Several University professors and organizations have responded to Tuesday’s presidential election of Donald Trump.
In a Financial Times article, Douglas Skinner, dean of the Booth School of Business, is reported to be unsettled by the prospect of immigration control, but he is “cautiously optimistic” about Trump’s presidency. Skinner suggested that in the unlikely chance that job opportunities decrease and the economy suffers, the domestic demand for M.B.A.s will increase.
Law School professor Eric Posner published an op-ed in The New York Times, in which he discussed the “immense but not unlimited power” that Trump will hold with the Republican House and Senate majorities. However, Posner also identified a few barriers the Trump administration will face, such as possible filibusters in the Senate, Obama-appointed judges in federal courts, federal bureaucracy, and the media.
Geoffrey R. Stone, a Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the Law School, discussed the election and the future of constitutional law in a Huffington Post article. Stone wrote that he is not looking forward to a conservative Supreme Court if any of the older justices vacate their seats.
Beyond University professors, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress labor union responded to the election in a public statement published on Wednesday. The statement noted Trump’s unpopularity among college and university faculty members and criticized his divisive rhetoric that jeopardizes the safe exchange of ideas.
The statement reads, “Many no doubt fear that his election threatens some of the core institutions of our democracy and may be the greatest threat to academic freedom since the McCarthy period.”
AAUP pledged its efforts to oppose privatization of public higher education, discrimination and silencing in the educational environment, attacks on labor unions and faculty economic security, and the infringement of academic freedom.
In addition, some professors have granted students assignment extensions and postponement of midterms in the week following Trump’s election, as seen on an Overheard at UChicago thread on Facebook.
