Op-ed: With higher education under attack, student governance matters now more than ever

I’m just three weeks into my term as UNC’s student body president. Already, I’ve realized something that every elected student leader must come to understand: we don’t get to choose the moment we lead in, but we do get to decide how we show up in it.

Higher education is under attack — caught in a political crossfire over who colleges are for, what we’re allowed to learn and who gets to belong. At UNC, these pressures are quickly and uncomfortably becoming our reality.

Earlier this month, six international students had their visas revoked by the federal government without explanation. The UNC System has suspended general education and major-specific DEI requirements in compliance with an executive order. And the University is preparing to cut $50 million from its budget, a 4 percent reduction that may jeopardize essential campus services.

These aren’t isolated events. They are part of a broader effort to redefine and dismantle the very mission of higher education in America.

A study from this year’s Yale Higher Education Leadership Summit found that 94 percent of surveyed university presidents believe the federal government is waging a war against higher education.

That should alarm us all, and it should move student leaders to act.

From public flagships and HBCUs to private institutions and community colleges, elected student leaders have a job to do. We must guide our campus communities through political and financial uncertainty, and we must defend higher education when it’s being redefined without us.

Our peers often ask us, "What can you even do?"

It’s a fair question. Most of us don’t vote on boards or set policy. We don’t write budgets or pass laws.

But we do have platforms. And the power of those platforms depends on how we choose to use them. We may not control the system, but we can challenge it and give our peers something they don’t always have: hope.

To every elected student leader, if you said you would fight for students, now is the time to follow through. Our roles alone don’t lead to change — our choices do. That doesn’t mean we have to have all the answers. It means we have to show up anyway.

Yes, we’re students first. And yes, this work can feel overwhelming, especially when the stakes are this high. But you don’t have to carry it alone. Lean on the people you represent. They’re not just paying attention to what you do. They’re ready to back you when you show up for them.

Never forget why we’re here: to advocate for those who don’t always have a platform. We have to keep our office doors open. We have to make ourselves visible and available. Our peers need to know someone is walking into rooms, asking hard questions, challenging quiet decisions and refusing to let student voices be forgotten.

The war on higher education is real, and the people we serve are rooting for us. Let’s be courageous enough to show up and stand up for them.

— Adolfo Alvarez, 2025-26 student body president and ex-officio Trustee at UNC