In light of changing federal directives and uncertainty regarding higher education, Colorado State University leadership met with students Tuesday, April 29, for a roundtable discussion hosted by the Associated Students of CSU.

The event provided interested students with opportunities to speak with university officials and administrators about the impacts of recent federal directives and policy shifts on universities in terms of academic freedom, diversity, equity and inclusion and international programs.

“It’s really important that students are directly connected to the university leadership that are ultimately making the decisions,” said Ava Wilkins, ASCSU director of governmental affairs. “We’ve seen a lot of uncertainty after shifting federal action, and I’ve heard directly from students that they’re like, ‘I don’t understand what’s going on,’ 
and that’s a problem. When we’re able to have these connections, … we need to use them to directly connect to students”

During the event, university leaders emphasized their support for academic freedom regardless of shifting federal policies and said that if anything, curriculum changes would primarily be the result of financial issues.

“Academic freedom, I think, is one of our best tools here to continue to demonstrate values and to allow our faculty to teach,” said Ryan Barone, assistant vice president for student success. “They have courses that are approved by a university curriculum committee, and they need to teach those learning objectives, so those will remain. It’s true that our budget, as you all know, is in a really dire situation, and so there may have to be hard decisions made at the university about courses and about departments that would be the function of enrollment and not the function of a response to an executive order from the Trump administration.”

Additionally, Barone explained that higher education may be left up to the state, meaning Colorado universities may not be impacted by new government policies due to the state’s current political climate.

“What I’ve heard from the Trump administration is the U.S. Department of Education has an interest in pushing some decisions around higher education to the states and not have it controlled by the federal government,” Barone said. “Were that to happen, Colorado currently is a liberal state with a Democratic governor and senate and house. … It’s unlikely that there would be an imposition on us to do something different around DEI as a result of the state.”

“We’re doubling down on and committing to the Principles of Community. That decision has been made, that the Principles of Community will stand as they are, and we will be doing more talking about the Principles of Community moving forward.” -Jody Donovan, CSU associate vice president for student affairs

Research and funding were also a major point of discussion at the event, as various federal research grants have been paused.

Vice President for Student Affairs Blanche Hughes discussed the importance of research and public outreach at a land-grant university like CSU.

“We have to change the narrative and help the American people understand how important research is,” Hughes said. “One of the things we’re learning from this is sometimes we do research, and we do it in our lab and we’re doing great things, but nobody knows about it, and they don’t understand how it impacts them. Here at CSU, a land-grant institution, it’s a little different (in) that we have atmospheric science, we’re working on vaccines and we’re doing a better job of sharing that with everybody so people can see, ‘Hey, what you’re doing is impacting my life.’”

Michelle Stanley, interim vice provost for undergraduate affairs, also discussed the importance of research and encouraged those at CSU to continue their work.

“The university is very firm that academic freedom, it is the bedrock (on) which we stand, and we will not falter on that — it’s who we are,” Stanley said. “These are really tricky classes in political science right now, and there are quite a few departments on campus that feel very nervous, and I understand that, but I can tell each one of them without question that their research is encouraged to continue. In the classes they teach, they should not be changing their syllabi.”

Stanley also noted that the university has provided monthly stipends for lab employees through the rest of the semester to support those who relied on federally funded research labs as their primary source of income.

Those who attended the event also addressed the impact of policy changes on international students, who have been primarily impacted by recent directives. At least 16 international students at CSU have had their visas revoked.

“This is the darkest time I’ve had in my career in the 26 years that I’ve been in international education, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to tap out; it means it’s actually time to double down and really do the best that you possibly can to meet the needs of the students that are experiencing nothing less than fear,” said Greg Wymer, director of international student and scholar services.

Jody Donovan, associate vice president for student affairs, encouraged students to seek out Student Legal Services and speak to the immigration attorneys to address any concerns they may have. She went on to explain CSU’s efforts to keep students informed despite challenges.

“A lot of us have been talking about communication to students, to faculty, to staff,” Donovan said. “It’s been really, really hard for everyone, and I’ve heard from a lot of students, ‘What does my university stand for? Will my university still be here next year?’ So please know we’ve been passing that information up. There’s fear for the university as well, and that has prevented a lot of communication, and it doesn’t help in terms of what’s happening at Harvard, Princeton and Yale.”

Speakers also emphasized that, despite current fears and challenges, the university remains committed to its Principles of Community: inclusion, integrity, respect, service and social justice.

“We’re doubling down on and committing to the Principles of Community,” Donovan said. “That decision has been made, that the Principles of Community will stand as they are, and we will be doing more talking about the Principles of Community moving forward.”

Reach Laila Shekarchian at news@collegian.com or on social media @CSUCollegian.