This is an opinion column.

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell won’t exactly say she was ghosted.

Or ignored. Or even put on hold.

She’s very diplomatic.

But when the Trump Administration and those DOGE boys began to threaten federal grants to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she wanted to arm herself with info she’d need to fight for the institution in Congress. UAB is in her district, after all.

And UAB is important to Alabama. It’s the state’s biggest employer, providing direct or indirect jobs to five out of every 100 workers in the state, if you believe those voodoo economists. UAB’s impact adds up to a $12 billion annual boon. That’s about four grand for every working-age human in the state.

So Sewell, a Democrat, made calls to UAB.

And – she is very tight with details here, so bear with me – she waited for a response. I honestly don’t know how long the wait lasted, but it was long enough that people around her started talking. Or in the words of Noah Kahan: You once called me forever, now you still can’t call me back.

Sewell would say only this about that delay:

“While my request to meet directly with UAB researchers was not initially met with the urgency this moment demands, when I was finally granted such a meeting, we had a very illuminating and productive conversation,” she said. “That kind of advocacy is needed now more than ever.”

Finally.

It says a helluva lot about this world that an institution as powerful as UAB, facing tens of millions of annual cuts in federal grant money that already threatens medical and scientific research, is so flustered it hit the can’t-deal-with-you-right-now button on its own congresswoman. Even for a while.

It’s tough out there for powerful institutions, sure. The Trump administration and state laws have them rooting out “wokeness” at every turn. So they all clamor to cut out things they once claimed to value, like diversity and history and integrity, and, well, science.

UAB has been quick to capitulate, proactively dismantled diversity and scholarship programs rather than fight for anything at all in the state that goes on and on about daring to defend its rights. It did not wait to ask how high to jump, it just bought a trampoline.

Sewell said institutions must stand up for themselves.

“History has shown us time and time again that rolling over to appease bullies does not work. We cannot allow the Trump Administration to get away with this culture of fear that silences those who would be hurt most by its actions.”

UAB’s response has been particularly fearful. And disappointing. Maybe because I foolishly expected better.

This is a school that came into its own after the Civil Rights Movement, after the dogs and firehoses and dead little girls, after almost 50 bombings in the city that were never solved. It is built on serving and employing a diverse population, as immortalized in its statement of shared values: “Respect all: Champion diversity and opportunities for all, with civility.”

The UAB Alma Mater also boasts of “rich diversity,” “integrity” and “honor to uphold.” Yet the school has nothing to say. Nothing but Thank you, sir, may I have another?

It has warned faculty and researchers that they, too, need to keep it on the down low. If they want to write op-eds or talk too loudly about threats to research, or medicine or human rights, or the surrounding economy, they can’t be linked to UAB at all. So for the most part dissenters who once proudly boasted of their UAB affiliation now refer to themselves as “public health professionals” or someone who “runs a lab.”

The chill is in effect.

Sewell said she was proud that one of her alma maters, Harvard, has taken a stand to protect higher education and research.

“Alabama’s research institutions would do well to follow their lead,” she said. “It’s essential that the leaders of our institutions speak up and use their voices. Without them, we as lawmakers cannot effectively advocate on their behalf.”

Intelligent people can debate whether the strategy of rolling over to play dead is hypocritical or simply the safe bet. But know this: It’s the same strategy used to rationalize slavery and Jim Crow and the kind of violent segregation that not so long ago denied the pursuit of happiness to whole groups of people. Silence is dangerous now, too, for intellectual freedom, truth, and a whole lot of people.

Not to mention the honor and integrity of schools that claim those things as virtues.

When what you have to lose is more important than what you stand for, you’ve already lost. A coward with a good excuse is still just a coward.

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PS. I’ve taken the liberty of rewriting UAB’s alma mater, thus saving the institution $1 million in consulting fees ($40 million by economic voodoo math), three ad hoc committees, one permanent committee and forced admission of its own hypocrisy.

UAB ALMA MATER (revised)

Here in Alabama, a place of rich diversity SUCH TIMIDITY

stands our Alma Mater. We cherish her integrity

QUAILS OUR ALMA MATER. TO PERISH IN FRAGILITY

May each loyal son and daughter wear

proudly the colors green and gold.

Praise to thee, our UAB. Her honor we uphold.

TO REPRESENT THAT CASH AND COIN THAT HAS US BOUGHT AND SOLD.

Yearning minds of age and youth

live and love her noble truth.

LIVE TO MOURN HER NAKED TRUTH.

Moving ahead with blazing speed

t’wards knowledge to empow’r,

In the heart of Birmingham our UAB stands proud

LEST WE LOSE OUR TREASURE TROVE, WE WILL EVER COWER

John Archibald is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize.