The ACLU is calling on Bay State college and university leaders to protect free speech on their campuses ahead of the Donald Trump administration, warning that free expression is “under attack.”

The ACLU of Massachusetts on Wednesday sent a letter to 77 local colleges and universities before semesters resume during the new presidential administration.

The letter about campus free speech comes in the wake of colleges and universities changing their student speech policies following year-long student protests regarding Palestine and Israel.

“Colleges and universities play a critical role in our democracy by providing a marketplace for ideas and expression, where multiple viewpoints can be explored and debate is encouraged,” Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

“These democratic values are increasingly under attack by an incoming presidential administration and some members of Congress who aim to override free expression in service of their own ideological agendas,” Rossman added. “Colleges and universities are the first line of defense for their students and faculty, and we urge them to resist this new McCarthyism.”

Trump has praised violent crackdowns on campus protests, aligning with his previous attacks on academic freedom, the ACLU of Massachusetts noted.

The president-elect has threatened reprisals against students who are not U.S. citizens, the ACLU added.

“College and university leaders must act now to ensure that campus rules do not subject students and faculty members to ideologically motivated law enforcement and federal investigations, and to ensure that free expression flourishes in the Commonwealth,” Rossman and ACLU staff attorney Rachel Davidson wrote in the letter to campus leaders.

The ACLU in the letter stressed that both public and private educational institutions need to: