U. Virginia, U. Arizona, and USC Faculty Overwhelmingly Votes to Reject Trump's Compact

Applying to College College Headlines
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Nearly every faculty member within the University of Virginia’s College of Arts and Sciences is taking a stand against a controversial federal proposal.

In an overwhelming vote, 97 percent of UVA’s faculty rejected the Trump Administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” The proposal—sent to nine universities across the country—outlines a set of federal “best practices” that would tie funding to compliance.

The University of Arizona’s faculty senate overwhelmingly rejected a “compact” from the Trump administration that would tie federal funding to compliance with certain political goals.

At the Oct. 6 meeting, 40 out of 49 voting members of the faculty senate supported Chair Leila Hudson’s motion to oppose the compact on the basis that it violates constitutional rights, and urged UofA President Suresh Garimella and the Arizona Board of Regents to reject it as well.

Eight voted in favor of the compact, and one abstained.

Also covered here:

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They don’t really have a choice: beside all sorts of bonkers requirements, the “compact” is written in such a way that, for example, a Jewish Studies dept&major would have to accept Holocaust deniers, Earth Science would have to “balance” with a flat- Earther etc. - it makes no distinction between opinion and fact, knowledge and belief, research and rant. A university can’t exist as a university and accept the compact.

That being said, I thought AZ would be one of the most favorable among those targeted because they’re in dire financial straits (along with UT, for political reasons - although not leaving any carve-outs to recruit athletes may be a problem there).
UVA’s resolution is in line with what’s to be expected. So, what’s next, do you think? Matter dropped? Pressure? Lawsuit? Threats?

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Fancy that :thinking:

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It says faculty which may not be the same as the school’s administration which may ultimately be the deciding factor.

But who wants to cave to an educational terrorist and that’s what Trump is.

For people who want the local to control, he sure wants to control a lot. A republican he is not. He is the ultimate RINO.

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USC faculty also voted to reject the compact:

During an impassioned USC Academic Senate meeting on Monday, faculty strongly denounced and rejected the Trump administration offer to give the university funding preference in exchange for abiding by conservative education goals.

In forceful speeches, University of Southern California department chairs, professors, researchers and others who attended the virtual meeting called the compact “egregiously invalid,” “probably unconstitutional,” “antithetical to principles of academic freedom” and “a Trojan horse.”

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Ok, I have to say that is a funny comment, coming from USC :grin:

But actually, “Trojan horse” was one of the things that came to my mind while reading the text of the compact, as well. There are so many things in the text that seemed ill-defined or subjective. It is easy to imagine that a university might agree to this compact and then find itself in a situation where the government claims that parts were violated.

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I would be shocked if any Faculty group not named Hillsdale would vote for Trump’s anything.

(Not sure why this is newsworthy.)