Administration has pushed nine universities to sign a deal that seeks to make changes in line with conservative ideas
The University of Arizona has become the seventh US university to reject a Trump administration proposal that would grant schools funding priority if they agreed to support the administration’s conservative agenda.
The decision follows the administration’s push for nine universities to sign a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which seeks to make sweeping changes to campus culture, hiring and admissions practices and foreign student enrollment. Demands from the Trump administration’s 10-point compact include reforms to the way race or ethnicity are used in admission and hiring practices, as well as a commitment to strict definitions of gender, among others.
In a letter to the Department of Education sent Monday, Suresh Garimella, the University of Arizona president, said that “principles like academic freedom, merit-based research funding and institutional independence are foundational and must be preserved”.
Good on Arizona. Now we only need Vanderbilt and UT Austin to speak up.
Vanderbilt has been wishy-washy about their position.
Texas, of course, expressed almost immediate interest in signing up. Bastards.As an aside, does anyone know why the administration chose these 9 particular colleges to begin with? I don’t see an obvious theme here. They easily could have chosen schools in more conservative areas, or schools which receive more federal research money.
Brown University
Dartmouth College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Arizona
University of Pennsylvania
University of Southern California
University of Texas at Austin
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt UniversitySo UT Austin is the only one to say yes?
Seems like a good target for some protest actions. Make them regret it as a message for any others thinking about it.
AFAIK, UT Austin has not officially accepted, but I read that they expressed early interest. I do not know the specifics though. Maybe they will be swayed by the other schools’ actions. I’m sure a targeted demonstration would be a good idea.
Texas A&M ousted their president a month or two back because some snowflake student got upset about genders and called down the Conservative assholes.
Only 7?!
Of 9, so about 75%. And that’s “so far”, too.
There’s only 9 college’s in the USA!?
No, there are only 9 colleges that the trump admin has reached out to in the test run of this “compact”
Just wouldn’t fly in Tucson.
Tucson is a pretty liberal city as is Pima County for that matter regardless of the fact it has DM AirForce base smack dab in the middle of it.
