1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing today to call for immediate action regarding University of Michigan President Santa Ono’s growing record of failures to protect students’ rights and uphold the university’s stated commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Under President Ono’s leadership, we have seen: • A refusal to defend and protect DEI initiatives from political attack. • The militarization of campus spaces, with police forces used against peaceful student protesters. • The effective elimination of the right to protest at the University of Michigan, through sweeping bans, campus trespass orders, and criminal charges targeting students for political expression. Most recently, a student who protested for Palestinian rights was sentenced to jail time for simply existing on campus while attending classes — an appalling miscarriage of justice in which university policy played a central role. This escalation makes clear that under President Ono’s administration, political dissent is not tolerated, and the university is willing to sacrifice its own students’ futures to avoid discomfort. Public universities should be places where the right to free speech, peaceful assembly, and the pursuit of social justice are respected, not violently repressed. Instead, the University of Michigan is becoming a national example of how institutions can dismantle these rights under the guise of maintaining “order.” As a constituent and supporter of student rights, I ask you to urgently investigate these abuses, demand public accountability from President Ono, and take steps to ensure that no university president — at Michigan or elsewhere — can trample over the constitutional rights of students without consequence. Please stand with the students, faculty, and community members who are fighting for a just and equitable future, and against those in power who are trying to silence them. Thank you for your leadership and your commitment to justice.