"Last week while I was observing Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and reflection, I received word of the federal government's plans for a " Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." What an opportunity for higher education to be forgiven for our past transgressions and to mend our ways-just by joining a Loyalty Club that promises preferential treatment!"
"Although I have not yet been asked by the esteemed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to promise that my university shares the glorious values of the current administration, I eagerly await the chance to express my fidelity in exchange for special consideration from funding agencies. May Mailman, President Trump's higher-ed point person, is giving us the opportunity to atone for any work we may have done in cultivating belonging on diverse campuses and to show that we are, in her words, " good actors.""
Word arrived about a federal plan called the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" offering preferential funding to institutions that demonstrate alignment with administration values. The proposal frames loyalty and civic cultivation as criteria for merit and funding. University leaders are presented with incentives to pledge fidelity in exchange for special consideration from funding agencies. The plan and its rhetoric invite comparisons with historical loyalty oaths by pressuring professors and campuses to prioritize allegiance over commitments to diversity, belonging, and academic freedom. The compact raises concerns about coercion, politicization of higher education, and the potential erasure of institutional commitments to inclusive campus communities.
Read at The Nation
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