Interim University President Paul Mahoney spoke at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday, prompting questions and objections from senators over an offer he received from the Trump administration Wednesday which asked the University to agree to a series of conditions in exchange for preferential access to federal funding. Later in the meeting, the Senate voted to pass a resolution opposing the offer.
The offer Mahoney received, which included an invitation letter and a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” was sent to the University and eight other institutions by the Department of Education with a deadline of Oct. 20 to submit feedback. Proposed principles include freezing tuition, promoting a “marketplace of ideas,” abolishing institutional units which “punish, belittle, and even spark violence against” conservative ideas and screening international applicants for support of “American and Western values.”
In his first time speaking publicly about the invitation, Mahoney shared that he has formed a working group to address the invitation and accompanying Compact. According to Mahoney, this working group will advise him on the principles which will guide the University’s response, including financial considerations, academic freedom and “congruence with the University’s mission.”
“Although this is going to cause a fair bit of anxiety and disagreement, it's better to have received that letter than not to have received that letter, because we now have an option,” Mahoney said. “We can have discussions, presumably, with the Department of Education and the White House. We can ultimately decide whether this is in the University's best interests or not.”
The Compact prompted a series of questions from senators, including whether the conditions of the agreement would be in line with Mahoney’s view for the future of the University or whether the Compact was in violation of state and federal law.
Mahoney said that some parts of the Compact were in line with the University’s principles, but others would be “difficult for us to agree to.” He also said that he had not noticed anything in the Compact which was clearly in violation of the law, although University Counsel Cliff Iler is a member of the working group and will advise Mahoney on the legal components of the Compact.
Throughout Mahoney’s time speaking, student and faculty protesters lined the back of the room, holding signs which read “U.Va. can’t be bought,” “Hands off our speech” and “No facism in education.”
Associate Professor of Spanish Anne Garland Mahler asked Mahoney whether he agrees with certain principles laid out in the Compact.
“The Compact appears to violate the First Amendment by prohibiting disagreement with so-called conservative ideas, and by prohibiting faculty from discussing what it calls societal and political events, essentially abolishing our right to free speech,” Mahler said. “The Compact also discriminates against our trans colleagues and students. Are those things that you think are negotiable or worthy of negotiating about?”
The Compact does not make any statements prohibiting faculty or students from disagreeing with conservative ideas, and calls for institutions to protect debate and academic freedom while preventing harassment of individuals for their views.
It also does not prohibit faculty from discussing political events in their individual capacities and instead requires that they do not comment on behalf of the University — a policy that the University already has in place. The Compact includes a section for student equality, which states that institutions must commit to defining the words male, female, woman and man “according to reproductive function and biological processes.”
Mahoney said he did not see the concerns that Mahler highlighted in his own reading of the document.
“We may have read two different documents, but I don't actually read the document quite in the way that you do,” Mahoney said.
Protesters in the back of the room began to laugh at the interim president, prompting him to note that he would be happy to hear more about others’ interpretations of the Compact.
Jeri Seidman, Faculty Senate chair and associate professor of Commerce, asked that the room consider whether the University wants favored status in regards to research funding.
“Do we want to have favored status? Because I think part of academia is usually that it's based on merits,” Seidman said.
Associate Professor of Psychology Hudson Golino said that his colleagues are “horrified” by the Compact and told Mahoney outright that faculty do not want the University to agree to the conditions, eliciting rounds of applause from the room.
“Nobody wants to go forward. I don't know why my colleagues won't say that out loud. So I would say we don't want that. And the reason is because if we agree with that, we're selling the University,” Golino said.
Mahoney said in response that he appreciated Golino’s view and that his team is seeking out the views of all constituents.
Matthew Hedstrom, associate professor of American studies and religious studies, echoed Golino’s statement that community members are not in favor of signing the Compact. He also noted that he felt elements of the Compact focused on grade inflation were “nonsensical” and said the document was written by individuals who do not have an understanding of how the University operates. The Compact requires that no students’ grades may be inflated or deflated for any reason.
“What I'm hearing unanimously from my colleagues and constituents across Arts and Sciences … is to ask you to say no,” Hedstrom said. “I know that this letter comes with the menacing tone of ‘[U.Va.] is a nice university, it would be a shame if something happened to it,’ but you can say no, and if you say no, you will have the support of your faculty [and] students.”
Later in the meeting and following this discussion, the Senate passed a resolution opposing the Compact. The resolution claims that provisions within the Compact are "antithetical" to the mission of the University and endanger the independence of the University.
“The Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia firmly opposes this Compact as written and calls upon Interim President Mahoney and the Board of Visitors to also reject this Compact outright as well as any similar proposal compromising the mission, values, and independence of the University,” the resolution states.
Sixty senators voted in favor of passing this resolution, while two were opposed and four abstained.
During his time at the meeting, Mahoney also provided updates regarding the federal government shutdown and said that he is not concerned about the University’s ability to navigate effects on federal funding. He did note that he expects the shutdown to slow down but not completely halt negotiations with the Department of Justice over five remaining investigations into University admissions policies.
The Faculty Senate also voted on a resolution calling for the delay of the current search for a permanent executive vice president and provost. According to this resolution, it is unusual for a provost to be hired while an interim president is still in place, due to the close nature of the working relationship between a university president and the provost. Because of this, the Senate voiced support for holding off the ongoing search until a permanent president is in place. Fifty-nine senators voted in favor of the resolution, six were opposed and two abstained.
Before the meeting closed, the Senate heard from Jim Lambert, faculty representative to the Board of Visitors, who said that he has participated in three faculty listening sessions which will contribute to the presidential search. He also reported that the presidential search committee has been holding a variety of other listening sessions, including seven this week. Lambert encouraged faculty members to continue reaching out to Board Secretary Scott Ballenger with questions regarding the search and University governance structures.
Associate Professor of Music, Michelle Kisliuk asked how community members could be sure that feedback collected through these listening sessions and online survey submissions would actually be taken into account. Lambert said in response that the hired search firm, Isaacson, Miller, quantifies feedback from the hundreds of forms submitted by faculty and staff, although he noted that this does not prove the feedback is ultimately considered.
The next meeting of the Faculty Senate will take place at 2 p.m. Oct. 24.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Professor Geeta Patel had provided comment on the Compact. Associate Professor Matthew Hedstrom had instead commented on it. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
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