LSU’s Memorial Tower on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
Amid increasing political pressure on higher education from state and federal government, faculty and administrators shared rare public glimpses of their anxieties Friday at the LSU Board of Supervisors meeting.
The commentary and exhibition at what’s typically a dull meeting reflects the increasing anxiety those in higher education are experiencing as President Donald Trump’s administration enacts broad policy changes and an ultra-conservative governor and Louisiana Legislature leave their marks on the state’s flagship university.
While the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts are largely on pause amid ongoing litigation, universities are preparing for the possibility of major reductions in government research dollars. LSU could lose $12 million if the administration’s proposed cut to indirect costs for National Institutes of Health grants are allowed to go into effect and would lose tens of millions more if other agencies followed suit.
“We put up, if you will, a loan. We loan [the federal government] our facilities, and today we find ourselves in a situation where those facilities that are on loan, the reimbursement has changed in real time while we’re in a contract,” LSU President William Tate said.
Tate’s comments were among the most politically explicit the usually moderate president has made in his nearly four years in office, reflecting real anxieties about protecting LSU’s bottom line.
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He was not the only one to deviate from the usual script.
LSU Faculty Senate President Dan Tirone, who updates the board at every meeting on faculty work, used his time at the microphone instead to deliver a 10-minute speech on the importance of research funding, academic freedom and tenure.
Tenure provides an indefinite academic appointment to qualifying faculty members, who can only be terminated for cause. College faculty view tenure as a key part of academic freedom at universities and a shield against political, corporate and religious intervention.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who has called on LSU to punish two of its law professors who have expressed liberal views in the classroom, has turned his attention to the tenured status that protects them. One of the professors, Ken Levy, was suspended from teaching pending an investigation into profane comments he made about Landry to his class.
“If tenure protects a professor from this type of conduct, then maybe it’s time to abolish tenure,” Landry posted on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, earlier this month.
State Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, has twice filed measures intended to limit academic tenure but ultimately did not pursue them. It is likely that similar legislation will be filed again this year. Several other states have done so or are considering comparable proposals.
“Why would [students] enroll at our campuses where they are not allowed to learn from faculty who can utilize their expertise in a particular subject to craft curricula, but instead relay lessons deemed to be politically correct by policy makers and bureaucrats with no sspecialized knowledge?” Tirone said.
In an interview after the meeting, Tirone said he was inspired to deviate from his usual tenor to offer a warning and get out ahead of some of the shifting national dynamics in higher education.
During the usually uneventful public comment period, several students also offered warnings about academic freedom. Two groups of students appeared at the meeting — those who waited quietly for their turn to speak and their friends who chanted loudly outside the window of the board meeting room.
“First-A, not suppression; LSU, answer the question,” they chanted, referencing the First Amendment. They stood behind a banner calling for the university to reinstate Levy, designate LSU as a sanctuary campus, freeze tuition and divest its endowment. The organization has previously called for divestment from the fossil fuel industry and from Israel.
Students speaking at the meeting raised concerns with changes the board adopted to the LSU System’s policy on freedom of speech.
“Why is free speech being restricted now? Is it a coincidence? Oh, no, I don’t think so,” student Gabrielle Juárez said at the meeting. “I think it’s following a nationwide protest movement that was probably a motivating factor … I think it has something to do with Professor Levy’s firing. I think it is a clear and brazen assault on the basic freedoms that are supposed to underline a country like this.”
The changes were made to comply with a law the legislature approved last year that could lead to a crackdown on civil disobedience on college campuses. It requires the state’s higher education systems to exclude any activities funded or organized by a “foreign terrorist organization or foreign adversary.”
The students, who have been involved in pro-Palestine demonstrations at LSU, raised concerns the policy could lead to the university taking action against them. Since student organizations across the nation began protesting Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, several conservative figures have suggested the jihadist group Hamas has funded the American student protests. There is no evidence this is happening.
In an interview after her comments, Juárez said it’s ludicrous to suggest student protesters support terrorism, but pointed out the government gets to decide who is designated a terrorist organization.
“This kind of ridiculous slander, it is very clearly meant to allow for the targeting of these student groups should they get too organized, should they get too out of line, should they pose too serious of a threat to the university’s functions,” Juárez said.
Behind the raised dais that separates faculty and students from the politically-appointed board members, politics were also on display — though board members did not seem as anxious.
In his first meeting since Landry appointed him chairman, Scott Ballard embraced Trump’s guidance on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Last week, Acting Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Craig Trainor sent a non-legally binding “dear colleagues” to schools that adopts a broad interpretation of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which removed affirmative action from college admissions standards. Trainor’s letter warns schools to cull their DEI measures or risk losing federal funding.
LSU’s board adopted a similar interpretation of that decision at its October meeting, ordering the administration to review DEI programs to be cut and report back to supervisors. Board members were slated to receive this report Friday, but Ballard said it would be pushed back to March so it can be fully aligned with the Trump administration’s guidance.
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