Yale students and faculty opposed to the school negotiating a settlement with the Trump Administration now have the support of some Connecticut elected officials and Yale alumni.
“Whether it is admissions policy or the content of courses or the people who are hired, do not fold, stand up and fight,” said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, after he and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and other elected officials met with Yale students and faculty on Friday.
They pledged to work to oppose a Yale settlement with the Trump Administration’s U.S. Justice Department.
“Whether it is admissions policy or the content of courses or the people who are hired, do not fold, stand up and fight,” he said.
He’s concerned that’s not happening.
“Right now, from what I’ve been told, Yale has made offers of settlement without any demand. In other words, negotiating against itself,” Blumenthal said.
He has urged Yale’s President Maurie McInnis to follow the example of other schools that have stood up to pressure from the Trump administration.
“They have virtually an unbroken string of victories in the courts. It’s not uphill,” Blumenthal said.
A settlement would compromise Yale’s academic freedom and the safety of international students, said Yale Law School Professor Marisol Oriheula, who is with the faculty union AAUP.
“Let me be very clear about the stakes: a quick settlement based on unfounded allegations used to pressure the university will only further erode public trust in higher education, both here at Yale and beyond,” Oriheula said.
The university officially declined to comment on the settlement negotiations but reaffirmed its commitment to academic freedom and lawful admissions.
