Chancellor Javier Reyes sent the following message to the campus community on March 5, 2025
 

Dear members of the UMass community: 

As we grapple with the rapidly shifting federal landscape, I want to assure you that UMass Amherst remains fully and unequivocally committed to fostering a campus community of dignity, equity, and inclusion where the rights of our students, staff and faculty are respected, and the rich diversity of our community is warmly embraced. As we always have and always will, we stand for free speech, open inquiry, academic freedom, and, along with our governor and attorney general, equal access to the opportunities of higher education.

No matter what you have heard from Washington, no matter where you call home, no matter how you identify, no matter who you are, you belong here. 

Under the new federal administration, our campus and our partners across higher education face the prospect of unprecedented disruption. The executive orders and proposed changes to federal policies and funding streams coming out of Washington are challenging to keep up with and, often, difficult to interpret. I encourage each of you to regularly consult our Federal Actions page where the latest information and guidance is available.

Despite all that has come out of Washington in the past several weeks, to date, no new laws have been enacted related to the operations of the university. UMass operates within the bounds set by the laws of our Commonwealth and nation and will continue to do so. As Governor Healey and Attorney General Campbell recently affirmed, “Longstanding legal precedent has established that educational institutions may take steps to build student bodies that are meaningfully diverse across numerous dimensions, like geography, socioeconomic status, race, and sexual orientation and gender identity, among others.” We have and will continue to take those steps so long as the law permits. 

Our campus administration is working closely with the UMass President’s Office, our General Counsel, and partners on Beacon Hill and Washington to ensure that the vital work we do in teaching, research, scholarship, and engagement persists. As part of this work, we are assessing the potential fiscal impact of the administration’s changes and reviewing mitigation strategies. 

While our comprehensive efforts on behalf of our university’s critical mission may remain largely out of sight, teams across the university and campus system meet daily to review updates and provide guidance. Updates are shared, often multiple times a day, on the UMass Amherst Federal Actions Page. As we undertake this careful and deliberative work, in the coming days, that page will offer an opt-in to receive emailed updates as soon as new information is available. 

Because of our tight-knit community and the supports that we offer, there is no better place to be than UMass as we face and respond to this uncertainty. There are links to resources on the Federal Actions page, and I encourage you to take advantage of these resources as needed. I encourage you, more than anything else, to take care of yourself. Take care of and find community in each other. My administration and I are here. The UMass system is here. The governor and attorney general are here. And we're here for you. 

Sincerely,
Javier A. Reyes
Chancellor