A Framework for Academic Collective Action in Defense of Democracy
January 2026
The 2026 midterm elections are the decisive moment for American democracy. An opposition Congress would have subpoena power, the ability to investigate, and the capacity to restrain executive action. The administration knows this. The Brennan Center has documented an unprecedented campaign to undermine the election: gutting election security infrastructure, installing election deniers in key positions, demanding voter data from states, and targeting mail-in voting. Election officials are already gaming out scenarios involving federal agents at polling places, emergency declarations, and post-election certification interference.
If the administration successfully interferes with the election and faces no consequences, or if it loses but refuses to accept the results, the constitutional order is over.
The research on how authoritarian consolidation is stopped points to sustained mass mobilization. Political scientist Erica Chenoweth found that no government in her dataset withstood a sustained challenge from 3.5% of its population — roughly 11 million Americans. But this is not 11 million people attending a single march. It is 11 million people maintaining continuous, organized pressure over weeks and months.
Most Americans cannot do this. They have jobs they cannot leave, childcare they cannot abandon, rent they cannot miss. They cannot risk being fired or evicted. The Women’s March in 2017 brought out 4 to 5 million on a single day, and then most went home. Weekend protests do not stop authoritarian consolidation.
This document proposes that universities commit, now and publicly, to the following: If the 2026 midterm elections are stolen, cancel the Winter 2027 semester and mobilize students and faculty to restore constitutional democracy.
This is not a prediction that the election will be stolen. It is a pre-commitment — a decision made now, announced publicly, so that everyone, including the administration, knows the consequences of election subversion before it happens.
Students and tenured faculty are among the few populations in America who can sustain weeks of mobilization without losing their livelihoods. A cancelled semester frees millions of people for civic engagement precisely when it matters most. Students come from across the country; a cancelled semester at a university in Massachusetts frees students who can return to swing states, red states, and their home communities. This is national reach that no single local organization has.
The economic impact is also significant. Tuition payments pause. Campus spending stops. Local economies that depend on universities feel it. Research partnerships are disrupted. The signal is unmistakable: this is a constitutional crisis, and normal life cannot continue until it is resolved.
This commitment only works if multiple institutions make it together. A single university acting alone faces enormous pressure; fifty universities acting in concert create an unmistakable national response.
The rest of this document provides a framework: what triggers the commitment, who decides, what students and faculty do during the mobilization, and how to build the coalition of committed institutions.
A pre-commitment requires a clear trigger. Vague language enables rationalization and delay. The commitment should specify conditions that, if met, automatically activate the response.
Proposed triggers (any one sufficient):
Certification refusal. State officials refuse to certify election results in any state where a Democrat has won a federal race, and courts have ordered certification.
Congressional seating blocked. The incoming Congress is physically prevented from convening or swearing in members, whether by federal troops, arrest of members-elect, or closure of the Capitol.
Court orders openly defied. Federal courts issue orders regarding election results or congressional seating, and the executive branch publicly refuses to comply.
State election authority usurped. Federal agents seize voting machines, ballots, or election records over the objection of state officials, or federal troops are deployed to polling places or counting facilities.
These triggers are designed to be unambiguous. Reasonable people can disagree about whether a particular election outcome was fair. Reasonable people cannot disagree about whether the Capitol has been closed or whether a court order has been defied.
The trigger conditions are objective, but someone must make the formal determination that they have been met. Options:
Option A: A named council. A designated group of constitutional scholars, former judges, or election law experts reviews the facts and issues a public determination. Universities that have signed the commitment agree to follow the council’s determination.
Option B: Institutional discretion with coordination. Each university president makes their own determination, but a coordinating body (e.g., a subset of AAU presidents) facilitates rapid communication so that decisions are made in concert, not isolation.
Option C: Automatic trigger. The commitment specifies that if major news organizations (e.g., AP, Reuters, and two of NYT/WSJ/WaPo) report that a trigger condition has been met, the commitment activates automatically.
Option A provides legitimacy and clarity. Option B provides flexibility but risks fragmentation. Option C provides speed but outsources judgment. A hybrid is possible.
Cancelling a semester is not an end in itself. It is a means of freeing people for mobilization. The commitment should include a framework for what students and faculty do:
Organized deployment. Students and faculty are not simply released; they are connected to mobilization infrastructure. Partner organizations (Indivisible chapters, election protection networks, state-level democracy coalitions) receive an influx of trained, available volunteers.
Geographic distribution. Students come from across the country. A cancelled semester at a university in Massachusetts frees students who can return to swing states, red states, and their home communities. This is national reach that no single local organization has.
Specific roles. Election protection monitoring. Nonviolent direct action. Logistical support for ongoing protests. Legal observation. Communications and documentation. Care work (food, medical, childcare for those on the front lines). The mobilization should be structured, not chaotic.
Continued learning. Universities can offer emergency courses on constitutional law, nonviolent resistance, and democratic theory — taught wherever students are, online or in person. The semester is “cancelled” in the sense that normal operations pause, but education continues in service of the moment.
This commitment only works if multiple institutions make it together. A single university that cancels its semester faces enormous pressure; fifty universities acting in concert create an unmistakable national response.
Phase 1: Seed commitments. A small group of institutions — ideally including both elite privates and public flagships — announce the commitment together. This nucleus provides cover for others.
Who might go first?
Phase 2: Expansion. Once the nucleus exists, other institutions can join. Faculty senates can pass resolutions calling on their administrations to sign on. Students can organize pressure campaigns. The commitment becomes a litmus test for institutional seriousness about democratic defense.
Phase 3: Coordination infrastructure. Committed institutions establish communication channels, shared planning, and relationships with mobilization organizations. The commitment is not just a pledge but a network.
“This is too extreme.”
Cancelling a semester is extreme. So is the suspension of constitutional democracy. The question is whether the response is proportionate to the threat. If the 2026 election is stolen and universities continue normal operations, they are normalizing the end of democratic governance.
“Students need to graduate. This harms them.”
A delayed semester delays graduation by months. The end of constitutional democracy forecloses the future entirely. Students understand this tradeoff. Many will welcome the opportunity to act rather than watch.
“This is political. Universities should be neutral.”
Defending the constitutional order is not partisan. It is the precondition for the academic freedom that universities depend on. Neutrality in the face of democratic collapse is not neutrality; it is complicity.
“The administration will retaliate.”
Retaliation is likely regardless. Universities that remain silent will not be spared; they will simply be picked off one by one. Collective action provides protection that isolated compliance does not.
“What if the triggers are met but the situation is ambiguous?”
The triggers are designed to be unambiguous. If certification is refused, it is refused. If Congress is prevented from seating, it is prevented. The point of pre-commitment is to remove the temptation to rationalize inaction in the moment.
Raise the question in your faculty senate. Introduce a resolution asking: What is this university prepared to do if constitutional democracy is suspended? Even if the resolution fails, the conversation matters.
Organize within your department. A statement from a department or school carries weight. Collective faculty voice creates pressure on administration.
Connect with peer institutions. Talk to colleagues at other universities. Build informal networks that can become formal coordination.
Prepare your own commitment. Even if your institution does not act collectively, you can commit personally to redirecting your own time and resources. Faculty who cancel their own classes and join mobilization efforts create facts on the ground.
Organize on your campus. Build a coalition calling on your administration to make the commitment. Student government resolutions, open letters, and public pressure matter.
Connect to mobilization infrastructure. Join Indivisible, election protection networks, or local organizing groups now. Build the skills and relationships that will matter if the moment comes.
Talk to your families. Many students come from swing states and conservative communities. The conversations you have now prepare the ground for what may be needed later.
Understand the stakes. This is not about a policy disagreement. It is about whether constitutional democracy survives. Your education depends on a functioning society; defending that society is not a distraction from your education.
Begin the conversation. Raise the question with your board, your peer presidents, and your campus. The commitment cannot be made overnight; it requires deliberation. Start now.
Assess your institution’s position. What is your financial cushion? What are your dependencies on federal funding? What is your board’s risk tolerance? Understanding constraints enables realistic planning.
Build relationships with peer institutions. You cannot act alone. Identify other presidents who might be willing to commit. Establish communication channels for rapid coordination.
Connect with mobilization organizations. If the commitment activates, students and faculty need somewhere to go. Build relationships with organizations that can absorb and deploy them.
Universities face a choice. They can wait, hope the worst does not happen, and respond ad hoc if it does. Or they can commit now, publicly, to a specific response — creating deterrence before the fact and coordination capacity if deterrence fails.
The Winter 2027 commitment is not a prediction that the election will be stolen. It is a statement that if it is, universities will not stand by. That statement, made credibly and collectively, is itself a form of democratic defense.
The question is whether university leaders have the courage to make it.
This framework needs refinement. If you have expertise in constitutional law, crisis coordination, or university governance, your input would strengthen it. Pull requests welcome on GitHub.
This document is part of Poets, Nurses, and Programmers. See also: The Convening Role of Universities.