The majority of full-time faculty at the School of Law, including former NYU President John Sexton, signed onto a letter slamming the Trump administration’s executive crackdown on U.S. colleges and affirming the faculty’s support for academic freedom.
In the letter, sent to the NYU Law community on April 17 and obtained by WSN, 112 professors condemned the federal government’s targeting of universities “in ways that undermine academic independence and the free exchange of ideas.” They argued that President Donald Trump’s threats to impeach judges and requirements for lawyers to “acquiesce to improper demands” unconstitutionally undermine democracy, freedom of expression and basic due process.
“If such actions continue, the damage to our intellectual communities, which depend on the lawful freedom of expression and open exchange of ideas, could be immense,” the letter read. “So too would be the danger to basic due process values that protect each and every one of us.”
Among the letter’s signatories, 76 are full-time faculty members at NYU Law. Troy McKenzie, dean and professor at NYU Law — who was not among the signatories — said in a statement to WSN that while the school’s faculty represents a “wide diversity of viewpoints,” they are “obviously united in their deep concern for the future of higher education and our democracy.” Sexton, who stepped down as head of the university in 2015, did not respond to requests for comment.
Richard Epstein, a professor at the law school and avid public debater, said he has “never seen anybody who poses a greater threat to America’s political, legal and social institutions than Donald Trump.” Epstein called Trump a bully, said his economics are primitive and criticized him for not taking “any responsibility for anything.”
“I’m told that some of my students were rather surprised that I signed the letter, because I’m probably the quote-unquote most conservative member of the NYU faculty, at least one who participates in public debates,” Epstein said in an interview with WSN.
Epstein, a leading writer on libertarian law and staunch opponent of birthright citizenship, has spent years advocating for a smaller government. However, he has recently emerged as an avid critic of Trump’s executive actions — including the firing of nearly all U.S. Agency for International Development employees and issuance of unprecedentedly high tariffs.
The letter comes as Harvard University engages in a legal battle with the White House after rejecting demands to limit student protests and dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs. In response, the Trump administration cut over $3 billion in federal grants and contracts for health research from Harvard over the past week. In March, Columbia University — after losing more than $400 million in federal funding — submitted to most of the federal government’s demands, including banning masks on campus, hiring “special officers” to remove and detain individuals on campus and the regulating departments related to Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies.
The statement did not address NYU’s silence on Trump’s crusade against higher education and threats to withdraw federal funding from research institutions and universities. Over the last few months, “some members” of the community have had their visas revoked, NYU Langone Health canceled gender-affirming care appointments for minors and President Linda Mills enacted an administrative hiring freeze. NYU has been under fire by the Trump administration for its response to complaints alleging antisemitic harassment on campus, and was named among 52 schools to be investigated for DEI initiatives.
Contact Yezen Saadah at [email protected].
