The Trump admin is calling on nine colleges to sign a 10-point ideological compact, to get preferential access to federal funding.
The Trump administration is calling on nine top universities in the United States to sign a 10-point ideological compact in exchange for preferential access to federal funding, Newsweek confirmed. The memo, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, includes demands that schools make their campuses a “more welcoming environment for conservatives,” cap international undergrad enrollment, and ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions.
The schools that received a letter are Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an administration official. Newsweek reached out to the nine universities for comment. “We are reviewing the Administration’s letter,” the University of Southern California told Newsweek. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology also confirmed that it received the administration’s document. Kevin Eltife, chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, said the school system was “honored” that the University of Texas at Austin was selected by the administration to receive the compact. “We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately,” Eltife said in a statement sent to Newsweek. A spokesperson for the University of Virginia told Newsweek that Interim President Paul G. Mahoney received a letter from the Secretary of Education and White House officials regarding the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education on Wednesday night. “This morning, he created a working group under the leadership of Executive Vice President and Provost Brie Gertler and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis to advise him on the University of Virginia’s response to the letter. The University has not yet made any decision regarding the Compact,” the spokesperson said. Students walk past the “Great Dome” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus on April 3, 2017. Why It Matters The letter focuses on campus environment, including asking schools to abolish departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas” and bar employees from expressing political views on behalf of their employer, The Wall Street Journal reported. Universities that agree to the Trump administration’s demands will get “multiple positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants.” There has already been backlash on the memo, with Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, telling The Wall Street Journal that the “implications for free speech are horrifying.” The American Council on Education represents more than 1,500 presidents of colleges and universities. The Trump administration has previously frozen funding for universities, such as Harvard University, over allegations of antisemitism and concerns about diversity practices. Columbia University and Brown University reached multimillion-dollar deals with the administration to restore funding. May Mailman, senior adviser for special projects at the White House, told The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration is not planning to limit federal funding to only include schools that sign the compact, but they would be given priority for grants when possible. What To Know The White House sent letters to an initial round of universities on Wednesday night, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mailman said the White House chose schools it believes are or could be “good actors.” “They have a president who is a reformer or a board that has really indicated they are committed to a higher-quality education,” she said. The memo states that signing on would ensure that the universities are complying with civil rights law and “pursuing federal priorities with vigor,” The Wall Street Journal reported. In addition to campus climate initiatives, the letter also features demands to help make higher education more affordable. Mailman said the purpose is to push schools to lead “in things that are not hard decisions, but they are hard to go at it alone,” such as freezing tuition for five years. The universities are also asked to reduce administrative costs, according to the outlet. Schools with an endowment of $2 million per undergraduate student are asked to waive tuition for students who pursue “hard science” programs. What People Are Saying Kevin Eltife, Chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, in a statement sent to Newsweek: “Higher education has been at a crossroads in recent years, and we have worked very closely with Governor...
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