The University of Arizona has become the seventh U.S. university to reject a Trump administration proposal that would give schools priority funding if they agreed to support the administration’s conservative agenda.
The decision follows the government’s push for nine universities to sign a ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’, which aims to make sweeping changes to campus culture, recruitment and admissions practices and the enrollment of foreign students. The demands of the Trump administration’s 10-point treaty include reforms to the way race or ethnicity is used in admissions and hiring practices, as well as a commitment to strict definitions of gender.
The deadline for universities to provide their initial feedback on the draft compact is October 20.
In one letter In a speech to the Department of Education, Suresh Garimella, president of the University of Arizona, said that “principles such as academic freedom, merit-based research funding and institutional independence are fundamental and must be preserved.”
“We do not seek special treatment and believe in our ability to compete for federally funded research based solely on merit,” Garimella said in the letter.
In addition to rejecting the administration’s pact, the university added a “Statement of Principles,” which includes its commitment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other federal and state anti-discrimination laws.
The move comes after six other universities – Brown University, Dartmouth College, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California and the University of Virginia – also rejected the proposal, while Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas at Austin have not yet rejected the proposal.
Daniel Diermeier, Vanderbilt’s chancellor, did not reject the proposal outright, but instead said the university would provide the government with more feedback on the future of higher education. Diermeier said Vanderbilt participated in a meeting of Trump officials on Friday, bringing together universities to gather input and feedback from the schools on the proposal.
Diermeier suggested that Vanderbilt’s core principles conflict with the requirements of the compact.
“Our North Star has always been that academic freedom, free expression and independence are essential for universities to make their essential and unique contributions to society,” he said in a statement. “We also believe that research awards should be made on the basis of merit alone. This merit-based approach has enabled the science and scientific excellence that has driven America’s health, safety and prosperity for decades and it must be preserved.”
UT Austin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said the system was honored. UT Austin was selected to be part of the Trump administration’s proposal, according to The Texas Tribune. Students and faculty at UT Austin have expressed concerns about academic freedom, leaving alumni with a petition urges the university not to sign the proposal. The petition has received more than 1,400 signatures.
The pact also requires colleges to freeze tuition for five years, implement a 15% cap on international students in the student body, ensure a “vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus” and create a more welcoming environment for conservatives. Universities that decide to sign the pact will be promised “several positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants.”
Amid the wave of rejections, the Trump administration has expanded the invitation to other universities, including Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Kansas and Arizona State University. Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this month, Trump wrote further social media that “much of higher education has lost its way and is now corrupting our youth and society with WOKE, SOCIALIST and ANTI-AMERICAN ideology,” and that “Institutions seeking to quickly return to the pursuit of Truth and Performance” were “invited to enter into a forward-looking agreement with the Federal Government to help realize the Golden Age of Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
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