White House Compact Ties Funding to Campus Policies

The White House sent a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" to nine elite U.S. universities — Vanderbilt, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, USC, MIT, Brown, University of Texas, University of Arizona and University of Virginia — offering preferential access to federal grants and White House events in exchange for adopting the administration's campus policy agenda. The 10-point memo asks schools to cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15%, freeze tuition for five years, require standardized tests (SAT/ACT or similar), and bar consideration of race, sex or gender identity in admissions and hiring. It also asks institutions to apply the government's definition of gender to restrooms and women's sports, commit to protecting "academic freedom" for all viewpoints, and to transform or abolish campus units said to punish or belittle conservative ideas. The compact seeks enforcement of civility rules to limit disruptive protests. Critics including the AAUP, American Federation of Teachers and FIRE called the proposal coercive — likening it to a loyalty oath — and warned it could chill free expression and amount to government overreach; universities are reviewing the offer.