Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened to withhold state funding from California universities that agree to the policies in a new “compact” distributed recently by the Trump administration.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, the White House sent a 10-page letter titled the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” to nine major colleges and universities, asking them to pledge that they will reform “institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.” The administration also said that the universities would be required to sign the document in exchange for expanded access to federal funding.
Agreement “will yield multiple positive benefits for the school, including allowance for increased overhead payments where feasible, substantial and meaningful federal grants, and other federal partnerships,” the letter read.
But just hours after news of the “compact” was released, Newsom issued his own demands — channeling Trump’s signature posting style in the process.
“IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY’LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY,” Newsom posted to social media. “CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.”
The administration’s letters were sent to Vanderbilt University, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, USC, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia.
May Mailman, a White House senior adviser for special projects and an architect of the administration’s crackdown on higher education, told The Journal the nine schools were selected because they were believed to be “good actors.”
“They have a president who is a reformer or a board that has really indicated they are committed to a higher-quality education,” she said.
Mailman said the compact would likely be extended to other universities and colleges.
“We hope all universities ultimately are able to have a conversation with us,” she told The New York Times in a separate interview.
USC did not respond to a request for comment from NOTUS.
So far, the only university to commit to signing on is the University of Texas at Austin, according to reporting from CNN. The University of Virginia, MIT and the USC have said they are reviewing the letter.
“We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately,” Kevin Eltife, UT’s Board of Regents’ chair, told CNN.
The letter, which asks for a decision by Nov. 21, commits the universities to adopting MAGA’s vision for America’s campuses, with commitments to accept the government’s perspectives on women’s sports, free speech, student discipline, gender definitions and college affordability.
While the majority of the memo revolves around campus politics, it also demands the schools ban the consideration of race or sex in hiring and admissions, freeze tuition for five years and instate a 15% cap on international undergraduate enrollment. The letter additionally demands the schools freeze tuition for five years.
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS — a publication from the nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute — and NEWSWELL, home of Times of San Diego, Santa Barbara News-Press and Stocktonia.
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