Ray told me that as far as organized resistance within universities, groups like the American Association of University Professors and PEN were already engaged in pushing back on Trump’s orders, with AAUP releasing a statement called “Against Anticipatory Obedience” in January and joining a legal challenge to one of the DEI orders. But as compared to the hospital setting, the power of professional organizations in academia is more limited. Challenges from faculty unions and faculty governance could go further. On Wednesday, the national coalition Higher Education Labor United organized a day of action in more than a dozen cities, under the banner of “Hands Off!” healthcare, research, and jobs, protesting cuts to the Department of Education, NIH, NSF, and more. Several hundred people turned out in Boston, Philadelphia, and Seattle, among others.
