The May 7, 2026, ruling that protected National Endowment for the Humanities grants from unconstitutional termination marked a rare win for academia, yet the underlying instability remains. ACLS President Joy Connolly argues that the traditional competitive model of higher education—which prioritizes individual institutional wins—is ill-equipped to handle current political headwinds. To counter this, the council is actively organizing private funders to fill emerging gaps in research support, moving away from solitary grant-seeking toward a collaborative infrastructure.
ACLS Pivots to Collective Funding to Shield Humanities from Policy Attacks
A federal court victory against the Department of Government Efficiency has failed to quell the pressure on academic research, forcing the American Council of Learned Societies to shift strategies. By bridging the gap between private donors and scholarly institutions, the organization is attempting to replace volatile federal funding with a unified, cross-institutional defense.
This shift in strategy is already visible in recent partnerships with the New York Public Library, which brought together two dozen fellows, administrators, and funders to standardize collaborative research practices. Simultaneously, the council is challenging administrative restrictions on international exchange. Despite visa revocations affecting Chinese students, ACLS directed more than $400,000 into China studies this year, asserting that scholarly inquiry must remain insulated from shifting political agendas. By reinforcing the ties between its 86 member societies, the organization aims to transform academic research from a series of siloed projects into a protected public good.
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