CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The University of Virginia is reviewing the Trump Administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a document the federal government is pressuring a group of universities into signing to get priority access to federal funding. The agreement would require universities to cease using race or gender in admissions decisions and would limit international enrollment, among other items.
“Interim President Mahoney received a letter (Wednesday) night from the Secretary of Education and White House officials regarding the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,'” UVA spokesperson Bethanie Glover said in a statement sent to Cville Right Now. “This morning, he created a working group under the leadership of Executive Vice President and Provost Brie Gertler and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis to advise him on the University of Virginia’s response to the letter. The University has not yet made any decision regarding the Compact.”
“The letter does not indicate which other universities received the initial invitation to join the compact or why the University of Virginia was included. We note that Interim President Mahoney has publicly advocated for UVA to be a leader in free and open debate, viewpoint diversity, academic freedom, and affordability,” the statement continues.
The 10-point letter was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and is now circulating online. UVA is one of nine schools in the country to receive the offer of agreeing to measures in 10 noted sections in exchange for federal benefits. The letter states, “Institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values other than those below, if the institution elects to forego federal benefits,” according to the report.
This initial round went to two other public universities in addition to UVA — Texas and Arizona. The other recipients are all private schools: Brown University, Dartmouth College, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, USC, and Vanderbilt University. Senior Advisor for Special Projects at the White House, May Mailman, told the Journal, “Our hope is that a lot of schools see that this is highly reasonable.”
Former UVA president Jim Ryan resigned in June under pressure from the Trump administration. The school was under Department of Justice investigations over concerns it was continuing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, against the White House’s instructions.
Among the provisions UVA and others would have to agree to in the compact is ending “discriminatory admissions… explicitly or implicitly…. that treat certain groups as categorically incapable of performing.” The provision says, “preferential treatment perpetuates a dangerous badge of inferiority.”
Undergrad applicants would have to take standardized tests, such as SAT, ACT, or CLT, and admissions standards would have to be transparent and displayed on the university website.
The agreement also requires similar non-discrimination in faculty and administration hires.
The letter compels commitment to a “vibrant marketplace of ideas… with an intellectually open campus environment.” It also requires “institutional neutrality” where “university employees in capacity as university representatives, will abstain from actions or speech relating to societal and political events except in cases in which external events have a direct impact on the university.”
In a student equality category, the letter requires “students shall be treated as individuals and not on the basis of immutable characteristics with due exceptions for sex-based privacy, safety, and fairness… women’s equality requires single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, and fair competition, such as in sports… interpreting “male”, “female”, “woman” and “man” according to reproductive function and biological processes.”
The requirements also require a tuition freeze commitment for five years, and elimination of “unnecessary administrative staff”, as well as”engaging in transparent accounting and regular auditing for misuse of funds.”
In a category of “foreign entanglements,” the document states, “Federal permission for foreign student visas is intended to further America’s national interest to the extent the selected foreign students exhibit extraordinary talent that promises to make America stronger and more economically productive, and the selected students are introduced to, and supportive of, American and Western values, ultimately increasing global understanding and appreciation for the United States and our way of life. Universities that rely on foreign students to fund their institutions risk, among other things, potentially reducing spots available to deserving American students, and if not properly vetted, saturating the campus with noxious values such as anti-Semitism and other anti-American values, creating serious national security risks.
Therefore, no more than 15 percent of a university’s undergraduate student population shall be participants in the Student Visa Exchange Program, and no more than 5 percent shall be from any one country. For schools presently over the 15 percent population, incoming matriculating classes should meet the 15 percent cap.”
Adherence to the agreement would be subject to review by the US Department of Justice, which investigated the University of Virginia under allegations of failure to adequately address anti-Semitism and failure to fully eliminate DEI actions. Universities found in violation of the agreement would lose federal benefits for no less than a year, and subsequent violations would enact such a provision for no less than 2 years. The University would also have to pay back all federal funds dispensed, as well as return private contributions “to the grantor upon the request of the grantor.”
