1. United States
2. La.
3. Letter

Right now colleges and universities like Tulane and LSU are under attack as crucial research funds are being cut and threatened. Colleges and universities like Dillard and Xavier are being threatened with politically motivated inquiry. Colleges and universities like Loyola and Holy Cross are being stripped of funding and threatened with lawsuits. This has to stop. These attacks on colleges and universities are an affront to democracy. They are unlawful - failing to follow appropriate rules and procedures under Title VI. And these attacks are unconstitutional, as they perpetuate viewpoint discrimination and attack universities because people hold a particular viewpoint not because anyone has violated the law. Fundamentally, there seems to be the idea that universities and colleges are perverse enemies of democracy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Universities are dynamic multifaceted democratice organizations. Students, faculty, and staff are engaged in making the organization and work to address limitations and possibilities. Colleges and universities as career centers and job training sites, but they are much more. First universities are educational institutions teaching big ideas, upholding the historical transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next. Second, universities are engines of knowledge production as scholars and researchers write articles expounding on new ideas and shifting paradigms. Universities are sites of invention. In the process of knowledge production, researchers find new cures and innovate new solutions. To support the academic mission universities are vast employers, and in service to this, they often have banking and financial institutions and manage the distribution of employee programs like health insurance and retirement funds. Universities are also landlords for students and faculty, and as such they oversee a robust private security force to ensure the safety and well being of all. Universities are talent agencies for graduates and they are headhunters for the institution, recruiting the best global talent. Universities and colleges are also event centers, putting on thousands of educationally engaging interactive lectures, symposia, conferences, and events. Universities provide mentoring to students and community education. They run large libraries and government document repositories. Many also run legal clinics to train their students and hospital systems that train the future leaders in medicine and health care. Universities and colleges are essential institutions in Louisiana. They give back much and generate even more. Tulane is linked to 30,000 jobs in the state with an economic impact of $5.2 billion dollars annually. LSU also has a significant reach with 43,000 direct and indirect jobs generated and an annual impact of $6.1 billion dollars. Even smaller colleges and universities have a vast impact. Please stand up for higher education. Please let me know how you plan to do so.