President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 announced that she formally rejected the Trump administration’s compact in a Wednesday letter to the Brown community.
The compact, which was sent to the University on Oct. 1, would require Brown to freeze tuition for five years, limit grade inflation and cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15% in exchange for financial and other benefits.
Of the nine universities to have been sent the compact, Brown was the second to formally reject it after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which announced its refusal last week.
In her response — which was sent to the Education Secretary Linda McMahon and White House Officials May Mailman and Vince Haley — Paxson wrote, “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.”
While Brown’s deal with the federal government, which was reached in July, affirmed the government’s lack of authority to dictate Brown’s curriculum or academic speech, she wrote, the compact did not express this sentiment.
“Additionally, a fundamental part of academic excellence is awarding research funding on the merits of the research being proposed,” she wrote, framing the process of awarding funding “on criteria other than the soundness and likely impact of research” as a move that would “ultimately damage the health and prosperity of Americans.”
“President Trump is committed to restoring academic excellence and common sense at our higher education institutions,” White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston wrote in an email to The Herald. “Any university that joins this historic effort will help to positively shape America’s future.”
A White House official told The Herald “past harm and discrimination,” while the compact is “forward looking and collaborative, and we plan to work with university leaders to achieve our shared goal of excellence in university teaching and research.”
The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The Faculty Executive Committee, Brown’s central faculty governance committee, sent a letter to Paxson on Tuesday, urging her to reject the compact. This followed a faculty town hall earlier that day, where faculty members said they did not want Paxson to sign on to the compact.
Last week, Paxson solicited feedback from the greater campus community in a Today@Brown message. “We need to decide, as a community, how or whether to respond to the invitation to provide comments,” she wrote in the message.
Cate Latimer is a university news editor covering faculty, University Hall and higher education. She is from Portland, OR, and studies English and Urban Studies. In her free time, you can find her playing ultimate frisbee or rewatching episodes of Parks and Rec.
