U. of I.'s new chancellor on Trump's moves

Politico

10-06-2025

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Good Tuesday morning, Illinois. It feels like the calm before the storm.
TOP TALKER
PLAYBOOK Q&A: Charles Isbell Jr., who was approved Monday as the next chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and vice president of the University of Illinois System, comes into the position at a critical time for higher education.
The Trump administration has zeroed in on American universities, threatening to cut federal funding and prevent international students from enrolling.
While concerning, Isbell, who has been the provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the tensions should not come as a surprise. 'We were increasingly seeing less and less support from politicians and from the government and even from industry over the last decade or so. So, this is an acceleration of where we were headed,' Isbell said in an interview with POLITICO after his approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees. 'This is not a thing that just started in January. This is a thing that has been going back over the decades.'
The solution, he said, is to better communicate and listen to what the community at large wants from higher institutions.
'Maybe they're right,' he says of higher-ed critics. 'Maybe we aren't providing the things that they need or the things that they want. We have to listen and have that conversation with them.'
Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Are you approaching your position at U. of I. differently than you might have a year ago, before the Trump administration made universities such a focal point?
'We are at a critical time, but I do think it's worth stepping back a little bit and realizing that higher ed has been in a crisis of one form or another for quite a long time. At least since 2015, we were losing the support and faith of the public. We were increasingly seeing less and less support from politicians and from the government and even from industry over the last decade or so. It's a bit urgent now, more urgent than it was perhaps a year ago, but it was something that we as an industry have always needed to think about.
'We have to communicate what it is that we do with people. We have to not start at the point of, 'Well, let's just tell them what's right, and then they'll give us money and leave us alone.' No, you have to start from the place that maybe we aren't talking to them the way that we should. Maybe they're right. Maybe we aren't providing the things that they need or the things that they want. We have to listen and have that conversation.'
What message do you give to returning or prospective international students and their families?
'We value them. We appreciate what it is that they bring, not just to the country, but what they bring to the campus, and that we will support them when they are here. That is the key message.'
U. of I. would face a financial hit if the international student population dropped, given they pay full tuition. How else could it hurt the university?
'International students are a significant part of the population of the university, both the undergraduate level and the graduate level. They are a part of this community. They bring ideas, they bring experiences, they contribute to the diversity of the university. If we lose that, we lose the diversity of the student body, we lose the diversity of our faculty and our staff, and that's clearly not good. That is clearly suboptimal for everyone.'
Do you expect to work with other universities to talk to the Trump administration about some of these concerns?
'We will continue to work with other universities. Illinois has been a part of those conversations before I got here. We will continue to be a part of those conversations.'
STEM has been a priority for you. Do you worry about its future given reverberations from Washington?
'Everyone across higher ed is concerned about potential changes that will be happening over the next year through the budget. If you think about all the great things that exist now — whether technology, all kinds of things that the United States has been in the forefront of — it has come in partnership with basic research that wasn't just looking out six months, but looking out six years and six decades. We cannot afford to lose that.
'The lesson is to know that we have not always told our story, we have not always understood how fragile the ecosystem is, and that we shouldn't ever make that mistake again.'
What was your take on the hearings with the university presidents?
'I cringed. I think at the moment, it was a surprise for everyone there. They thought they were having one conversation and they were having a different conversation, perhaps the conversation we should have been having all along, and certainly the conversation we're going to have to continue to have.'
RELATED
SIU med school dean urges resistance to Trump executive orders, by Daniel Nuccio for The College Fix
THE BUZZ
BIG MOVE: Mayor Johnson loses his chief operating officer, John Roberson, to Obama Foundation — not the CTA: Roberson is joining the Obama Foundation as executive VP for the Obama Presidential Center, which is under construction in Jackson Park. Roberson is 'the most seasoned and savvy member of Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration. … Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett knows Roberson well, having served with him in the administration of former Mayor Richard M. Daley,' writes the Sun-Times' Fran Spielman.
Roberson had been considered to head the Chicago Transit Authority, but that potential appointment drew criticism from transportation advocates.
His exit from city government leaves Johnson's administration without any old-school City Hall bureaucrats among his top advisers, by the Tribune's Alice Yin, A.D. Quig and Jake Sheridan.
If you are John Roberson, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: [e-mail]
WHERE'S JB
No official public events
WHERE's BRANDON
No official public events
Where's Toni
No official public events
Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or a (gasp!) complaint? Email [e-mail]
BUSINESS OF POLITICS
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Congresswoman Robin Kelly has been endorsed in her bid for the U.S. Senate by Congresswoman Lucy McBath, a Georgia Democrat and a native of Joliet. The two lawmakers have led efforts to support gun-safety measures and to oppose the gun lobby.
THE STATEWIDES
— Illinois joins lawsuit against U.S. over triggers that can make semiautomatic rifles fire faster: 'Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he would continue to enforce the ban on the devices through Illinois law that prohibits owning them and other devices — such as bump stocks — that can make semiautomatic rifles fire faster,' by the Sun-Times' Violet Miller.
— Gov. Pritzker prepping for House committee showdown with help from top Biden attorney Dana Remus, by the Sun-Times' Tina Sfondeles
— Judge denies Michael Madigan's motion for new trial, setting stage for high-stakes sentencing Friday, by the Tribune's Jason Meisner
— Terminally ill Lombard woman continues push for medical 'aid in dying' bill, by the Daily Herald's Alicia Fabbre
CHICAGO
— Not your grandparents' City Council: Chicago aldermen less aligned with 5th floor: 'The shift follows the demise of Chicago's infamous machine politics. It also tracks with the ascension of the aldermanic Progressive Caucus and the 'Common Sense Caucus' formed in part to oppose it, both shifting groups that bring more ideological force into debates,' by the Tribune's Jake Sheridan.
— Did Chicago cops help ICE during mass arrests? City leaders call for investigation: 'Ald. Andre Vasquez wants to investigate whether police violated the Welcoming City ordinance during an ICE operation last week. Chicago police officials said officers were on the scene to preserve public safety and did not violate the ordinance,' by the Block Club's Francia Garcia Hernandez.
— Some denounce Trump travel ban, but it's business as usual at O'Hare, by the Sun-Times' Elvia Malagón and WBEZ's Michael Puente
— Chicago cracks down on nearly 200 illegal trash pickups in first months of enforcement effort, by WTTW's Nick Blumberg
TAKING NAMES
— State Sens. Lakesia Collins and Laura Fine and state Reps. Mary Beth Canty, Terra Costa Howard and Suzanne Ness will be honored today with the Champion of Youth Award by the Illinois Collaboration on Youth during its annual member meeting in Naperville. The award is recognizing their efforts to help make liability insurance more accessible for child welfare and youth service providers. Advocate James McIntyre will also be recognized.
Reader Digest
We asked what warrants the National Guard being brought in?
Lucas Hawley: 'When the said state cannot or will not control mob acts of violence and destruction on private or public property.'
Jim Lyons: 'Jan. 6, 2021.'
Timothy Thomas: 'As U.S. law states, when it's necessary to repel invasion, suppress a rebellion or if the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.'
Steve Weiss: 'Blocking freeways, burning vehicles and assaulting police officers (LAPD et al.) is a reasonable motive for bringing in the Guard.'
NEXT QUESTION: When did politics dictate how your purchase decisions?
KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
— Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin led 12 of their Illinois delegation members in criticizing the Trump administration's cancellation of the Digital Equity Act Competitive Grants Program, which would have provided more than $23.7 million to Illinois organizations across the state to equip households with the tools needed to use high-speed internet, according to Duckworth's team. Their letter is here.
— Durbin spoke on the Senate floor Monday to criticize the budget legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Durbin called it 'a big, beautiful betrayal.' Here's the video
THE NATIONAL TAKE
— RFK Jr. to fire all members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee, by POLITICO's Sophie Gardner and Lauren Gardner
— ActBlue says GOP investigation might be a partisan violation of the Constitution, by POLITICO's Jessica Piper
— Gavin Newsom: Trump is 'unhinged,' speaking like an 'authoritarian,' by POLITICO's Melanie Mason and Christopher Cadelago
— 'A self-fulfilling prophecy': How the clash in LA could explode, by POLITICO's Katy Murphy and staff
TRANSITIONS
— Adam Collins is now chief communications officer at Reddit, the social media and news aggregation website. He was chief communications and corporate affairs officer at Molson Coors Beverage Company. Politicos know him for his work leading various political communications operations. He was communications director for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, communications director for the Chicago Police Department and press secretary for Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, among others.
— Chelsea Blink is now legislative director for Rep. Lauren Underwood. She was director of farm animal legislation at the ASPCA.
— David Shapiro has been named executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center, a civil rights law firm with offices in Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, Oxford and D.C. He starts Aug. 1. He's currently executive director of the Chicago Lawyer's Committee.
EVENTS
— Thursday: 'The Calumet River and Its Toxic Islands' is the subject of a tour. Details here
— Friday: 'The State of the Media' is the subject of a panel at the Rainbow Push 'People's Conference.' Details here
— June 17: Ald. Nicole Lee will be feted at a fundraiser. Details here
— July 10: The 47th Ward Democrats are having a fundraiser by the river. Details here
TRIVIA
MONDAY's ANSWER: Congrats to Jim Nowlan for correctly answering that the late former state Rep. Webber Borchers took on the Chief Illiniwek role when he was a University of Illinois student.
TODAY's QUESTION: Who were the two Illinoisans who served as personal secretaries to President Abraham Lincoln? Email [e-mail]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Former first kid Sasha Obama, Circuit Court Judge Dominique Ross, former state Sen. Jim Oberweis, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, Bowman Consulting's Brian McPartlin, political consultant Eli Brottman, Cook County Commission on Human Rights Chair Sufyan Sohel, AJ Capital Partners HR Manager Marissa Schanbacher, HUD nominee Ben DeMarzo and Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg
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