"Seven out of the nine universities that the Trump administration invited to offer feedback on the so-called Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education have politely declined to sign on. At its core, the compact offers preferential treatment in exchange for institutional support for President Donald Trump's political agenda. However, in some of the letters declining the compact, much ink was spilled to reassure the Trump administration that universities were already complying with many of the proposed changes without even being asked!"
"While the compact would have formalized institutions' agreement to police the research, teaching and speech of professors (and students), it is evident that this sort of policing is already happening. Academic freedom is central, even critical, to a system that evaluates research on its merits because it allows researchers to pursue questions, develop a research agenda and publish their findings without being beholden to institutions or individuals outside their field."
The Trump administration invited nine universities to provide feedback on the Compact for Academic Excellence, and seven declined to sign. The compact offered preferential treatment in exchange for institutional support of President Donald Trump's political agenda. Some declining letters reassured the administration that universities already complied with many proposed changes. Such practices chill academic freedom by making certain words, concepts, and projects unthinkable and by limiting what faculty can study, teach, and say. The compact would have formalized institutional policing of research, teaching, and speech, but similar policing is already evident. Campuses urged rejection and insisted funding should be based on scientific merit rather than political conformity.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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