News from AFT Higher Ed Archive

In the recent fight over our country’s budget, Republicans weaponized hunger and healthcare for political leverage. Meanwhile, immigrants are being yanked off the streets, educational institutions are being attacked and millions of people are being pushed into deeper economic insecurity. But Americans are standing up—from the ballot box to the "No Kings" protests—to defend their future. In her latest column, AFT President Randi Weingarten describes why we must continue to fight against power-hungry elected officials and work to elect people who will lower the cost of living, treat people with dignity and strengthen public schools.

 

It is clear that higher education is under attack. The Trump administration has frozen funding for science; has stripped away student support and financial aid; has eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programming; and is demanding institutions agree to a “compact” that’s more like a loyalty oath, forcing them to adopt Trump’s ideology in exchange for federal funding. On Nov. 7, students, faculty and staff rose up at teach-ins, rallies, walkouts and marches to say “no more,” rejecting Trump’s attempt to control academia and vowing to set a better course for the future of higher education.

 

Amanda Flanagan remembers working multiple odd jobs in college just to stay afloat, and worrying over whether she’d have the money for textbooks or enough gas to get to her internship. That’s why she manages her college’s FAST Fund, an emergency fund run by staff like her to meet the immediate needs of their students. As students feel the impact of recent SNAP cuts and delays, FAST Funds are more crucial than ever, making sure everyone has what they need—including enough food—to be successful in college. Read Amanda’s story on AFT Voices and learn more about FAST Funds on campuses across the country here.

 

Thousands of immigrant families are coming to the New York City immigration courts for routine check-ins and, even when a judge has granted them legal status, many are being nabbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers waiting in the hallways to detain and attempt to deport them. Members of the Professional Staff Congress, the faculty-staff union for the City University of New York, are showing up every week to support these vulnerable individuals in any way they can, providing needed information, communicating with their loved ones if they are arrested and being a supportive presence during a terrifyingly trying time.

 

When the Trump administration invited nine elite universities to exchange blind loyalty for favoritism and federal funding, the AFT, the American Association of University Professors and academics across the nation called it out for what it was: a blatant attempt to control higher education. All but two of the universities roundly rejected the highly partisan “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” and resistance is gaining momentum. Read more here.

 

Long-time professor Bethany Gizzi refuses to stop teaching her class in gender and sexuality studies, despite the climate of attacks on LGBTQIA+ rights; diversity, equity and inclusion curriculums; and academic freedom. But putting the class into context is an important part of her work; in this AFT Voices post, she explains how she keeps teaching, and why it is especially important now.

 

While Congress has failed to address the affordability crisis, the AFT has been earning wins across the country to improve the lives of working people: new contracts in Oregon, averted strikes and smaller class sizes in Minneapolis, powerful community and literacy programs in St. Louis and Puerto Rico, solidarity with New York City paras and Starbucks baristas, defending higher education and addressing student debt. AFT President Randi Weingarten lays it all out in her new weekly update video. Above, students on the Higher Ed Day of Action Nov. 7.

 

For months, the Trump administration has illegally blocked people from accessing student debt relief they are entitled to. The AFT took President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon to court for their student loan lawlessness—and won! In this episode of "Union Talk," the AFT’s podcast, AFT President Randi Weingarten and other debt relief advocates discuss what this court victory means for borrowers, how people can access relief, and the union's continued fight to get people debt relief and make college affordable for all.