ACLU Sends Letter of Support to Universities in Vermont Urging Them to Protect Campus Speech

Following White House actions targeting dissent, the ACLU is issuing guidance to colleges and universities affirming their constitutional obligation to protect students’ free speech rights.

March 6, 2025 11:30 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 6, 2025

Contact: Emily Hagan-Howe, [email protected], 802-223-6304 x121

Montpelier, VT - The American Civil Liberties Union today published an open letter to colleges and universities nationwide urging them to reject any federal pressure to surveil or punish international students and faculty based on constitutionally protected speech.

This letter is prompted by two executive orders — Executive Order 14161, titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other National Security and Public Safety Threats” signed on Jan. 20, 2025, and Executive Order 14188, titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” signed on Jan. 29, 2025 — and related communications from the White House.

The guidance is especially timely after a Truth Social post from President Trump threatening to stop federal funding for “any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” and proposing that “agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came.”

Harrison Stark, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU of Vermont: “It is disturbing to see the White House threatening constitutionally protected speech on U.S. college campuses so blatantly. Trump’s latest coercion campaign, attempting to turn university administrators against their own students and faculty, harkens back to the McCarthy era and is at odds with American constitutional values and the basic mission of universities. The administration cannot force Vermont schools into adopting restrictive speech codes that silence the viewpoints the government disfavors.”

According to the ACLU, the White House is attempting to pressure university officials to target immigrant and international students, faculty, and staff, including holders of non-immigrant visas and lawful permanent residents or others on a path to U.S. citizenship, for exercising their First Amendment rights.

The letter outlines four key principles universities should adhere to when addressing campus speech:

  • Colleges and universities should encourage robust discussion and exploration of ideas by students, faculty, and staff, regardless of their nationality or immigration status.
  • Nothing obligates universities to act as deputies in immigration law enforcement — to the contrary, universities do not and should not veer so far from their core mission for good reasons.
  • Schools must protect the privacy of all students, including immigrant and international students.
  • Schools must abide by the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

A copy of the letter can be found here.

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