WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Friday she “cannot support” a White House proposal that asks MIT and eight other universities to adopt President Donald Trump’s political agenda in exchange for favorable access to federal funding.
In a letter to Trump administration officials, MIT President Sally Kornbluth said MIT disagrees with provisions of the proposal, including some that would limit free speech and the university’s independence.
“Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education,” Kornbluth said in a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon and White House officials.
That bond faces unprecedented strain as the White House cuts billions of dollars in research funding from campuses it accuses of antisemitism and liberal bias.
As part of the compact, the White House asked universities to freeze tuition for U.S. students for five years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology stated Friday that she “cannot support” a White House proposal that would grant favorable access to federal funding to MIT and eight other universities in exchange for their adoption of President Donald Trump’s political agenda.
The White House claimed that the deal would provide “many positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” and MIT was one of the first companies to voice strong opinions in favor of or against it. Although the majority of other campuses have remained silent while they review the document, leaders of the University of Texas system expressed their gratitude for the invitation to their flagship university in Austin.
In a letter to officials in the Trump administration, MIT President Sally Kornbluth stated that the university disagrees with parts of the proposal, including those that would restrict free expression and the university’s autonomy. She said it goes against MIT’s view that funding for science should only be given on the basis of merit.
Kornbluth wrote to Education Secretary Linda McMahon and White House officials, saying, “Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”.
In accordance with Trump’s political agenda, universities must make a wide range of commitments on issues ranging from free speech and student discipline to women’s sports and admissions, according to the higher education compact that was circulated last week. The deadline for the universities to submit “limited, targeted feedback” was October. 20 and decide by November at the latest. 21.
The ten-page proposal was also sent to Brown University, the University of Virginia, the University of Southern California, the University of Arizona, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt. The selection process and rationale for the schools were unclear.
Colleges are under increasing pressure to turn down the proposal.
In the face of resistance from students, faculty, free speech advocates, and higher education organizations, university administrators are under tremendous pressure to reject the compact. Some other universities’ leaders have referred to it as extortion. The compact was officially opposed by Tucson’s mayor and city council, which is home to the University of Arizona, who described it as an “unacceptable act of federal interference.”. “.”.
Some conservatives have even criticized the compact as a poor strategy. According to Frederick Hess, director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, the government’s requests are “ungrounded in law” and are “profoundly problematic.”. “.”.
Officials at the University of Virginia asked for campus input on the plan this week. It would be “very difficult” to accept some of the arrangement’s terms, according to a statement from university officials, who also stated that the decision would be made based on “principles of academic freedom and free inquiry.”. “”.
If the university accepted the agreement, Democrats in the Virginia Senate threatened to reduce its funding. The state would not “subsidize an institution that has ceded its independence to federal political control,” according to a letter sent to the university’s leaders on Tuesday by prominent Democrats who referred to the compact as a trap. “.”.
Governor of California. Last week, Democratic Senator Gavin Newsom gave USC a similar ultimatum.
The president of Brown University, who already reached a deal with the White House in July to close a number of investigations, Christina H. According to Paxson, she is looking for campus feedback on Friday in order to determine whether or not to react to the new proposal.
The compact represents a novel strategy for reform.
The administration claimed in its letter to universities that the compact would renew and fortify the “mutually beneficial relationship” between the government and universities. As the White House slashes billions of dollars in research funding from universities it claims are liberally biased and antisemitic, that bond is under more strain than ever before.
According to the letter, the compact is an active attempt at reform even as the government uses other tactics to enforce the law. The invitation to become “initial signatories” was extended to the nine universities. “”.
Although Kornbluth did not specifically reject the compact, his letter implied that its terms were unfeasible. She did, however, add that MIT already shares some of the principles mentioned in the agreement, such as giving preference to applicants based on merit and lowering the cost of education.
According to Kornbluth, MIT was the first to reintroduce the need for standardized tests following the COVID-19 pandemic and now admits students based on their hard work, talent, and ideas. She added that incoming undergraduates whose families make less than $200,000 annually do not pay tuition.
“We live by these values because they support our mission, and we freely choose them because they are right,” Kornbluth wrote.
In the compact, the White House requested that colleges freeze tuition for U.S. S. five years of students. For students pursuing “hard science” programs, those with endowments over $2 million per undergraduate could not impose any tuition fees.
In addition to requiring the SAT or ACT for all undergraduate applicants, it called on colleges to remove factors like race and sex from admissions decisions. Additionally, participating schools would have to adopt the government’s binary definition of gender and implement it for sports teams and restrooms on campus.
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