In an article yesterday, the Chronicle of Higher Education cited two anonymous sources saying that College President Sian Leah Beilock would not sign the Trump administration’s higher education compact “as written.”
The White House sent the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” to the College and eight other universities on Oct. 1. The agreement requires schools to cap international student enrollment at 15%, freeze tuition for five years and end “preferential treatment” to any group in admissions, among other terms, in exchange for funding benefits.
On Oct. 12, Trump expanded the compact’s offer to all colleges and universities in the United States, according to Forbes. The White House expects the initial universities to respond to the compact with “feedback” by Oct. 20.
In an email to campus on Oct. 3, Beilock wrote that she was “deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission” and to the College’s “fierce independence.”
“We will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves,” she wrote.
At their Oct. 16 meeting, the Board of Trustees will discuss the College’s “feedback” to the Trump administration, senior vice president for communications and government relations Justin Anderson wrote in an email to The Dartmouth.
“The Board of Trustees, as fiduciaries of the institution, are actively engaged with the president and senior leadership on feedback Dartmouth will provide on the compact as requested by the White House,” Anderson continued.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was the first of the nine colleges that initially received the letter to reject it, according to the Wall Street Journal. Brown University rejected the compact earlier today, according to The Brown Daily Herald.
“I am concerned that the compact by its nature and by various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission,” Brown president Christina Paxson wrote in her response to the White House.
Student leaders and faculty shared similar concerns that the compact would hinder academic freedom. As of Oct. 12, 569 faculty members have signed a petition urging Beilock to reject the compact.
“Beilock has been meeting with faculty across the institution to solicit their input and is looking forward to providing feedback to the White House, as requested,” College spokesperson Jana Barnello wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth.
Iris WeaverBell ’28 is a news reporter. She is from Portland, Ore., and is majoring in economics and minoring in public policy.
