**Brown University Rejects Department of Education’s Controversial Academic Compact**
*Oct. 16 (UPI)* — Brown University has officially declined a Department of Education proposal that offered priority access to federal funds in exchange for agreeing to terms critics say target left-leaning ideology in higher education.
On Oct. 1, the Trump administration sent nine universities a 10-part “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” The compact reportedly demands reforms including changes to hiring practices and student grading policies, and a pledge to prohibit transgender women from using women’s changing rooms. Other requirements include creating a “vibrant marketplace of ideas” and implementing a tuition freeze for five years.
Brown University President Christina Paxson rejected the offer in a letter addressed to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. In the letter, Paxson expressed concern that the compact “by its nature and by various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission.”
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has targeted numerous universities—especially so-called elite institutions—with executive orders, lawsuits, resource reallocations, and threats. These actions address a wide range of allegations, from anti-Semitism to the adoption of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Critics have accused the Trump administration of using coercion and threats—including loss of accreditation and fines sometimes exceeding $1 billion—to force schools into adopting far-right policies.
In late July, Brown reached a $50 million settlement with the federal government that spanned 10 years. This agreement lifted a freeze on federal funding and resolved allegations of violating anti-discrimination laws. As part of the settlement, Brown agreed to comply with government requirements regarding male and female athletics, reaffirm its commitment to a “thriving Jewish community,” and maintain nondiscrimination compliance, among other stipulations.
In her October letter, Paxson emphasized that the July agreement already encompasses several principles similar to those in the compact while affirming “the government’s lack of authority to dictate our curriculum or the content of academic speech.” She added, “While we value our long-held and well-regarded partnership with the federal government, Brown is respectfully declining to join the Compact.”
“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 concluded.
Brown’s rejection follows a similar refusal from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) earlier this week. MIT President Sally Kornbluth wrote in a letter to the Department of Education, “America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences.”
She continued, “Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”
Conservatives and the Trump administration have long alleged that universities are hotbeds of left-wing indoctrination that exclude right-leaning viewpoints. However, critics describe the administration’s efforts as government overreach and violations of free speech rights.
“The White House’s new Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education raises red flags,” said the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in an earlier statement. “As FIRE has long argued, campus reform is necessary. But overreaching government coercion that tries to end-run around the First Amendment to impose an official orthodoxy is unacceptable.”
“A government that can reward colleges and universities for speech it favors today can punish them for speech it dislikes tomorrow,” FIRE added. “That’s not reform. That’s government-funded orthodoxy.”
Meanwhile, over the weekend, President Trump suggested that more universities would be invited to join the compact. In an online statement, he said, “Those Institutions that want to quickly return to the Pursuit of Truth and Achievement, they are invited to enter into the forward-looking Agreement with the Federal Government to help bring about the Golden Age of Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
In the statement, Trump criticized universities, claiming, “Much of Higher Education has lost its way, and is now corrupting our Youth and Society with WOKE, SOCIALIST and ANTI-AMERICAN Ideology that serves as justification for discriminatory practices by Universities that are Unconstitutional and Unlawful.”
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/10/16/Brown-rejects-Trump-compact/9371760602341/
