Groups urge US colleges to end campus surveillance to protect protesters

Source: ABC News/AP

August 21, 2025, 3:05 PM


NEW YORK -- A coalition of more than 30 privacy and civil rights groups called on U.S. universities Thursday to dismantle campus surveillance and data collection, to protect student protesters and others from government retaliation.

The demands, issued in a letter sent to leaders of 60 major universities and colleges, come as President Donald Trump has pressed schools to crack down on alleged antisemitism and take a harder line on demonstrations.

But the groups said it is essential that universities resist that pressure, including threats to millions of dollars in federal research grants, to preserve the academic freedom and rights to expression of their students, faculty and others.

“We are open-eyed to the financial pressure that all campuses are under,” said Golnaz Fakhimi, legal director for Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group that has counseled students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests and which joined in signing the letter. “But we think this is the moment for all campuses to hunker down” and hold the line against government interference.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/privacy-civil-rights-groups-urge-us-colleges-end-124858085