And then there were four … The University of Southern California released a statement this afternoon from its interim President Beong-Soo Kim saying it had declined to join the proposed compact, making it the fourth university to announce its decision.
“We are concerned that even though the compact would be voluntary, tying research benefits to it would, over time, undermine the same values of free inquiry and academic excellence that the compact seeks to promote,” Kim wrote in a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Other countries whose governments lack America’s commitment to freedom and democracy have shown how academic excellence can suffer when shifting external priorities tilt the research playing field away from free, meritocratic competition.”
USC joins Penn, MIT and Brown University in agreeing not to sign the proposed compact.
Five schools – Dartmouth College, University of Arizona, University of Texas, University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University – have not announced their decision.
A third university, spoiler alert, it’s not UVA, has announced it has declined a compact sent by the current administration that would prioritize funding for schools that champion the president’s agenda.
University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson said he informed the U.S. Department of Education that it would decline to sign the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
Penn joins Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who announced their decision prior to next week’s deadline for proposed edits to the document.
The Penn president said in a statement that he provided feedback to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon as requested, noting “substantive concerns.” That feedback was not shared with the public.
Nine schools, including the University of Virginia, received the compact which laid out plans for what it called “a unique relationship” for prioritized grant funding. The demands included creating a culture that supports conservative ideas and diversifying faculty to ensure all political viewpoints are represented.
UVA has not announced its decision on the compact. However, state Democrats sent a letter threatening to no longer “subsidize” UVA if it agreed to the radical compact.
“We want to be explicitly clear: if the University of Virginia signs this compact, there will be significant consequences in future Virginia budget cycles,” Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-34), Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-18) and Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-23) wrote. “As the leadership of the Senate with responsibility for appropriations affecting higher education, we will work with our colleagues to ensure that the Commonwealth does not subsidize an institution that has ceded its independence to federal political control.”
In an email to the UVA community, Rector Rachel Sheridan and interim President Paul Mahoney said “it would be difficult for the university to agree to certain provisions” in the compact. UVA offered assurances that their response “will be guided by the same principles of academic freedom and free inquiry that Thomas Jefferson placed at the center of the university’s mission more than 200 years ago.”
ICYMI
- UVA students organize to resist ‘unconstitutional demands’ of White House
- MIT rejects Trump compact, first of nine schools to stand up to unprecedented demands
UVA students are organizing a rally and march on Friday to show support for intellectual truth over political fealty. The students will hold a news conference at 11:15 a.m. on the Lawn. A rally at the Rotunda and march to Madison Hall are planned to follow the press event.
Faculty groups, students and thousands of alums have all urged UVA to reject the compact.
Other schools that have not yet announced a decision include Dartmouth College, University of Arizona, University of Southern California, University of Texas and Vanderbilt University.
The Trump administration requested feedback on the compact by Oct. 20. A final decision is required by Nov. 21.
Related stories
- State Senate leadership demands UVA reject Trump compact, likens it to political extortion
- UVA has not made a decision on Trump compact, but faculty strongly oppose it
- White House offers reward to nine universities, including UVA, that agree to toe the party line
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Crystal Graham
