The Vanderbilt University chapter of the American Association of University Professors has sent a letter to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Provost Cybele Raver, voicing their continued opposition to a White House compact offer other schools have rejected.
The offer would require Vanderbilt to align its policies with those of the Trump administration in order to gain more favorable federal funding opportunities than otherwise.
Chancellor sends letter to faculty, students saying school will continue ‘ongoing dialogue’ with Trump administration
Diermeier sent a noncommittal statement to faculty and staff via an email on Monday. In it, the chancellor neither accepted nor rejected the compact, instead saying the university will continue an “ongoing dialogue” and provide feedback to the White House, citing Vanderbilt’s policy of “institutional neutrality.”
The letter from the AAUP chapter members asks the university to fully reject the compact and highlights ongoing opposition from Vanderbilt faculty and students, more than 1,200 of whom signed a petition on the matter. Others held an on-campus protest, and the Vanderbilt faculty senate passed a resolution earlier this month urging the university to completely reject the compact. Vanderbilt Student Government has also expressed its opposition.
“We are disappointed and upset,” reads the open letter sent by the Vanderbilt AAUP chapter on Oct. 21.
Students, faculty and professors marched on Wednesday as Chancellor Diermeier mulls funding deal with Trump administration
“The Compact is not a good-faith offer to discuss educational policy or an opportunity for ‘constructive dialogue,’ as you claim in your message. Rather, it is a coercive document that threatens the withdrawal of federal funds from universities that do not endorse the current administration’s political positions.”
Critics of the compact see it as excessive federal overreach into institutions of higher education and worry it could lead to censorship in research, curriculum and other aspects of campus life. They have expressed concern that the compact's implementation could infringe upon constitutional rights, as it would require Vanderbilt to comply with the government's definition of gender, to ban race and gender in hiring and admissions, and to cap international student enrollment, among other policies.
Vanderbilt did not respond to a request for comment.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
