1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

Please help free the universities of Illinois from the federal threat. The great universities of this state are at risk due to Trump’s and Vance’s attacks. Research funding, Pell Grants, student visas, and the federal financial aid system are all under threat. The universities cannot survive more than one or two of those effects simultaneously. Let’s turn this into an opportunity for Illinois. If the state can commit to funding the universities through this gap in federal funding, we can reorient their economic, cultural, and class mobility power for more direct benefit to the state. As a side benefit, we can give a collective middle finger to the Trump administration.