Joint Statement on Executive Order to Dismantle Department of Education

Today, ACLS has issued the following statement with The Phi Beta Kappa Society on the March 20, 2025, executive order to close the US Department of Education:

In this moment of turbulent policy change, The Phi Beta Kappa Society and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) remain steadfast and nonpartisan voices championing education in the liberal arts and sciences as essential public good. For nearly half a century, the Department of Education has been critical in ensuring robust funding for colleges and universities nationwide and safeguarding student financial aid necessary to access colleges and universities. Dismantling of the Department of Education will result in catastrophic implications for students, faculty, communities, and the nation.

The Phi Beta Kappa Society and ACLS urge the administration to rescind the Executive Order calling for the dismantling of the Department of Education. For up-to-date information on ways our members can take action, visit https://toolkit.pbk.org/resources/ or https://www.acls.org/what-we-do/advocacy/.

The following ACLS member societies and institutions have affirmed their support for this statement:

American Association for Italian Studies
American Association of Geographers
American Folklore Society
American Historical Association
American Musicological Society
American Philosophical Association
American Political Science Association
American Society for Environmental History
American Society for Theatre Research
American Society of Overseas Research
American Sociological Association
Association for Asian Studies
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
College Art Association
German Studies Association
Linguistic Society of America
Modern Language Association
National Council on Public History
North American Conference on British Studies
North American Victorian Studies Association
Organization of American Historians
Renaissance Society of America
Rhetoric Society of America
Society for Cinema and Media Studies
Society of Biblical Literature