Many students on Grounds are calling for the University to reject the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” that was proposed to the University Oct. 1 by the Department of Education. These students worry about possible negative consequences for members of the University community if the Compact were to be signed, including international and transgender students. Many also have expressed fears of ceding academic freedom and independence to the federal government.
The Compact lays out a series of requirements that universities may choose to agree to and abide by in exchange for specialized federal funding, which include removing demographic factors from the admissions process, maintaining institutional neutrality and screening international students for “American and Western values.”
The University was one of nine schools to receive the proposal, four of which — Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California — have now rejected it. The deadline for “limited” feedback from universities is Oct. 20, and the Trump administration hopes to have all signatories finalized by Nov. 21.
Clay Dickerson, Student Council president and fourth-year College student has joined student leaders of seven other universities, who were also sent the Compact, in a joint statement calling for their universities to reject it. These include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University and Vanderbilt University. The statement writes that “as student representatives, we stand in united opposition to the outlined conditions.”
Dickerson cited several provisions in the Compact that universities must abide by which would affect student life. These included, as Dickerson described, promoting a “marketplace of ideas,” limiting definitions of gender, revising University governance structures and committing to using lawful force against violent demonstrations.
Dickerson said that these provisions may affect student self-governance at the University, transgender community members and student protestors, among others.
“I think that it would be absurd if the University signed on to the Compact as it stands, especially from a student’s perspective,” Dickerson said. “[The Compact] would no doubt serve to the detriment of student life experience.”
Dickerson also highlighted the effects that the proposed tuition freeze would have on international students. He said that according to the language of the Compact, the tuition freeze would only go into effect for American students. He said this may harm current international students and their ability to afford the University, as their tuition would continue increasing while tuition for American students freezes.
“While [the tuition freeze] sounds appealing, the way it would disproportionately affect international students is extremely harmful to their potential and current existence at the University of Virginia,” Dickerson said.
Brianna Sharpe, president of the University Democrats and fourth-year College student, mentioned many aspects of the Compact that might affect student life at the University more generally. She said these include limitations on criticisms of conservative viewpoints, confining definitions of gender and caps on enrollment of international students.
“I think that the impact of this Compact on the University will be much greater than anything you can measure in monetary value,” Sharpe said. “There’s obviously the risk that the Trump administration will cut federal funding to this University, but I think this is the time to fight back.”
The Cavalier Daily also reached out to the College Republicans, which said no members wished to speak on the topic.
Questions have swirled as to why these nine universities were initially selected to receive the offer of the Compact, and Trump expanded this offer to all institutions of higher education Monday. Second-year College student Tristan Tapolcai said he believes the University’s recent conflicts with the federal government made it an appealing target for the administration’s compact.
“Given what happened in the spring [and] summer with Jim Ryan, I wasn't necessarily surprised that the University had a target on its back,” Tapolcai said. “I think we've kind of been singled out as this test case in a way for a lot of the federal overstep that we've been seeing into higher education.”
Former University President Jim Ryan resigned June 27 following pressure from the federal government. The Justice Department sent seven letters to the University between April and June looking to investigate whether the University had dissolved Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, and these letters also claimed the University was not protecting students from antisemitism.
Rector Rachel Sheridan and Interim President Paul Mahoney sent an email to the University community Oct. 6 prompting students to complete a feedback form on their thoughts on the Compact. The form includes two questions, asking students what they support about the Compact, and what they oppose.
In the email, Sheridan and Mahoney said that there are certain provisions in the Compact that would be difficult for the University to agree to. The email stated that a working group had been composed to form a response, and that they would work to craft a response guided by the principles of academic freedom and free inquiry Jefferson intended for the University.
Dickerson said that although he has reached out to the University to include Student Council’s input in the working group, he has not yet gotten a response.
UDems has been encouraging members to fill out the feedback form that Sheridan and Mahoney sent and has been sharing petitions against the Compact, according to Sharpe. She said that a peaceful demonstration might be an effective form of protest against the Compact, but that for now they are using means of feedback provided by the University.
“Right now, I think we’re trying to utilize the resources that the University has given us to voice our opinion and see how this develops [and then] we’ll assess other options,” Sharpe said.
UDems also published a statement to their Instagram Oct. 7 urging Mahoney not to sign the Compact. In the statement, the organization said that signing the Compact may lead to the University relinquishing its academic and intellectual freedom, which directly undermines the University’s mission.
“After reviewing the document that was addressed to the University administration, it is clear that this compact is fundamentally antithetical to the mission of U.Va.,” the statement read. “It is an abhorrent overstep by the federal government into academic freedom, freedom of expression, and institutional independence.”
Dickerson said that he believes the costs of signing the Compact outweigh the benefits of agreeing to all of the tenets of the Compact. He said there would be guaranteed negative effects if the University were to sign and that the repercussions of signing the Compact would be longlasting.
“We aren’t just saying no for the current students here … we are saying no for the people that will be here four years from now, 10 years from now,” Dickerson said. “This is a decision that, regardless of temporary benefit, is not worth the long term outcome.”
University student organizations have planned a press conference, rally and march against the compact for Friday at 11:15 a.m., in which students will begin at the Rotunda and end at Madison Hall to deliver explanatory statements to Mahoney as to why the University should reject the offer.
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