Brown University rejects invitation to join White House ‘compact’

[Thiệu Ngô]

University joins MIT in refusing invitation, saying that compact would ‘restrict academic freedom’

By Marina Dunbar

Brown University has become the second higher-education institution to turn down an invitation from Donald Trump to sign onto his administration’s 10-page college compact that would overhaul university policies in return for preferential access to federal funding.

The “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is a proposed agreement that would impose restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and limits on international student enrollment.

Brown’s move comes after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) refused to sign it last week.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to administration officials, Brown’s president, Christina Paxson, said she was concerned that the compact “by its nature and by various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance”.

She added: “Additionally, a fundamental part of academic excellence is awarding research funding on the merits of the research being proposed. The cover letter describing the compact contemplates funding research on criteria other than the soundness and likely impact of research, which would ultimately damage the health and prosperity of Americans.”

Her remarks mirror those of MIT’s president, Sally Kornbluth, who said the compact undermines merit-based processes for awarding research grants and signing it would “restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution” when she publicly declined the offer last week.

Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), said in a statement: “By declining to compromise its core mission, Brown University has affirmed that no amount of federal inducement is worth surrendering the freedom to question, explore and dissent. In rejecting the compact, Brown stands as a bulwark for higher education’s sacred commitment to academic freedom and institutional self-governance.”

The compact was first introduced to nine universities at the start of October. The remaining schools – the University of Virginia, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and Dartmouth College – have not yet announced their decisions.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration expanded the invitation to all US colleges and universities. Higher-education leaders and faculty have sharply criticized the proposal, describing it as a political attempt to undermine university autonomy.

Trump has warned that institutions refusing to participate may face federal investigations into compliance with existing laws. However, it is still unclear whether research funding or student aid eligibility will depend on whether a school signs the agreement.

Brown’s decision comes just months after it reached a separate deal with the White House in July, which unfroze hundreds of millions in research grants in exchange for new policy commitments and a $50m investment in Rhode Island workforce training.

Paxson said in her letter that the new compact would contradict assurances made in that earlier agreement, specifically a pledge that the administration would not interfere with the university’s curriculum or academic content.

“We remain committed to the July agreement and its preservation of Brown’s core values in ways that the compact – in any form – fundamentally would not,” Paxson wrote.

According to the Chronicle, Dartmouth College’s president, Sian Leah Beilock, has also indicated privately to faculty that she will not support the current version of the compact, though the university has not made a public statement.