The Vanderbilt University Faculty Senate has adopted a resolution recommending the school reject a recent offer from the Trump administration that would give preferential funding if the university complies with certain policies laid out by the White House.Â
The agreement, known as the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” was sent to nine schools across the U.S. and would control certain campus policies related to politics and the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions, create a five-year tuition freeze, cap undergraduate enrollment for international students and enforce the government’s definition of gender.Â
Vanderbilt among nine higher-education institutions asked to sign Trump administration compact in exchange for financial opportunities
The faculty senate passed the resolution in opposition during an emergency session Wednesday that followed protests that afternoon from Vanderbilt students and faculty against the Trump administration deal.Â
Jonathan Gilligan, a professor at the university and senate member, introduced the resolution, which says the compact’s policies are "antithetical to the mission and traditions” of the university and threaten the school’s independence. It also says the compact may violate state and federal laws and endanger constitutional rights and free speech of university students and faculty.Â
“The Faculty Senate of Vanderbilt University firmly opposes this Compact as written and calls upon Chancellor [Daniel] Diermeier and the Board of Trust to also reject this Compact outright as well as any similar proposal compromising the mission, values, and independence of the University,” the resolution reads.Â
Gilligan modeled the text after a similar resolution recently passed by the faculty senate at the University of Virginia, which was also among the nine schools to receive the compact, according to a press release from the Vanderbilt chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Students, faculty and professors marched on Wednesday as Chancellor Diermeier mulls funding deal with Trump administration
The VU resolution passed 30-11 with one abstention. A majority of the faculty senate is made up of elected members employed at Vanderbilt. Twelve unelected deans also serve in the body.Â
About 1,000 members of the Vanderbilt community have signed a petition opposing a deal with the Trump administration.
“It is about control and power,” the petition reads. “This compact would put Vanderbilt and any other university signatories under Trump's (and his successors’) thumb for years to come. It would curb our free speech rights on campus and make them subject to federal, political approval.”
A group of Vanderbilt professors is planning a teach-in for Friday, Oct. 17, to discuss the matter with students and faculty.Â
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
