To members of the University of Alaska Board of Regents:

The Alaska Constitution grants the Board of Regents authority to govern the University of Alaska. The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education mandates that universities surrender their institutional autonomy and give control of key authorities, such as hiring, curriculum, and student enrollment to the US Federal Government, which is contrary to the Alaska Constitution. As stakeholders in the UA system, we are writing in preemptive opposition to the Board of Regents signing this federal compact.

Policy analysts across the political spectrum, including those from the American Enterprise Institute and Cato Institute, have warned that the compact risks federal overreach and threatens academic and institutional independence. Defending UA’s autonomy by not signing the compact reflects a deep respect for self-governance that aligns with Alaska’s values.

The concepts and ideas taught in UA classrooms and labs require freedom from political oversight. These are spaces of inquiry, where right and wrong does not equal right and left, it equals learning. We must provide spaces where students feel safe to learn as they wish, free from coercion from above. To impose a political agenda on higher education is a grave error, but willingly giving up our intellectual autonomy and integrity is worse. The administration has already proposed political oversight of Gold Standard science via executive order; we must oppose bringing political oversight into our classrooms. Alaska’s students cannot learn without freedom of inquiry. Alaska’s future competitiveness relies on this reality.

The Board’s decision to ban the words diversity, equity, and inclusion, without stakeholder input, has had negative ramifications. By ignoring the compact and thus refusing to sign it, the Board will demonstrate to UA’s stakeholders that the regents value the freedom to teach and learn and the autonomous nature of the University of Alaska. For the sake of UA’s students and their right to learn and achieve great things, and for the sake of our state’s future, honor our collective voice on this topic: do not sign the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.