The Point: Upholding Our Mission in Challenging Times

2/27/2025

This week’s Point is written by Suha Ballout, an Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing.

Upholding Our Mission in Challenging Times: The Role of Faculty, Librarians, Staff, and Leadership at UMass Boston

UMass Boston has long been a beacon of inclusive excellence, access, and social justice, serving one of the most diverse student populations in New England. As a public, urban research institution, we are committed to expanding knowledge, fostering critical thinking, and preparing students to become engaged global citizens. However, as higher education institutions across the country face intensifying political scrutiny, legislative challenges to academic freedom, and pressures on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, our collective commitment is being put to the test.

At the same time, broader societal issues—including healthcare access, immigration policies, and civil liberties—are increasingly intersecting with education policy, impacting our students, faculty, and staff in profound ways. In this climate, it is important that UMass Boston stands strong in its mission, protects the well-being of its community, and ensures that leadership takes an active role in fostering a safe and supportive environment for all.

What role can we play in defending Inclusive Excellence?

Faculty, librarians, and staff are the heart of UMass Boston’s mission. We are not just educators and professionals we are advocates for equity, knowledge, and social transformation. As we prepare students to navigate an increasingly complex world, we cannot shy away from addressing issues of systemic inequities, climate justice, racial and gender disparities, the social determinants of health, and the rights of immigrants and marginalized communities. These conversations are not political rhetoric; they are fundamental to evidence-based scholarship, informed citizenship, and professional preparation.

Yet, as recent trends across the country have demonstrated, higher education is facing significant challenges. Legislative restrictions on curriculum, efforts to dismantle DEI programs, and growing concerns about institutional self-censorship pose real threats to the foundational principles of academic freedom and knowledge production. Additionally, recent federal guidance—such as the U.S. Department of Education’s response to the Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) has signaled increasing scrutiny on diversity initiatives in higher education. UMass Boston must proactively reaffirm its commitment to ensuring that our students have access to a broad, inclusive, and critical education while remaining compliant with evolving federal regulations. However, we cannot meet this challenge alone. We call upon our university leadership; including the Chancellor, Provost, Deans, and senior administrators; to take a public, active role in supporting academic freedom, DEI, and the safety and well-being of our campus community.

How can we maintain the integrity of our work?

In the face of these challenges, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to:

• Defending Academic Freedom: As faculty and staff, we must advocate for policies that protect our ability to teach, research, and engage in public scholarship without fear of external interference. This includes active participation in governance structures and faculty and staff unions, such as the Faculty Staff Union (FSU), Professional Staff Union (PSU), and Classified Staff Union (CSU), ensuring that our voices are heard in institutional decision-making.
• Ensuring Equitable Access to Knowledge: Librarians and faculty play a major role in curating and safeguarding diverse perspectives, ensuring that students engage with multiple worldviews rather than sanitized, politically driven narratives.
• Strengthening DEI Commitments While Navigating Political and Legal Challenges: UMass Boston has been a leader in centering equity and racial justice in curriculum, hiring, and student support services. We must continue this work, even in the face of opposition, by embedding DEI values into institutional policies in ways that align with legal guidelines while preserving the core mission of educational equity.
• Advocating for Healthcare, Immigration, and Civil Liberties Protections: Access to reproductive healthcare, mental health resources, and protections for immigrant and undocumented students directly impacts student success and faculty well-being. UMass Boston must actively work to support policies and services that safeguard these rights.

How can we protect ourselves and others?

With the increasing politicization of higher education, we must also take intentional steps to protect our professional autonomy and well-being:

• Building Collective Strength: UMass Boston’s unions and governance structures provide critical advocacy and protection for faculty and staff. Engaging in these spaces ensures that decisions affecting our work and students are made inclusively and transparently.
• Practicing Digital and Professional Safety: Faculty, librarians, and staff must be vigilant about online privacy and institutional policies to safeguard against targeted harassment or political retaliation. UMass Boston must provide training on digital security and academic freedom protections.
• Prioritizing Well-being in a Challenging Environment: The emotional and mental toll of working in an increasingly scrutinized academic climate is real. Faculty, librarians, and staff need to utilize available resources including Employee Assistance Programs, professional networks, and collective advocacy to sustain our work without burnout. The role of the administration is to make these services available and accessible.
• Leadership Must Foster a Campus Climate of Support and Safety: Faculty, librarians, staff, and students cannot be expected to navigate these challenges alone. We call on leadership to actively communicate with the campus community, reaffirm institutional commitments, and take concrete steps to ensure that UMass Boston remains a place where faculty, staff, and students feel safe and supported.
• Guidance on Federal Compliance and DEI Initiatives: Given the recent Department of Education guidance regarding race-conscious policies in higher education, leadership must provide clarity and transparency about how UMass Boston will navigate these legal requirements while maintaining its commitment to equity, student support, and academic freedom.

UMass Boston As A Stronghold for Equity and Knowledge

At UMass Boston, our mission is not just a statement, it is a commitment to our students, our community, and the world. The challenges we face today are not just about policy shifts; they are about who has the right to shape knowledge and whose voices get to be heard.

By standing together, faculty, librarians, staff, students, and institutional leadership, we can protect the integrity of UMass Boston’s mission and reaffirm our role as a leader in inclusive excellence.

We call on our university leadership to actively engage with the campus community, publicly affirm their commitment to academic freedom and DEI, and ensure that our policies and practices remain student-centered, and equity driven.

We need to be bold in our advocacy, strategic in our approach, and unwavering in our commitment to ensuring that UMass Boston remains a place where learning is a transformative and liberating experience for all.