Interim President Paul Mahoney has rejected the Trump administration’s “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education” after over 1,000 students, staff, faculty, and UVA community members let their voices be heard at a rally this afternoon.
The Compact — which jeopardizes federal funding for UVA and eight other institutions — has been a divisive topic since its release on October 1st. The document proposed limits on the content of courses within targeted schools while simultaneously capping international student acceptance and encouraging what it calls “hard sciences.”
At 4:37 p.m. today, Mahoney released a statement including his letter to the Department of Education (“DOE”), in which he stated that the letter “confirms our core values and commitments while expressing our view that federal research funding should be based on merit.”
The letter states that the UVA administration does not seek the promised funding preferences in order to advance education. Mahoney expressed that “the integrity of science and other academic work requires merit-based assessment of research and scholarship. A contractual arrangement predicating assessment on anything other than merit will undermine the integrity of vital, sometimes lifesaving, research and further erode confidence in American higher education.”
Mahoney leaned into the DOE’s rhetoric: “Higher education faces significant challenges and has not always lived up to its highest ideals.” While gently rejecting the demands, he offered to open communication between UVA and the federal government. “We believe that the best path toward real and durable progress lies in an open and collaborative conversation,” Mahoney said.
Since word spread of the potential impacts of the agreement, attention on Grounds has shifted to what event organizers have labelled as “authoritarian overreach.” The UVA Faculty Senate quickly offered a resolution to push Mahoney towards rejection. The resolution — which passed the Faculty Senate in a vote of 64-2 on October 3rd — argues that the Department of Education’s proposal contains provisions deemed “antithetical to the mission and traditions of the University,” and which “endanger the independence and integrity of the University.”
Mahoney concluded his address, stating: “We will continue to work to strengthen free expression and free inquiry, protect academic freedom, ensure affordability, promote intellectual pluralism, and maintain institutional neutrality in an increasingly polarized world. I am grateful for your continued dedication to the University and I look forward to working with you on these vital projects.”
The address comes just hours after a community-organized protest occurred in opposition to the Compact and in solidarity with other affected universities. Several speakers were infuriated by the language used in the Trump Administration’s proposal, articulating a clear stance on the damage to higher education that is at stake.
“This is what the heart and soul of UVA looks like,” said Student Council President Clay Dickerson, shouting from the steps of the Rotunda. “We are not to be leashed up by the federal government and dragged around,” said Dickerson, “I am a student. I invest my funds into this University, so what happened to taxation without representation?”
Among the crowd were students sporting signs reading, “What would Mr. Jefferson do,” “Say no to gov bribery,” and “Choose freedom, not fealty.” Protesters arrived at the front of Madison Hall, delivering a thick white binder with a cover reading “DO NOT SIGN! DO NOT FOLD!” and wrapped in an ornate red bow to University Rector Rachel Sheridan. Within it, pages upon pages of petitions and letters urged Mahoney to take the decisive action that would later unfold.
UVA is now the fifth university to reject the Compact, following in the steps of MIT, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Southern California.
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