“...there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency.
This is a time for vigorous and positive action.” - MLK Jr.
Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth provides a compelling case for why education leaders cannot afford to stay silent in the face of authoritarian attacks on education, civil society, and democratic principles. He sees his actions as not radical but pragmatic and necessary.
In a recent article, Roth acknowledges this plainly: “This is an administration that is prioritizing loyalty and attacking people who stand, not against them necessarily, but for their own ideals and missions. That is the authoritarian playbook. If I were hiding — Wesleyan is a small school — maybe they would never notice us.”
“But that’s how tyranny gets instituted in a country. … I’m a professor, a teacher. I don’t look for trouble. But I would feel ashamed if I didn’t speak up for the values that have guided my institution and many others.”
Yet, the journalist covering Roth’s stance falls into the same trap too many of us are in, the trap of framing his active resistance as "perhaps not so pragmatic," implying that hiding, avoiding engagement, or compliance might be the safer, more logical course. There is a real paradox here we must understand: it is not pragmatic to stay silent, acquiesce, or withdraw in the face of an all out assault on education. That course of action leads to the demise of education and the installation of indoctrination in its place. Engaging is the only truly pragmatic move, the only hope we have to preserve educational integrity.
When institutions and their leaders choose silence, they are not opting out of the battle; they are choosing surrender, even if prolonging the process of their destruction. Tyranny does not require widespread, immediate, or explicit approval—it thrives on widespread passivity. “That’s how tyranny gets instituted in a country.”
Some education leaders justify their silence by invoking "institutional neutrality," as if universities exist apart from all political realities. This is a delusion. Schools are not simply affected by politics in the current circumstances, they are its targets.
When a government openly attacks education, it is not a theoretical dispute that can be idly observed — it is an effort to remake schools into ideological instruments. This has always been the playbook and pattern because critical inquiry is the bane of dogma. And dogma is what’s gushing out of Washington. Do as we say because we say it. Give us what we want, or there’s going to be trouble.
School leaders must see this as an intruder scenario that requires confrontation. If a physical intruder entered a school intent on harming students, and hiding, barricading some doors, or fleeing the scene were not options, teachers would stand between the threat and their students. This moment demands the same level of urgency and devotion to duty.
Hiding from Trump’s policies will not prevent schools from being found and targeted.
Barricading entry points through superficial legal compliance maneuvers will not make institutions less vulnerable.
Fleeing from core institutional values by eliminating inclusivity programs, expunging statements, and avoiding public comment is not an effective self-preservation strategy. It is surrender.
If Trump’s authoritarian project is left unchecked, no institution dedicated to truth and justice will remain uncorrupted. Those choosing to “lay low” today are postponing, not preventing, their confrontation with repression. They are withholding energy needed for an overwhelming coalitional response, and they are betraying their sacred commitments to serve and protect students.
If you are an educator or someone who recognizes the indispensable value of uncompromised and uncompromising education, what is your way of actively and visibly acknowledging this - before it’s too late?
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