Editors’ note: Josh Darrow and Emma Malinak contributed reporting to this story.

About 600 leaders of colleges and universities across the country have signed a letter opposing “undue government intrusion” in higher education. Washington and Lee University President Will Dudley is not one of them. 

“As leaders of America’s colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education,” the letter, released by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) on April 22, states. 

As of Thursday, 592 colleges and universities, including W&L’s peer institutions such as Amherst College and the University of Richmond, signed onto the letter titled “A Call for Constructive Engagement.”

In fact, all but one of W&L’s 21 peer institutions have signed the statement. Claremont McKenna College, which according to the LA Times is known for its conservative viewpoint, is the only other school in W&L’s cohort that has not signed.

Members of the W&L chapter of the American Association of University Professors asked Dudley to sign the open letter on April 24. But he declined on April 28, said Alison Bell, a professor of anthropology and the president of the W&L chapter of the AAUP. 

“Isolationism is not in W&L’s interest,” Bell wrote in a letter to Dudley on behalf of the university’s AAUP chapter. “Joining our peers to defend academic freedom, open inquiry, and the exchange of ideas without fear is critical to our wellbeing.”

More than 150 university and college presidents signed the letter on the first day it was released. The letter’s signers range from large public universities to small liberal arts schools to colleges in the Ivy League. 

“The Board believes that group statements are rarely an effective form of advocacy, nor do they convey the nuances of an individual institution’s position,” said Dudley in an emailed statement to the Phi. 

Instead, Dudley said the university is going to further its educational mission and advocate for higher education by speaking with lawmakers. The university remains a member of the AAC&U. 

“We have sent the message to our peers that we’re not going to back them up,” Bell said in an interview with the Phi. “What if we need back up? What if we need some support? We’ve already declared that we’re not going to join with them.”

Dudley’s statement is out of step with the current political landscape, said Bell.

“This is not a parlor game. The decisions being made by the executive branch are eroding the foundations that many of our students are building in their academic and professional lives,” said Bell. “This intrusion cannot be allowed to continue unopposed.”

The AAC&U’s letter says students, staff and faculty at universities should be able to share ideas freely without fear of retribution, censorship or deportation. The call for change comes after months of the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education, according to NBC.

For example, the Trump administration has frozen universities’ federal funding to ensure compliance with a range of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and other initiatives.

Columbia University accepted a list of demands made by the Trump administration in March — such as appointing an outsider to run their Middle East, South Asian and African studies department — to restore their federal funding, according to NBC. Harvard took a different approach and sued the Trump administration over the termination of their federal grants. Both Harvard and Columbia signed the AAC&U letter. 

Dudley and the Board of Trustees are aware of the effect that current federal policy may have on the university, said Dudley in his emailed statement. 

Even though Washington and Lee University is a private institution, it received just over $2.1 million in federal grants and funding in 2024, according to previous reporting by the Phi. About $1.8 million of that funding supports student financial aid through Pell Grants, work study and other need-based grants. The other $300,000 comes from federal agencies to support research. 

Last week, federal judges in New Hampshire and Maryland blocked the enforcement of a Department of Education letter that mandated universities to end DEI initiatives, according to Inside Higher Ed. But several universities had already eliminated DEI offices, stopped scholarships for underrepresented students, and more in response to the mandate.

The Trump administration has also been taking action against international students by revoking hundreds of visas and detaining students who were involved in pro-Palestinian protests, according to NBC.

The AAC&U’s letter ends with a call for “constructive engagement” with the Trump administration.

“American institutions of higher learning are essential to American prosperity and serve as productive partners with government in promoting the common good,” the letter says.

Bell said that many Trump administration policies are hurting W&L students. Her students have lost Fulbright Grants and other research opportunities.

“I am afraid for our students. That is absolutely the bottom line for me,” Bell said.