Charter
American institutions of higher education rest upon an aspirational promise.
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It is a promise that envisions universities as havens for learning, teaching, expression, and opportunity. It is a promise grounded in the open exchange of ideas, made real through the institutional independence of universities and realized by the shared determination of students, alumni, administrators, and teachers alike. This promise serves as a beacon, drawing millions from around the world to our universities. It is this same promise that has cemented the United States as the vanguard of global innovation. Most importantly, this promise expands students' sense of possibility — inspiring the next generation to see the world not as static but as malleable.
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Unfortunately, universities have been slowly drifting from this aspirational promise. The cost of tuition is rapidly climbing, universities are becoming less accessible, and students are finding themselves unprepared to enter today's rapidly-changing workspace. Student's ability to express themselves is stifled not only by strict university rules, but by student's own fears of standing out, of being wrong, of not belonging. Professors are increasingly overburdened, underpaid, and sidelined from administrative decisions. The vast oasis of opportunity that should define the American university experience is drying up. Higher education in this country requires a transformation.
But instead, the current federal government is attacking universities in an effort to centralize control. Through government intimidation, coercion, and censorship, the promise of higher education today is under siege.
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And we know why.
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Because when this federal government leaves international students in constant fear of speaking, uproots our professors' lives by imposing financial uncertainty on our universities, cuts life-saving research opportunities and financial aid, and enforces one way of understanding, students won't be able to build the better world we need them to. For students, this moment is daunting and dispiriting. And that is the point.
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The Educational Freedom Project is our answer to this moment. We are a campaign for the demoralized student that has always believed that our universities could be better, for the frustrated student that grasps the gravity of this moment, and for the student that is unfraid to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Our aim to harness the emotions students are feeling right now into an organized, purposeful, and effective front that will defend and fulfill the promise of our universities
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As a grass-roots campaign that not only seeks to defend higher education today, but to transform it tomorrow, we open our arms to all students and university community members who share our three goals:
Mobilize students to protect our communities and universities from government attacks
Build long-lasting student advocacy infrastructure across universities
Implement reforms to promote teaching, learning, expression, and opportunity
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If there has ever been a time to act, that time is now.
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