June 11, 2025 Advocacy Update

ACLS was founded in 1919 to provide an American representative to an international organization established to enrich the flow of knowledge across borders. In the wake of the first World War and the influenza pandemic, scholars agreed on the vital importance of exchanging people and ideas, and on the need for non-governmental groups to serve as organizers and advocates, particularly in times of conflict.

This month the state of knowledge – and all of us – suffered direct blows when the administration banned or imposed sharp restrictions on travel into the US from nineteen nations, most of them in Asia and Africa. The administration also attempted to prevent non-US citizens from studying at Harvard and proposed strict limits on visas to students and faculty from China. For now, a judge has intervened in the Harvard case, but international enrollments in American colleges and universities have already declined by 11% from spring 2024. Keenly aware that the loss of these people risks weakening American academia for decades to come, the Conference of Executive Officers frequently uses the ACLS listserv to discuss how best to support scholars traveling to the US from abroad and how to keep online exchange secure.

The activity of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) all over the country, the detention and deportation of students for their political views, and the increase of intrusive checks on phones and other devices at the border have made the US an unattractive and even dangerous country to visit in the eyes of many scholars. With expertise on topics like gender, race, the environment, the Middle East, and other topics the administration has condemned and sought to censor, scholars in the humanities and social sciences find themselves in a double bind: at high risk for federal targeting and with history of weak institutional support.

To date, more than two dozen universities have been affected by cuts in federal funding, totaling roughly $11 billion dollars. Data on climate change, demography, and other areas censored by the administration is at high risk. Coverage of these and other developments by NPR and PBS is now threatened thanks to over $1 billion in cuts to public broadcasting.

One way to fight back against the destruction of the nation’s capacity to produce knowledge is litigation, such as the lawsuit ACLS brought together with the AHA and MLA to redress the damage done to the National Endowment for the Humanities. As we work on this action, we’re reminded every day of the irreplaceable role professional societies play in the resistance to the federal administration’s war on knowledge. Their freedom from the many layers and processes needed for decision-making at colleges and universities can make societies more nimble and responsive actors in today’s environment. Sustaining membership levels is crucially important –for the dues that make advocacy possible, and to show through high numbers that scholars stand together, field by field, on the value of our work.

This summer, as we steer through a few transitions on our staff and take a breath before the academic year, we are reflecting on how ACLS can most effectively implement a key part of the strategic framework, which we see as key to the thriving of the humanities and social sciences in the long term: making the work scholars do more visible and relevant to a greater number of people. Harvard has received considerable attention for its re-designed website, which showcases the value of its research to public health and the global economy. Community colleges lead in this area, providing outstanding examples of how to convey the value of research and teaching to a broad public.

We would like to see more full-throated advocacy of humanistic fields in every college and university, and we have an important role to play in presenting the scholarship we support in more accessible and exciting ways – and enabling scholars to do the same. This builds on the achievements of the Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies, which helps fellows develop skills in public writing on all manner of topics, and our Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship, which supports a number of scholars working on matters of urgent public interest. I hope you read the community message this month by Heather Mangrum, our Communications director, who makes an eloquent, passionate case for the value of humanistic knowledge from a vantage point outside the academy.

We are grateful to the American Council on Education (ACE) for its useful advice on how to advocate for students as budget legislation makes its way through Congress. Many societies are offering webinars and other resources on current conditions. We encourage you to sign up and to encourage others to do so. 

Onwards!

Joy