Binghamton University’s Faculty Senate voted last week to endorse three resolutions brought forth by the larger SUNY University Faculty Senate in response to federal action impacting higher education.

The resolutions were passed on April 26 by the SUNY University Faculty Senate, which represents 33 SUNY colleges, then sent to schools for endorsement. Of the voting members present, the University’s senate endorsed all three resolutions without dissent.

John Starks Jr., a SUNY University Faculty senator representing BU and an associate professor in Middle Eastern and ancient Mediterranean studies, read the resolutions to the senate. He told Pipe Dream the resolutions were written to address “the nature of higher education right now.”

“In this particular case, they were deemed more important to address at the state level and then also at the local level, because of particular kinds of executive orders or federal changes that have been announced, if not always implemented, around those particular areas of concern,” Starks said.

The first resolution addressed federal action leading to “significant uncertainty around the eligibility criteria and implementation of scholarships, grants, and programs” for higher education. It called on the SUNY administration to “provide clear and consistent guidance” in response to these changes, along with legal support and collaboration between colleges.

In April, President Harvey Stenger signed a letter along with hundreds of higher education leaders criticizing the “coercive use of public research funding.” A statement released in March, signed by University Graduate School Dean Terrence Deak, affirmed that graduate student research offers and funding packages would continue as planned.

During comment time, a faculty member asked if it was “wise” to call on the SUNY administration to bind itself to the resolution, potentially leading to “inflexibility.” Provost Donald Hall responded that each resolution would protect individual campuses from federal action.

“What I like about all three of these resolutions, but I’ll speak to this one, is that it’s asking the SUNY central administration to take on that role so that we’re not making any individual campus a target for anything that will be coming from the federal administration,” Hall said. “With SUNY’s large apparatus of legal counsel and other support systems, that they are very well situated to be the central voice on this, and so I think this is actually the right strategy.”

The second resolution, “Legal Help for Immigration Issues,” called on SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. and the Board of Trustees to take several actions that protect the First Amendment and due process rights of noncitizen students, staff and faculty. It instructed the chancellor to keep students on a visa or with permanent resident status enrolled in their school “in the event of visa revocation, revocation of permanent residency, legal status termination, detention, and/or deportation.”

The resolution also called for establishing a fund to help affected students continue their education, providing legal support and expanding “Know Your Rights” training and information.

SUNY faculty members across 14 campuses drafted the original resolution. A University faculty member involved in the resolution’s creation pointed to several factors that made the resolution “urgent,” including a recent “one-strike policy” where visa holders can lose their status if charged with “any kind of infraction.”

In April, 46 SUNY students, including five at BU, had their visa status revoked and then restored, according to a Justice Department lawyer in federal court. The restoration was reported to be “temporary” as the Trump administration develops a new system to evaluate and revoke legal records for international students, per the New York Times.

“We think that this is the right kind of resolution coming from the SUNY UFS, providing support for our faculty, for our staff, for our students as they’re making risk calculations about ‘Should I travel or not, should I talk about this subject in my classroom or not, should I speak up if I’m a student in a discussion or not, what kind of support will I have?’” a faculty member said.

The third resolution, titled “In Support of All Forms of Gender Identity and Expression,” was drafted by a working group at BU. It affirmed the University Faculty Senate’s support for protecting gender expression and identity, as outlined in the New York State Constitution.

In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order recognizing two unchangeable sexes and instructing federal agencies to adhere to “sex-based definitions” while denouncing “gender ideology.” Last November, New York voters passed Proposal One to add constitutional protections against discrimination or unequal treatment based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The amendment was implemented on Jan. 1.

Starks said the resolution would follow previous statements made by King affirming support for nonbinary, transgender and intersex students, along with actions by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.

“If this were to be contested, it is so ensconced in New York State law and in the SUNY charter that it would actually face a strong backlash to challenge these protections,” Starks said.

Bridget Whearty, an associate professor of English, voiced support for the resolution during the meeting. She told Pipe Dream that the resolution would confirm SUNY employees’ obligations to uphold the state constitution.

“A resolution is a limited tool — it cannot do everything, but it is something,” Whearty said. “And I think silence very often can be taken as tacit agreement with large statements by powerful federal entities that say scientifically incorrect things, like there are only two sexes.”

“It’s just a statement, but saying something matters,” she continued. “My goal would be that this would be a robust declaration for all SUNY students that you will be protected, and it would be the start of that. It can’t be the only thing, but it is an important something.”