On September 28th The Washington Post reported that the Trump Administration is planning to offer what they have named a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” to nine universities in the United States with the promise of preferential access to funding for any school which participates. Within this compact, demands that are invasive and contrary to the mission of the University, such as banning the consideration of race and sex in admissions and limitations on the number of students born abroad sit alongside dangerous but nebulous demands such as closing any department which “belittles” conservative ideas. This “compact” must be regarded as an attempt to topple the University and end any semblance of academic freedom at The University of Texas at Austin.
This offer comes after months of the Trump Administration targeting universities like Harvard and Columbia using the threat and enticement of funding as well in an attempt to force those institutions into handing over their institutional independence and academic freedom to the Trump Administration. As we have seen in the case of Columbia in particular, conceding to these demands will not satisfy the federal government nor their allies in the media who have made it a point to target universities for intimidation and retaliation. Despite continued enthusiastic efforts to cooperate with the Trump Administration in limiting the speech of students and academics, they are still being threatened and subject to retaliatory policies.
As graduates and former students of The University of Texas at Austin, we demand that the university stands firm in defending the bedrock principles of institutional independence and academic freedom that are necessary for every learning environment open to new ideas and critical thinking. If we truly believe “what starts here changes the world,” then we must also act as models to the world which we hope to change. Sacrificing the legacy of our institution for the dubious hope of a small bump in funding would be an error akin to Esau selling his legacy for a mess of pottage.
Beyond this, the University of Texas has always embraced and supported diverse social and political ideologies. During much of our time at Texas, the Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) safely held demonstrations that were undisrupted, despite their offensiveness. This included the Affirmative Action bake sale and the 1000 Grand xenophobic display that included “catching” an undocumented person.The University doesn’t need this administration directing our campus, we have been able to coexist and produce brilliance without them. We should also consider the ripple effects across higher education if we bend to these demands, and the precedent we set for other Universities who may look to us to lead. This is a time for resistance, not anticipatory obedience. It is for this reason, we urge the leadership at The University of Texas at Austin to reject any offer from the Trump Administration and to loudly tout the virtue of our independence and academic freedom.