Vanderbilt Campus Groups Push Back Against Trump Administration Higher Education ‘Compact’

Image: Kirkland Hall at Vanderbilt University. Image Credit: John Partipilo

***Note from The Tennessee Conservative: This article posted here for informational purposes only.

By: Anita Wadhwani [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –

A demand that Vanderbilt University sign onto a “compact” — pledging to comply with new Trump administration higher education directives in exchange for preferential access to federal funding — is drawing pushback from some campus groups.

More than 900 Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff as of Wednesday signed onto a petition titled “Vanderbilt-Don’t Sign Trump’s Fascist Compact” circulated by the Vanderbilt Graduate Workers United union.

A statement by the Vanderbilt University chapter of American Association of University Professors likewise urged Vanderbilt University leaders to reject the proposal. 

“It is difficult to interpret the Compact as anything other than a direct and concerted assault on academic freedom, and thus on the core identity of our institution and on the role of higher education in American society,” the statement said. 

Vanderbilt is one of nine elite universities the Trump administration last week asked to sign onto a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” 

The 10-page compact, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, sets forth a sweeping set of guidelines for admissions, campus speech and protest, athletics, faculty hiring, international students and other parts of campus life. 

Among the requirements set forth in the compact: 

• All campus faculty and employees will “abstain from actions or speech relating to societal and political events except in cases in which external events have a direct impact upon the university;”
• Foreign students are limited to no more than 15% of the student body;
• Administrators agree to bar speech or actions that would “punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas;”
• And campuses would commit to combat harassment of students or protests that block campus facilities by “using lawful force if necessary to prevent these violations and to swift, serious, and consistent sanctions for those who commit them.”

“Institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values other than those below, if the institution elects to forego federal benefits,” the compact says.

A statement from Vanderbilt said, “we look forward to carefully reviewing the compact and providing meaningful feedback to the administration.” 

In addition to Vanderbilt, letters were sent to Brown University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Virginia.