The University of Texas at Austin issued a firm statement affirming academic freedom as “non‑negotiable,” a response cultivated in part to the White House’s proposed higher‑education compact and recent political pressures on campuses. Faculty member Zachary Elkins and a campus working group framed the declaration as a protective measure for faculty speech and curricular autonomy. Meanwhile, the American Association of University Professors, American Federation of Teachers and allied student groups announced coordinated protests in more than 50 cities to oppose the Trump administration’s higher‑education agenda and to urge institutions to reject the federal compact. Organizers framed the actions as calls to defend faculty governance, research independence and free expression on campus. The twin developments show crystallizing fault lines: universities attempting to assert local governance and academic norms even as federal proposals and political debate press institutions to clarify their stances on curriculum, speech and external oversight.