2 of 2. See 1.
One of the most disturbing bits about President Trump’s rapid destaffing and defunding of federal agencies and programs is the silence.
What about cable news channels and social media, they won’t shut up about it, you ask. What about the growing street protests and overflowing town hall meetings, whether Republican leaders show up or not?
True, dat.
Among closer family, friends and neighbors, especially when their politics approach ours, no matter how left, right or Trumpian (which only is marketed as conservative), the freer all are to speak their expectations.
Then there’s the work place: The closer the federal cuts are to us, the tighter our throats get. Crickets, in short.
UA-Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965, the school’s labor union that advocates for all the Fayetteville campus’s faculty, staff and graduate assistants, is admittedly quiet now. But we are weighing acts that actually do some concrete good. We’re also waiting for some kind of inciting incident. None quite has happened yet.
In February we learned that federal funds for UA research likely would be impacted. Most of us know that if money is drained from one segment, other funds could be shifted to to fill it. Those moneys might be directly pertinent to us.
Administrators at our UA and nationwide began responding to the now infamous Letter to Colleagues (PDF) from a new official at the federal Department of Education. The letter redefines what is meant by “the nondiscrimination obligations of schools and other entities that receive federal financial assistance,” specifically student financial aid.
In mid-March, our U of A was accused of being one of 45 public and private universities in “partnering with a program to promote diversity in business school faculties.” This was reported locally in “Federal Officials Investigating University of Arkansas for Ties to Diversity-promoting Nonprofit.” (with alternate link).
Where I hear crickets — an ominous silence — and strongly suspect others do as well, is the lack of objection from our superiors on campus or UA System offices. When our particular work areas are hit by the new federal regs, we get our orders with no opinion, no apology, no shrug: “This is the new approach, and this is what we need you to do.”
University executives surely cannot favor this turn of events any more than we do. Even should they support these notions, they can’t favor their recklessness.
No one dares say anything, except perhaps among their own level under a Get Smart Cone of Silence. Crickets.
This is where Resistance might have an impact: After cautious weighing of risks, speak out at work, with tact.
We don’t want to harm the University or our work areas, and certainly at this point in spring 2025 with recession looming (which Trump calls a “period of transition“) not risk our jobs.
In the coming weeks or months, the time will seem right to quietly state to those below, alongside or above something like, “I don’t agree with this, but I recognize this is my job to do at this time.”
If the phrasing, tone and timing are right, that could help get a ball rolling for discussion, for action.
As these policies’ impact worsens, the dare to risk will rise. It won’t be long before the nights are so warm the cricket chirps are deafening, and frogs and cicadas join in.
This column was first published as an Editor’s Note column by UA-Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965 Vice President Ben Pollock in the March 2025 newsletter of UA-Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965.
© 2025 Ben S. Pollock Jr.
