By Heather Fabritze
News Editor
A little over a week after President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, President of Washington College Dr. Mike Sosulski attended the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities’s 2025 Annual Meeting and Advocacy Day in Washington D.C.
From Feb. 2 to 5, educational institutions from across America gathered to discuss this year’s conference theme: “Advocacy Amidst Upheaval: Thriving in an Uncertain Political Era.” All of the participating colleges expressed similar concerns to those that have plagued WC for the past few weeks, specifically involving the executive orders coming out of the White House.
Panel discussions with government employees run on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday is lobbying day, where all the attending presidents visit Capitol Hill for scheduled meetings with U.S. senators and representatives.
In an attempt to be frugal and decrease the College’s expenses in the midst of cash flow constraints, President Sosulski only participated in the first day of the conference. He attended a panel featuring presidents from liberal arts institutions of a similar constitution to WC.
The presidents discussed how students, faculty, and staff at their colleges were handling President Trump’s executive orders on their campuses.
“We were just comparing notes about how we’re thinking about complying in a way that doesn’t compromise our values,” President Sosulski said.
Retired president of Macalester College Brian Rosenberg, who was in his position for 17 years, gave the opening keynote speech at dinner on Sunday night.
Located in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, Macalaster is a liberal arts college well-known in higher education for the large monetary gift it received in the 90s from an alum. According to President Sosulski, the donation transformed Macalaster from an unknown, regional school to an institution with a $1 billion endowment.
Rosenberg’s speech addressed the challenges that presidents and cabinets face in the midst of tumultuous national political environments. During the keynote, President Sosulski said that Rosenberg made a bold statement: “I wish college presidents would stand up and defy President Trump and make a bigger noise.”
Rosenberg was specifically referencing the White House’s recent executive orders that are forcing restrictions on higher education institutions. If schools do not comply, the government has threatened to pull their federal funding, which largely supports students’ financial aid.
This looming danger limits the amount of leeway a smaller college like WC can operate within.
“As much as I would like to stand up and plant the flag of liberty and say, ‘Guess what, we’re going to continue everything that we’re doing and you can’t do anything,’ the fact is they would love to make an example of a liberal arts college,” President Sosulski said. “Say, ‘Guess what, no more guaranteed student loan funding for you guys.’”
After the Department of Education released a “Dear Colleague” letter doubling down on their claim that funding will be pulled if institutions do not remove all DEI-related programs and roles, WC’s administration restated their commitment to inclusivity, according to prior Elm coverage.
However, on Feb. 28, President Sosulski sent a campus wide email announcing that the College would be unpublishing websites related to DEI, including the institution’s diversity statement, due to a lack of national legal action against the letter.
The end of the email assured students that this decision does not change WC’s values regarding inclusivity and its protection of students.
“We’re not trying to comply in advance, we’re not trying to be cowardly,” President Sosulski said. “What we’re trying to do is take a wait-and-see approach, a lot of us in higher ed. Let’s just see how this plays out.”
Sharing notes on ways to address this problem was a major point at the heart of the conference. Although President Sosulski gained little concrete recommendations for how to move forward, the convening proved that WC is not the only institution with the same concerns.
“It was consoling because everyone is just as helpless and bewildered,” President Sosulski said. “How do we manage this? How do we reassure people on campus that they’re going to be okay and that everything is going to be fine? But at the same time, don’t make yourself a target for enforcement.”