Trump administration.
There’s already precedent for universities resisting the fascist whims of Donald Trump. Harvard has already taken his administration to court over the withholding of $2.2 billion in research funding after the university didn’t capitulate to Trump’s outlandish demands. Hundreds of university presidents across the country have also signed a letter condemning the Trump administration’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” in higher education. The College administration notably did not sign that letter.
Former President Barack Obama gave a speech this spring at Hamilton College in Upstate New York. He brought up a point that I found to be great. “If you are a university, you may have to figure out, are we in fact doing things right?” he said. “Have we in fact violated our own values, our own code, violated the law in some fashion? If not, and you’re just being intimidated, well, you should be able to say, that’s why we got this big endowment.”
Contrary to what the Trump administration might argue, we have not violated any rules, codes or laws by helping and providing for marginalized students. It is not illegal to do any of those things. So, then what do we have to lose? What do we have to lose if we know that we’ve broken no laws or other rules around discrimination? Why should we give in to this fascist intimidation?
As Former President Obama suggests, we also have a massive endowment. According to the College’s website, the endowment reached approximately $1.45 billion for the 2024 fiscal year. What’s the point of this giant pile of money if we aren’t using it to protect the interests of the university? Isn’t that what endowments are for? $1.45 billion would undoubtedly be more than enough to launch a strong legal defense, and we’d likely only need to use a small fraction of the money.
Above all else, I fear for the legacy we are setting for ourselves through this capitulation. How will history look on us when people see how we cower in the face of authoritarianism? I presume not fondly. I’m also concerned about how these changes will likely impact the future of the College.
Although people from College President Katherine Rowe’s administration want to claim that these changes don’t affect the functioning of the university, especially in providing for marginalized students, we’ve already sent the wrong message. I’m worried that marginalized students will simply stop choosing to come here after they see how we pathetically refuse to defend their interests, which would be profoundly devastating because these are the kinds of students who make us who we are.
At the end of the day, I think that the overarching question on this issue is one of who we want to be as a university. I chose a university that values diversity and the flourishing of unique perspectives, which ground us all in a shared humanity.
