The breadth, depth, and pace of changes instigated by the Trump administration has been overwhelming by any standard. Some of the policy reversals brought on by recent Executive Orders are already impacting the higher education landscape and being felt by NIRSA members alongside the communities we all serve. Amid this backdrop, we wanted to take a moment to connect with you, our NIRSA community.
In 75 years of NIRSA history, we’ve overcome challenges and prospered through opportunities. Through it all, the organization’s strength is always its community of members. In times of challenge and of opportunity, we all benefit when we lean-in to our community, when we pull together. We don’t shy away or disengage. We show up for each other, and lean on the relationships, collective brilliance, and radical support found in NIRSA. Collectively, we’ve expressed our Shared Expectations for Belonging that we want to guide our actions and interactions. If you’ve been a member for a while, you’ve likely experienced the generosity and power of the NIRSA community. If you are a newer member, we want to be explicit about how this community comes together in times of uncertainty.
If you are able, we invite and encourage members—new and old—to leverage NIRSA spaces for connection: caucuses, virtual roundtables, NIRSA Connect, and in-person events like the recent NIRSA Student Lead On and the upcoming Emerging Recreational Sports Leaders Conference and the 2025 NIRSA Conference. We encourage you to be active in your personal professional networks within and across NIRSA. These formal and informal spaces are vital for support, at a personal level and professional level, as you navigate the considerations and impact for your students and campus community.
NIRSA continues to offer members the benefit of regular updates related to federal and state legislation, helping leaders to track changes that have the potential to impact your campus. We recently launched a discussion thread and resource in the NIRSA Connect Community to track how National Sport Governing Bodies are changing or not changing their participation eligibility policies for transgender athletes. And an Ideas in Motion discussion around “Executive Orders and Impacts on Sports Participation” has been scheduled to take place on Monday, March 3, at 12:00pm Eastern/9:00am Pacific—this conversation is free to all NIRSA members.
NIRSA’s membership is diverse, so reactions to changing policies and actions are also sure to match. As a community of professionals, we are grounded by our values and guided by the needs of members who are serving millions of students on campuses across North America. We will keep building communities where diversity is celebrated, equity is promoted, and all can feel included.
