President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 sought input from the broader Brown community about the Trump administration’s “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education” on Friday. She first acknowledged the compact at Tuesday’s faculty meeting, where faculty members and invited administrators discussed the memo in a private session.
If signed, the compact would require Brown to freeze tuition for five years, limit grade inflation and cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15% in exchange for “substantial and meaningful federal grants” and other benefits, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The University has been asked to provide feedback on the compact by Oct. 20, she wrote in an early morning Today@Brown message.
“We need to decide, as a community, how or whether to respond to the invitation to provide comments,” Paxson added.
This marks the first time Paxson has spoken publicly about the compact, while other institutions that received the memo, such as Penn and Dartmouth, released statements earlier this month.
She emphasized that Brown’s mission and values will guide the University’s decision-making process, citing academic freedom and a “diversity of ideas, perspectives and experiences.”
“I am grateful for the many comments I have received in the past week, and I look forward to hearing from more stakeholders in the coming days,” she wrote, soliciting emails from community members, including “faculty and student governance entities that have decided to collect and synthesize feedback” to be shared with her and other administrators.
The University did not immediately provide further comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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.
