‘Our students should be exposed to ideas that are difficult,’ UMich regent says

Presented by

TEACHABLE MOMENT — University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker is a former White House official who likes to note he’s the first person on his institution’s board to have graduated in the 21st century.

— That gives Acker something of a unique perspective into the biggest ongoing storyline in higher education. Commencement season is in full swing. Arrests and protests on college campuses continue to be a common sight across the country as the turbulent spring semester ends. Don’t forget President Joe Biden will also deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College this coming weekend.

— So how do universities navigate this moment? Your host caught up with Acker earlier this month to discuss his hopes for Michigan’s response, demonstrators’ calls for the school to divest from Israel, and the road ahead. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You think Michigan was less prepared for the divisiveness of campus protests in the wake of the war. Why do you think that is?

A big push at schools like Michigan has been towards this idea that we should center the feelings of students and make sure students feel not just physically safe — but frankly, in a lot of ways, intellectually safe. In this situation, maybe for the first time ever, we have students on both sides with very strong views who believe that one side is trying to eliminate the other one. That can really come back to bite an institution. Now you have communities that are wondering, especially the Jewish community, where the inclusiveness is, and ultimately finding that centering student feelings is not an intellectually productive center for our campuses. Our students should be exposed to ideas that are difficult and challenging without them feeling that they’re physically unsafe.

Campus protesters at Michigan have adamant demands for divestment. Tell me your perspective on whether that is a real possibility in regents’ minds.

It’s not. We have been clear in print. We’ve been clear in our meetings. Divestment is not something any one of us is considering. We all have our different reasons. For me, I’m a diehard, dedicated two-state solution guy. I want to see a Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel. And I can’t see a situation where divesting from Israel gets us closer to that solution. It’s not really a negotiable one for me. But that’s not really the point. The point is that we have to use this moment, as difficult as it is and as painful as these conversations can be, as a teachable moment for our students. You want to continue to have conversations as much as possible before you get to a point where things become intractable. Unfortunately, I think things have become intractable at some campuses.

Absent some kind of resolution to the war, we’re going to be revisiting this in the fall. How does an institution prepare for the teachable moment?

It’s important, whenever you’re dealing with these generally, that you set out clear goals and expectations. Michigan traditionally has had among the most freewheeling, let’s just say, expectations. And in an era where you have more student-versus-student conflicts of ideas, we need to set those expectations even better. My expectation is that we’ll make sure that we’re protecting expression and protecting academic freedom — while also setting clear guidelines to make sure that we don’t have any violent incidents or any sort of physical conflict in the fall, and continuing to create a place that has fierce and sometimes emotional intellectual conflict. That’s what the university is for, and that’s what I hope that we’ll continue to do come fall.

IT’S MONDAY, MAY 13. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. Democrats are championing efforts to restore abortion access in red and purple states. But local organizers and national advocates fear the party’s candidates, in promoting abortion-rights referendums that may boost their electoral prospects, could inadvertently doom the initiatives.

Reach out with tips to today’s host at [email protected] and also my colleagues Bianca Quilantan ([email protected]) and Mackenzie Wilkes ([email protected]).

THE FAFSA ROLLOUT

CRUNCH TIME — It is no secret that the number of completed federal student aid applications is trending far below normal amid a chaotic college admissions season. Now the Education Department is tapping a student loan guaranty agency to oversee up to $50 million in grants for organizations that can boost flagging FAFSA submissions — and quickly.

— The department’s latest move has sparked a busy set of days for the Educational Credit Management Corporation, the guarantor known as ECMC. As of Friday, not even a week after the department announced the application support plan, ECMC President Chad Tate told Weekly Education it had heard from roughly 260 organizations.

— “The organizations that have reached into us are actively, right now, providing their project plans and goals and their funding requests,” Tate said Friday. “We anticipate, in the next ten days, that we would begin dispersing funds based on those organizations that are vetted and approved.”

— The biggest push will be over the next 60 days. Officials said the department is particularly focused on helping students and families complete FAFSAs before the end of this school year and prior to the beginning of the coming school year.

— “Because the high school year is ending, much of this work will likely focus on social media, town hall events or organizations that can hold events to support FAFSA completion,” Tate said. “Or organizations that have just direct relationships with students where they can work through the FAFSA completion.”

— There are two ways to apply. First, Tate said the Education Department identified national organizations it wanted to work with — including the YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the National Parents Union and the United Way. Interested organizations can also reach out to ECMC (via email at [email protected]) to request more information or funding for specific projects.

— “The ideal state is to broadly impact all students,” Tate said, “with a focus on first-time students and under-resourced students.”

Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.

IN THE STATES

CANCELED — An institute at the University of California, Berkeley withdrew invitations for a tentative Senate race debate between Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and GOP rival Steve Garvey, citing safety concerns.

Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies — which had initially reached out to the candidates in March about a possible debate on campus some time in the fall — backed off that proposal last week, POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago and Melanie Mason report.

— Eric Schickler, the institute’s co-director, told POLITICO the center — a relatively small research program in one of the University of California system’s largest schools — abandoned its initial plans after finding the cost of security to be prohibitively high.

— The cancellation signals that the war in Gaza could continue to drive unrest on college campuses following the summer break.

ICYMI — Florida A&M University is putting an announced $237 million donation from a Texas hemp farming executive “on hold,” as the media and school leaders raise questions about the value and source of the gift.

— The purported windfall donation to FAMU came from Batterson Farms Corp’s Gregory Gerami and the Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust and would’ve almost tripled the school’s endowment. But after the announcement was made, skepticism quickly quelled the celebration, POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury reports.

— Batterson Farms appears to be a relatively small outfit based in Texas selling hydroponic hemp farm products, leading some to question how its stocks could be worth millions. The doubts have been heightened by reports about Gerami’s past dealings, including a $95 million donation to Coastal Carolina University in 2020 that was terminated by school officials.

— School officials said the gift, which according to an agreement released by the school came in the form of millions of shares of stock, has already been transferred to FAMU, so it’s unclear exactly how the university will move forward.

First Look

— The prevalence of school police departments has more than doubled over the past two decades to a point where school district police departments account for nearly 20 percent of all sworn school resource officers in the country, according to a new report from the Advancement Project civil rights group that opposes the use of police in school buildings. The report offers what the Advancement Project describes as the first-ever compilation of more than 400 school district police departments across the country.

Syllabus

— The long, steep fall of an online education giant: The Wall Street Journal

— Senate starts hotlines for kids online safety, privacy bills: POLITICO Pro

— The anatomy of a university’s encampment negotiation: The Chronicle of Higher Education

— A school board in Virginia votes to restore Confederate names to 2 schools: The Associated Press

— A FAFSA fiasco has students still asking: Which college can they afford? The New York Times