UVA rejects Trump’s funding ‘Compact,’ citing ‘difficult to agree to’ provisions

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) -- University of Virginia (UVA) has officially rejected a controversial proposal from the White House -- which faculty said would threaten academic freedom and free speech -- in a community statement released by the interim university president on Friday.

The evening of Friday, Oct. 17, interim university president Paul Mahoney announced that UVA would be rejecting the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," a week after university faculty members rejected the controversial 10-page proposal, claiming it would threaten academic freedom and free speech.

During a vote in the week of Friday, Oct. 10, 97% of faculty members opposed signing onto the compact.

"It would be difficult for the University to agree to certain provisions in the Compact," Mahoney wrote to the UVA community on Friday afternoon.

The proposal, sent to UVA and eight other major universities across the U.S., calls on schools to accept President Donald Trump’s positions on issues including admissions, free speech and women’s sports. In return, universities would receive priority access to research funding and federal partnerships. 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.”

Mahoney shared a letter he sent to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in his email on Friday, emphasizing that the university does not want any "special treatment in exchange for our pursuit of those foundational goals."

"The integrity of science and other academic work requires merit-based assessment of research and scholarship," Mahoney wrote to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). "A contractual arrangement predicating assessment on anything other than merit will undermine the integrity of vital, sometimes lifesaving, research and further erode confidence in American higher education."

Mahoney further acknowledged the need for a continued partnership with the federal government, specifically highlighting that "the best path toward real and durable progress lies in an open and collaborative conversation."

He urged that the university and the DOE work collaboratively to "develop alternative, lasting approaches to improving higher education."

In a separate letter to the UVA community announcing the decision, Mahoney, who has formed a working group to study the document and respond to the proposal, thanked those who shared their opinions about the compact.

"We will continue to work to strengthen free expression and free inquiry, protect academic freedom, ensure affordability, promote intellectual pluralism, and maintain institutional neutrality in an increasingly polarized world," Mahoney wrote to the university community. "I am grateful for your continued dedication to the University and I look forward to working with you on these vital projects."

Four other universities -- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California -- have rejected the compact.

UVA was asked to comment on the compact no later than Monday, Oct. 20.