NORTHAMPTON — A restructuring of the progressive New College of Florida by that state’s Republican leadership in 2023 prompted Hampshire College to offer students there a respite and opportunity to continue their studies in Amherst.

Facing what he views as a similar attack on higher education by the Trump administration, and amid national policies that can be viewed as harmful to many students, Hampshire President Ed Wingenbach is among local higher education leaders signing onto a nationwide statement advocating for values of high-quality education, freedom and educational access. The statement, “A Call for Constructive Engagement,” was posted online last week by The American Association of Colleges and Universities, or AAC&U.

“This is a hopeful sign that institutions of higher education will stand up for their core values and missions that create the conditions for a democratic citizenship,” Wingenbach said, expressing disappointment that more wasn’t done two years ago when students and faculty at New College referred to that as a “hostile takeover.” “I am glad to see some sense that higher education needs to have a thoughtful, clear position.”

“This letter is a way of mobilizing collectively the voice of college and university leaders across the entire sector of higher education,” Wingenbach said. “Collective action is a good starting point, a signal about the values we all share, the values that are essential to education.”

The statement begins with an acknowledgment that colleges and universities intend to stand up to the Trump administration, which has suspended grant funds, accused college administrators of failing to stem antisemitism, and revoked student visas, among other actions: “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.” And while open to “constructive reform” and legitimate government oversight, “we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding.”

That coercion has included the White House threatening to freeze more than $2 billion in funding for Harvard University, which has prompted the university to sue the administration.

Wingenbach has been joined in endorsing the statement by all of his colleagues at the Five Colleges: Smith College President Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Mount Holyoke President Danielle Holley, Amherst College President Michael A. Elliott and University of Massachusetts-Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes, as well as UMass President Martin Meehan.

The statement, which is continuing to draw support from higher education leaders across the country, goes on to note the importance of not being impeded by government officials. “American institutions of higher learning have in common the essential freedom to determine, on academic grounds, whom to admit and what is taught, how, and by whom. Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation.”

In signing onto the statement, Willie-LeBreton expressed pride that higher education leaders are standing up for their students, especially those students who come from families with limited means, or who have come from abroad to study.

“We want to ensure that Americans — especially those students from low and middle income households — have more access to education, training, research, internship opportunities and debt-free financial aid,” the Smith College leader said. “And we are very proud that our campuses have been beacons, welcoming international students and benefiting from their presence on our campuses.”

Willie-LeBreton continued, “As president of the country’s largest women’s liberal arts college, it has been imperative for me to be in conversation with other higher education leaders, and we are eager to continue to serve as productive partners with government in promoting the common good.”

Mount Holyoke offered a statement about the importance of having Holley, as its president, put her signature on the statement, noting the college “believes unequivocally that defending higher education is a defense of democracy.”

“When the government attacks free inquiry, academic freedom and the ability of colleges and universities to govern themselves, it is an attempt to stifle freedom of ideas as well as opposition to government,” the statement from Mount Holyoke reads. “At no point has the current administration had any legal findings to necessitate governing our colleges and universities.”

At Hampshire, only one federal grant supporting activities has been suspended, but harm is happening in other ways, Wingenbach said – “the attacks on rules of free expression, research, the right to stay in the country, and the political dangers, especially to the many trans students, gender-nonconforming students and international students who are studying on campus.”

“The biggest impacts are a sense of threat for the international students, the disregard and dehumanizing of trans students,” Wingenbach said. “This is making it difficult to learn for trans, gender-nonconforming and international students.”

AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella offered comments on the importance of the statement, which in addition to its continued place on the website, was also printed as an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, but has not ben sent to federal officials.

“One of the greatest strengths of American higher education is the diversity of institutional types, anchored in a common commitment to serving the public good,” said Pasquerella, who served as Mount Holyoke’s president until 2016. “The widespread support this statement has garnered demonstrates that despite differences in our respective missions, there is a willingness to speak collectively and act in solidarity to defend the core principles of academic freedom, shared governance, and institutional autonomy foundational to America’s distinctive tradition of liberal education and to our nation’s historic mission of educating for democracy.”

The AAC&U statement references American institutions of higher learning being essential to American prosperity and serving as productive partners with government in promoting the common good and sustaining democracy:

“The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society. On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic.”