Do Not Comply (Except as Required by Law)

This letter was drafted by members of the UM-Ann Arbor chapter of the AAUP.

March 17, 2025

To President Ono and Provost McCauley:

We write to you as concerned members of the University of Michigan’s scholarly community. 

As you know, on March 9, 2025, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia University and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was forcibly removed by the Department of Homeland Security from his residence on University grounds. While DHS initially stated that they would revoke his student visa, after being informed Mr. Khalil was a lawful permanent resident, agents claimed that his green card would be revoked instead. As of this writing, he is being held at a “notorious” ICE detention facility in Louisiana. On the evening of March 9, Secretary of State Marco Rubio endorsed the action and indicated that there would be more such actions to come. On March 10, President Donald Trump called Mr. Khalil a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student” and stated that his administration would “find, apprehend, and deport … terrorist sympathizers from our country.” He also stated that he expects “every one of America’s Colleges and Universities to comply.”

As scholars, researchers, teachers, and clinicians carrying out the core functions of the University of Michigan, we urge you not to comply with this administration’s targeting of our students and community. The administration has claimed that Mr. Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas,” an extremely open-ended and vague claim that can easily be interpreted to encompass important speech on matters of public concern. It indeed appears Mr. Khalil is being punished for engaging in political speech that is constitutionally protected. According to a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, “This seems like one of the biggest threats, if not the biggest threat to First Amendment freedoms in 50 years.” A federal judge has recently ordered, pursuant to a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, that Mr. Khalil not be removed from the United States pending resolution of the petition. 

If the administration continues with this punitive, retaliatory use of the immigration enforcement machinery, it augurs a return to some of the darkest days in this nation’s history–or worse. In this moment, universities have not only become subject to political attack, but also have become a frontline in the struggle to resist arbitrary, authoritarian political rule. A recent statement by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) warns against anticipatory obedience. We are not powerless in the face of this attack, at least not unless we choose to make ourselves so. Research universities carry a great deal of collective economic, social, and ultimately political heft, especially if they act in coordination. We also have basic obligations to students and members of our community, particularly the most vulnerable. And yet the stakes here go even beyond the fates of those individuals: history teaches us that the most vulnerable—and the most vilified by the most powerful institutions of the state—are only the first to be sacrificed in the unchecked consolidation of political power.

We believe the forced removal and detention of Mr. Khalil—alongside an onslaught of political intrusions by the current administration—represent clear threats to our university and its teaching and research missions. While the university has adopted a policy of institutional neutrality, this does not mean the university is a passive observer to important events of our time. Per a report by the Advisory Committee on the University of Michigan Principles of Diversity of Thought & Freedom of Expression, “a policy of institutional neutrality is not … an expression of indifference, a call for absolute silence, or an endorsement of the status quo. Instead, our recommendation calls for directing the University’s energy, attention, and resources to activities that are at the core of its mission.” We sincerely ask the university to uphold its own recommendations on institutional neutrality by affirmatively fulfilling its mission and obligations to students and members of our community. As such, we ask the university to commit to the following: 

  • We ask the university to publicly confirm it will not cooperate with immigration authorities except as required by law, including any requests for information about students, faculty, and staff that are not specifically required by law. The university has chosen to admit students and hire instructors and researchers on their academic merit whom the federal government may now seek to target for retribution, criminalization, or deportation. We recognize that the university must comply with court orders, but the university has no obligation to provide information or other assistance to immigration authorities that is not mandated by subpoena or judicial order. As recent University guidance notes, “compliance with [ICE] immigration detainers is not mandatory.” 
  • We ask the university to publicly commit to rejecting efforts to equate political disagreement with religious, racial, or national discrimination. We ask for confirmation that it will also not share the names or contact information of students, staff, or faculty based on their perceived or actual political opinions or affiliations. Even in the event of a university disciplinary proceeding or an encounter with DPSS, the university must not willingly volunteer members of its own community for additional ideological targeting and retaliation by higher political powers.

We understand that the university has not chosen to be in the political cross-hairs. And yet, some of our  most momentous choices may arise in situations not of our own choosing. We recognize that meeting this moment will not be easy, and we stand ready as a community to defend our institution when it defends us by all the means it has at its disposal. 

Truly yours,

  1. Sanjukta Paul, Professor, Law School
  2. Terri Friedline, Professor, School of Social Work
  3. Michael Lempert, Professor, LSA/Anthropology
  4. David Myer Temin, Associate Professor, LSA/Political Science
  5. Silke Weineck, Professor, LSA/Germanic Literature and Culture
  6. Michael Atzmon, Professor Emeritus, College of Engineering, NERS & MSE
  7. Perrin Selcer, Associate Professor, LSA/History
  8. Clare Croft, Associate Professor, LSA/American Culture
  9. Daniel Nemser, Associate Professor, LSA/Romance Languages
  10. Peggy McCracken, Professor, LSA/Romance Languages and Literatures
  11. Nora Becker, Assistant Professor, Division of General Medicine, School of Medicine
  12. Nancy A. Khalil, Assistant Professor, LSA/American Culture
  13. Matthew Countryman, Associate Professor, LSA/DAAS & History
  14. Lorraine Gutierrez, Collegiate Professor Emerita, School of Social Work, Thurnau Professor Emerita, LSA/Psychology
  15. Samer Ali, Associate Professor, LSA/Middle East Studies
  16. Ceren Budak, Associate Professor, School of Information
  17. Khaled Mattawa, William Wilhartz Endowed Professor of English Language and Literature
  18. Margaret Levenstein, ISR and School of Information
  19. Christian de Pee, Professor, LSA/History
  20. Katharine F. Barald Ph.D., Professor emerita (Active) of Biomedical Engineering and Cell and Developmental Biology, Programs in Neuroscience, Cancer Biology and Cell and Molecular Biology
  21. Yi-Li Wu, Associate Professor, LSA/Women and Gender Studies & History
  22. Victor Mendoza, Associate Professor, LSA/English and Women’s and Gender Studies
  23. Leila Kawar, Associate Professor, LSA/American Culture
  24. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, Associate Professor, LSA/American Culture
  25. Giorgio Bertellini, Professor, LSA/Film, Television and Media
  26. Samuel Bagenstos, Frank G. Millard Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, and Arlene Susan Kohn Professor of Social Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
  27. Juan Cole, Professor, LSA/History
  28. Manan Desai, Associate Professor, LSA/American Culture
  29. Julie Boland, Professor, LSA/Psychology
  30. Savithry Namboodiripad, Assistant Professor, LSA/Linguistics
  31. Walter Cohen, Professor Emeritus, LSA/English
  32. Xiomara Santamarina, Associate Professor, LSA/English
  33. Megan Holmes, Professor Emerita, LSA/History of Art
  34. John Cheney-Lippold, Associate Professor, LSA/American Culture
  35. Gretchen Keppel-Aleks, Associate Professor, Engineering/CLaSP
  36. Lisa Wexler, Professor of Social Work
  37. Lucy Hartley, Professor, LSA/English
  38. Gillian C. White, Associate Professor, LSA/ English
  39. Roi Livne, Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Sociology
  40. Kentaro Toyama, W. K. Kellogg Professor of Community Information, School of Information
  41. Talia Moore, Assistant Professor, CoE/Robotics
  42. Robin Edelstein. Professor, LSA/Psychology
  43. Jerry Davis, Professor, Ross School
  44. Aida Levy-Hussen, Associate Professor, LSA/English
  45. Charlotte Karem Albrecht, Associate Professor, LSA/American Culture and Women’s and Gender Studies
  46. Tyler G. James, Assistant Professor, Medical School/Family Medicine
  47. Amy Hughes, Professor, SMTD/Theatre & Drama
  48. Catherine Brown Comparative Literature and Residential College
  49. Basit Zafar, Professor, LSA/Economics
  50. Rebekah Modrak, Professor, Stamps School of Art & Design
  51. Valerie Traub, Distinguished Professor Emerita, LSA/English
  52. Erin Flynn, Associate Professor, School of Education
  53. Germine Awad, Professor, LSA/Psychology
  54. Sean D. Johnson, Assistant Professor, LSA/Astronomy
  55. Jon Zelner, Associate Professor, SPH/Epidemiology
  56. Natasha Abner, Associate Professor, LSA/Linguistics
  57. James S. House Angus Campbell Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Survey Research, Public Policy, and Sociology
  58. Tonya Kneff-Chang, Research Fellow, Marsal School of Education
  59. Jenan Kharbush, Assistant Professor, LSA/Earth and Environmental Sciences
  60. Elizabeth F.S. Roberts, Professor, LSA/Anthropology
  61. Erika Davis, Lecturer, School of Education/Ed Studies
  62. Alan Wald, H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus, LSA/English
  63. Peter Railton, Kavka Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy
  64. Howard Stein, Professor, DAAS/Epidemiology
  65. Bradley Iott, Assistant Professor, Medical School, Internal Medicine
  66. Jaclynn Hawkins Associate Professor School of Social Work
  67. Joshua Cole, Professor, LSA/History
  68. Webb Keane, G.H. Mead Distinguished University Professor, LSA/Anthropology
  69. Scott L. Greer, Professor, Health Management and Policy, SPH
  70. Elizabeth Wingrove, Professor, LSA/Political Science
  71. Holly Jarman, Associate Professor, School of Public Health
  72. Kathryn Babayan Professor, LSA/History & Middle East Studies
  73. Sam Erman, Professor, Law School
  74. John Carson, Associate Professor, LSA/History
  75. Daniel Andrew Birchok, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UM-Flint
  76. Stephen Ward, Associate Professor, LSA/DAAS and Residential College
  77. Michael Thouless, CoE/ME
  78. Rogério Meireles Pinto, University Diversity Social Transformation Professor; Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Collegiate Professor of Social Work; Professor of Theatre and Drama, School of Music, Theatre & Dance
  79. Linda Gregerson, Distinguished University Professor, LSA/English
  80. Yeidy M. Rivero, Professor, Department of Film, Television, and Media
  81. Geoff Eley, Professor, LSA/History, emeritus
  82. David Caron, Professor, LSA/RLL French
  83. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Professor, LSA/American Culture and Romance Languages and Literatures
  84. Sophia Mo, Assistant Professor, LSA/RLL
  85. George Hoffmann, Professor, LSA/RLL
  86. Adi Saleem, Assistant Professor, LSA/Romance Languages and Literatures, Judaic Studies
  87. Yopie Prins, Irene Butter Collegiate Professor of English and Comparative Literature (LSA)
  88. Fred Feinberg, Handleman Professor of Management and Professor of Statistics
  89. Jessie DeGrado, Assistant Professor, LSA/Middle East Studies
  90. Kathryn Maguire-Jack, Associate Professor, Social Work
  91. Gavin Arnall, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
  92. Leah Litman, Professor, Law School
  93. Valerie Kivelson, Professor, LSA/History
  94. Mahdi Cheraghchi, Associate Professor, CoE/EECS
  95. Margo Schlanger, Wade H. and Dores M. McCree Collegiate Professor of Law
  96. Timothy Hofer, Professor, Medical School
  97. Sarah Krein, Professor, Medical School/Internal Medicine
  98. Kate Jenckes, Professor, LSA/ Romance Languages and Literatures
  99. Anna Kirkland, Professor, LSA/Women’s and Gender Studies
  100. Angela Calabrese Barton, Professor, Educational Studies/Education

We include the first 100 signatures; for the full list see here. If you wish to sign the letter, use this link. Please use your umich login. Signatures will be updated daily.