After months of doing their darndest to violently dismantle the fundamental pillars of higher education, the Trump administration has decided they now want cooperation — or rather, coercion under the mask of cooperation. But like I found out at the county fair last summer, putting lipstick on a pig does not make it cuter.
The Trump administration would like the University to sign onto the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, a pact offered to nine universities which demands signatories adhere to the administration’s constrictive education reform. In a recent letter to interim University President Paul Mahoney, the Secretary of Education claimed that the administration is “committed to a forward-looking vision of higher education” and wants to promote “higher education that is essential to our nation's future and success.” Like the attacks on diversity, like the under-the-table deals to remove Jim Ryan and like the plots to undermine research funding, this is yet another threat to universities, just now posed as cooperation. The University has one right choice — do not sign.
The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education is a 10-point agenda by the Department of Education to rid America’s universities of what it feels are harmful practices. The many items include establishing equality in admissions, upholding institutional neutrality, eliminating grade inflation, defining what gender means and reducing unnecessary spending. One could go point by point and debate the merits of each idea, but this has been done many times over and will be done many times more.
What is more striking, however, is how pointless all of this seems. The Trump administration has already flexed its muscles to the University administration by demanding many of these same points. Research funding has been slashed. Important offices like that of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have vanished. Ryan has resigned, and his replacement seems highly interested in compromises. Our Board of Visitors complies with every wish of the Republican governor. This administration has attacked the University vigorously, so it is strange to deem the Compact as new or as constitutive of a real conclusion. Further, there is a difference between what the University says it will do and what it actually does, partly the reason Jim Ryan was forced to resign. Thus another agreement that claims the University is now actually going to comply appears toothless.
By sending this offer, the Trump administration refuses to acknowledge that this Compact is nothing new. The Compact asserts that race should not be “considered, explicitly or implicitly, in any decision related to undergraduate or graduate student admissions.” Is affirmative action not already forbidden by the courts and enforced by the executive branch? Besides legal redundancies, there exist other painfully familiar action items. The Compact wants to create a “broad spectrum of viewpoints among faculty, students, and staff.” Did they not establish “neutrality” when our supposedly non-neutral University president, or the presidents of other prestigious institutions, were removed or resigned? The Compact maintains that universities are not spending their money well and must “deploy their endowments to the public good.” Did they not reduce unnecessary spending when research funding was cut and offices closed?
This Compact actually seems like a backslide, a less strict agreement than something like the support of the Supreme Court or power of a lawsuit. The danger signs are present, an insatiable appetite for a leased higher education. It is not enough to adhere to their changing rules, the University must kiss the ring in front of America.
The Compact is not a guidebook for cooperation with a supportive government, especially not for a temporary University leader. It is political lip service to an administration that cares only about its outward appearance. The letter begins with a compliment to President Mahoney that reads like flattery. It features the idea of the Compact and claims that signing gives priority to federal funding and other partnerships. It ends with an invitation to the White House for signatories. What an honor it would be to meet the people responsible for the illegitimacy of your position.
If it seems that this Compact is merely a formal declaration of the culture war the Trump administration has waged for the past year, or even the terms of peace, do not be deceived. By putting all of the administration’s demands into writing, and very subjective writing at that, the Trump administration has grounds to revoke federal funding whenever they view the University in violation of the Compact. This is not a legally binding document — there is no protection for the University if the issuer fails to hold up their side of the bargain. Federal funding is not guaranteed here, as it is reliant on an extremely movable goalpost. Giving in now will be held over the University for years to come, and likely over whomever the new University president is.
Signing this Compact is a complete submission to federal control over a public university. It should not be given the credence it so desperately craves. Do not sign away this University’s soul for a chance at better federal funding.
Do not sign onto this Compact.
Paul Kurtzweil is a senior opinion columnist who writes about economics, business and housing for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Cavalier Daily. Columns represent the views of the authors alone.
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