The University of Pennsylvania has joined a growing list of universities rejecting a Trump administration proposal that would offer favorable access to federal funding in exchange for committing to the administration’s political priorities.
Penn declined an offer from the Trump administration to join a compact that potentially grants preferential funding in return for accepting the administration’s priorities on admissions policies. These priorities include no longer considering sex and ethnicity in admissions, changes affecting women’s sports, free speech regulations, capping international enrollment, among other topics.
On October 1, the Trump administration sent the preferential funding compact, called the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, to nine universities, including Penn. Penn President Larry Jameson responded on October 16.
“Earlier today, I informed the U.S. Department of Education that Penn respectfully declines to sign the proposed Compact,” read an email from President Jameson dated October 16. “As requested, we also provided focused feedback highlighting areas of existing alignment as well as substantive concerns.”
Penn’s response came ahead of the federal government’s October 20 deadline for universities to submit feedback. It also followed public opposition from various leaders who spoke against Penn accepting the deal.
“It’s not worth the compromises that they would have to make,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education. “This is a Faustian bargain.”
The University of Pennsylvania’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a statement saying, “agreeing would threaten the very mission of the university.”
State Representative Rick Krajewski (D-188th District) and City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (D-3rd District) called the compact “a thinly veiled play at extortion in pursuit of [Trump’s] authoritarian agenda.”
In an October 10 editorial, *The Philadelphia Tribune* urged that the “University of Pennsylvania should reject Trump’s bad deal,” concluding that “Penn and other universities should reject the compact which threatens academic freedom, institutional autonomy, diversity, and free speech on campus.”
Of the nine universities offered the deal, Penn, Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Southern California have joined the growing ranks of institutions rejecting the offer.
However, the administration is likely to continue attempts to exert influence on colleges and universities, including imposing restrictions on free speech, admissions, hiring decisions, and other personnel and policy matters.
It is imperative that Penn and other American universities stand united and remain steadfast in rejecting intimidation tactics from the administration.
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