Federal cuts hit 11 University of Denver projects as university leaders protest policy

Over 350 college leaders around the country -- including several in Colorado -- have signed a letter condemning what they call "unprecedented government overreach and political interference" in higher education by the Trump administration.

Leaders from colleges and universities across the country signed the statement, which calls for "constructive reform and legitimate government oversight" while rejecting the "coercive use of public-research funding."

The letter comes just one day after Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the administration over its decision to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding.

University of Denver Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, Metropolitan State University of Denver President Janine Davidson, and Colorado College Interim President Manya C. Whitaker are among the signatories.

At the University of Denver alone, 11 research projects have been affected by recent cuts in federal funding, school officials said.

"There are core principles and values that we're deeply concerned are threatened, whether it's academic freedom, our ability to really explore the research that has driven so much economic prosperity in our country," Haefner told CBS News Colorado.

"Universities and colleges have to take ownership in some of the factors that have created this decline in public trust of higher education. This is what drove the letter to offer constructive engagement," he continued. "You can't have open and free inquiry unless you're dedicated to free expression, you're dedicated to diversity of perspectives, diversity of experiences, diversity of different types of people coming together." 

President Trump is proposing an overhaul of the college accreditation process -- a system that determines how institutions access federal dollars.

University leaders say funding freezes and other actions from the federal government could jeopardize vital research and educational programs across the country.

"When you start to impose constraints on that research, when you shift the ground that you have been standing on for so long and start to introduce vagaries into what constitutes good research or not, then I think you really undermine key principles of discovery of new knowledge," Haefner said.

The full letter sent to the White House can be read here.