To: Leaders of U.S. higher education governance bodies and unions
From: SUNY University Faculty Senate Executive Committee
Re: Our National Call to Action
Date: 10 September 2026
We endorse, and we call on you to join us in endorsing,
-
- Higher Education’s Compact with America: Shared Principles for the Common Good (American Association of Colleges and Universities/Phi Beta Kappa Society) Identifies principles and promises regarding opportunity, affordability, excellence, freedom, security, partnership, and prosperity.
- Pro-Equity Compact: Foundational Values for Higher Education (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund) The federal “anti-civil rights agenda is a threat to academic freedom, equity, inclusion and student success. We are fighting back to protect students, faculty, and our education system.”
- The State of Shared Governance: Independence Day 2026 Declaration (SUNY and CUNY governance leaders) “We pledge to continue engaging our colleagues and SUNY and CUNY leadership to make our systems even more influential and effective national exemplars of what Public Good U can be and do when we work together.”
- America’s Compact for Higher Education (Stand Up for Science with American Association of Colleges and Universities/American Association of University Professors/Alliance for Higher Education/Public Citizen/Public Good U) Aims to develop a large coalition in support of basic tenets of higher education and to support leaders in maintaining our nation’s institutions of higher education as independent centers of thought.
Let’s reinforce our commitment to realizing the promise of higher education as an indispensable public good.
Let’s construct collaborative relationships between the U.S. federal government, state governments, and the ecosystem of community colleges, technical and agricultural colleges, liberal arts colleges, regional public universities, teaching hospitals, health science centers, and research universities that spans every state in the union.
Let’s work together to preserve and advance student access and success; colleges’ and universities’ missions; and the foundational principles, values, functions, and contributions of U.S. higher education.
Let’s coordinate partnerships across higher education sectors and roles, along with broader coalition-building via community engagement and civic capacity development.