Higher Education Advocates Call for Unity in Response to the Department of Education’s Disingenuous “National Call to Action”

For Immediate Release

The Department’s Carrot is a Stick in Disguise Offering Preferential Treatment to Institutions that Comply with the Administration’s Ideological Stances

August 10, 2026 —  The Alliance for Higher Education, PEN America and higher education advocates have joined forces in a sector-wide Call for Unity in response to the Department of Education’s National Call to Action. In a letter announcing the Call to Action, Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon asked colleges and universities, by the end of 2026, to pledge to a series of politically motivated reforms. 

"We need to be clear about this coercive and corrosive letter from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Like last year’s 'Compact,' the letter aims to divide and conquer, pressuring higher education leaders to adopt the administration’s ideological critique of the sector. We are joining with the Alliance to provide guidance about how to respond in a way that preserves academic freedom and institutional autonomy, and builds consensus around the values of free speech and inclusivity that are central to the mission of colleges and universities,” said Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms Managing Director, U.S. Free Expression Programs at PEN America.

Ideological pressure from the government will not just impact the institutions, but students, families and communities. McMahon’s letter misidentifies the ways higher education already serves the nation and ignores the actions institutions are already taking to ensure fair opportunity for all students. 

“Secretary McMahon's letter argues that higher education should adhere to the administration's politically motivated reforms framed as a series of questions. Our collective work to strengthen higher education—whether with the government and leaders of four-year colleges, community colleges and Ivy League universities—must place the freedom to teach, learn and research at the heart of that work. Our Call for Unity with PEN America is for the sector to be unified in its actions to improve higher education and innovations that lead to better student outcomes. We can, collectively, mobilize for a better future through coalitions, and we hope the government will be part of that coalition,” Mike Gavin, CEO of the Alliance for Higher Education.

Education should be transparent, accountable, inclusive, rigorous and responsive to public concerns. The Alliance, in partnership with PEN America, is calling on higher education sector leaders to join together for collective transparency about the obstacles the sector is facing and catalyze public trust and shift the Department of Education’s posture.

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About the Alliance for Higher Education

The Alliance for Higher Education is a coalition uniting all of higher education to defend and improve the field as a foundational pillar of democracy. Learn more at https://allianceforhighered.org. 


About PEN America

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.