‘It’s a threat’: UVA faculty reject Trump’s ‘Compact’ tying political compliance to federal funds

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — Faculty members at the University of Virginia (UVA) have rejected a controversial proposal from the White House that they said threatens academic freedom and free speech.

In a vote this week, 97% of UVA faculty opposed signing onto the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." The 10-page proposal, sent to UVA and eight other major universities across the country, calls on schools to accept Trump’s positions on issues including admissions, free speech and women’s sports. In return, universities would receive priority access to certain federal grants. The faculty vote also comes after the UVA Faculty Senate’s resolution, which also opposes the compact.

“Our organization sees this as a complete sham,” said Walter Heinecke, immediate past president of UVA’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). “It’s just an effort to further engage in extortion against universities around the country.”

Heinecke said faculty members view the proposal as a direct threat to higher education’s independence.

“We just can’t have that,” he said. “It’s just not what we do as universities.”

The AAUP, a national organization that advocates for professors' academic freedom, has called on universities nationwide to reject the compact outright. Heinecke said that if institutions agreed to the terms, it could open the door to federal surveillance and interference in university governance.

“This is all going to lead to, you know, sort of control and micromanaging and surveillance, and monitoring by the DOJ, if any university that’s been offered this compact signs off on it,” he said.

UVA’s interim president has formed a working group to review the proposal and determine how to respond. In a message to its community, the university said it would be “difficult to agree to certain provisions” of the compact and that its response will be guided by UVA’s long-standing commitment to academic freedom.

Heinecke urged the university’s leadership to stand firm.

“We encourage governing boards and presidents, at the University of Virginia especially, to reject this offer... to do absolutely nothing, to not accept it, to not negotiate about it, to not provide proposed revisions,” he said.

It's unclear how the nine universities were chosen to receive the compact. They’ve been asked to respond by Nov. 21.