After Interim University President Paul Mahoney announced Wednesday that the Justice Department would suspend five investigations into the University as part of an agreement from the University to follow civil rights laws, students expressed mixed opinions about the deal.
The suspension of the investigations came just five days after Mahoney rejected the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” The conditions of the Compact included disbanding organizations viewed as suppressing conservative thought, maintaining tuition at current levels for five years, implementing ideological screening for international students and reaffirming compliance with federal anti-discrimination policies in both admissions and employment.
Under the latest agreement, the Justice Department agreed to suspend five ongoing investigations, allowing the University to address compliance issues without the ongoing investigation.
The deal did not involve a financial settlement, but rather commitments to follow civil rights statutes and keep federal authorities updated. Included in the deal is a provision that if the Justice Department concludes at which point that the University is not making “adequate progress” towards compliance, the University will have 15 days to make “appropriate progress” before the agreement can be terminated and further actions pursued. Mahoney is also required to provide quarterly reports to the Justice Department on the University’s compliance with the agreement, under penalty of perjury.
“Through this process, we will do everything we can to assure our community, our partners in state and federal government and the public that we are worthy of the trust they place in us and the resources they provide us to advance our education, research and patient care mission,” Mahoney said in a letter to the community announcing the agreement.
Second-year College student Leo Johnson said that the deal is not concerning for him as long as it does not harm the quality of the University’s education.
“As long as free speech and the pursuit of knowledge isn’t hindered, I feel like the University can still function effectively,” Johnson said.
Johnson also said that he believes the University will also benefit from not having active investigations.
Second-year Commerce student Grant Supancich said that he was glad that the issue was resolved and that the University did not make too many concessions. He noted that the University does not have to worry as much any more about pressure from the Justice Department.
“[The University] didn't have to make too many changes, but they still complied with what the Justice Department was asking for…It seemed like a good resolution that both sides were happy with,” Supanich said.
Third-year College student Lily Durden said that the University got a better deal than other schools, despite being put in a difficult situation following former President Ryan’s resignation in June.
“I’d say that I’m mostly just relieved, because obviously we got a really rough deal this summer with Jim Ryan having to leave,” Durden said. “Having read a little bit about how other schools were treated, I was worried that U.Va. was going to get a worse deal.”
Other schools including Brown University and Columbia University have reached deals where they have had to pay multi-million dollar settlements to the Trump administration and different interest groups, including state workforce development programs and Jewish faculty who faced discrimination.
As for the decision to reject the Compact, students were clearly supportive of the University’s choice. The students below were interviewed for this article before the deal with the Justice Department was signed.
Second-year College student Andrew Zavalkoff expressed his support of the decision not to sign, and said that the University should not compromise their beliefs or give into what the Trump administration is asking for.
“This [decision] … was telling the Trump administration that we are going to do what we want to do for the betterment of our students,” Zavalkoff said. “It shows that they are not going to be pushed around.”
Micah Andrews, Student Council chief of Support and Access Services and third-year College student, also supported the decision and described the Compact as “federal overreach” into higher education from the Trump administration.
“I think that standing in solidarity against federal overreach, even federal overreach disguised as help, is really important, because I think [the Compact is] … actually meant to control higher education through their funding sources,” Andrews said. “I love that [Mahoney] didn’t sign on.”
Andrews said she believes rejecting the Compact was an important step in preserving the University’s autonomy, especially amid growing national debates over the federal government’s role in shaping higher education policy.
Emphasizing that the Compact risked compromising the University’s academic independence, second-year College student Nolan Batton also said that he is pleased that the University ultimately rejected the offer.
“I’m glad that we didn’t [sign on,]” Batton said. “Reading through the Compact myself, it had some things in there that … would be giving up part of our academic freedom as a university.”
Batton also expressed concern about what he described as a “quid pro quo” approach from the Trump administration toward higher education institutions.
He said that linking research funding to universities’ political alignment could set a troubling precedent for academic freedom nationwide. Batton also said he viewed the proposal as part of a troubling pattern of political interference in education that could threaten universities’ ability to set their own academic standards.
“It’s a dangerous concept,” Batton said. “We pride ourselves on academic excellence and research, so if we're getting research pulled because of unrelated practices such as diversity, equity [and] inclusion … I think we're finding a little bit of a dangerous border.”
Regarding the University’s response to dealings with the Trump administration, Andrews said that she believes the University administration has done a good job of communicating with students throughout the process.
She noted that since former University President Jim Ryan’s resignation, the Office of Student Affairs and Mahoney have made an effort to include student voices, particularly those from Student Council, in important discussions.
“[Mahoney] has entered into probably the most difficult role that he’ll ever have in his whole life just because of the political landscape that we’re in right now,” Andrews said. “I think that [Mahoney and the administration] have done a stellar job at listening to students and making sure they are prioritizing what students actually want.”
Student Council passed a resolution of no confidence in the Board of Visitors in August after its members said students were being ignored in the search process for the University’s tenth president.
Zavalkoff also said that the University administration and Mahoney are generally doing a good job despite the difficult position they have been put in following Ryan’s recent and unexpected resignation.
“It's hard to tell … but I think considering the situation [the University administration] is in, they’re doing well,” Zavalkoff said.
Seven of the original nine colleges and universities invited to sign the Compact — U.Va., Dartmouth College, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — have rejected the Compact. The University of Texas remains the last school that has not made a formal announcement after Vanderbilt University provided feedback but maintained it was not accepting or rejecting the Compact.
Read More
Sens. Surovell, Lucas call on U.Va. to reconsider agreement with Justice Department
By Cecilia Mould and Lauren Seeliger | 16 hours agoThe eight-page letter expressed concern that the agreement is unconstitutional and asked Mahoney and Sheridan to “reconsider” the deal.
U.Va. leaders defend Justice Department deal in letter to Charlottesville legislators
By Cecilia Mould and Ford McCracken | 21 hours agoUniversity leaders defended their deal with the Justice Department in a new letter sent to Charlottesville’s legislators Monday, arguing that it is a better deal than other universities have made and that it does not threaten the University’s autonomy.
U.Va. hosts first Campus Sustainability Month, celebrates infrastructure
By Melody Yuan | Yesterday"Our work does go unappreciated. We’re on call 24/7, [during] the holiday, in the middle of the night."
