TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The University of Arizona is in sort of an exclusive club—a short list of Universities the White House is offering a chance to get preferred treatment for Federal money if they agree to some things the Administration wants.
The Trump Administration came to the University of Arizona and eight other large universities and basically said, “Let’s make a deal. You agree to nine pages of conditions and you’ll have an easier time getting Federal funding.”
A partial list from what the Administration calls the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” calls for forbidding factors like race, gender and sexual orientation when admitting a student or hiring faculty and staff.
It would limit any consideration of transgender people by defining male and female by reproductive function
Universities that agree to the Compact would freeze tuition for five years.
They would take steps to ensure civil debate but they would also limit what the compact calls discriminatory, threatening or harassing behavior
Schools asked to sign the compact are a mix of large public and private universities. Besides U of A, the list includes Brown University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Texas, Vanderbilt University, and University of Virginia.
Speaking for herself, not the University, U of A faculty chair and Middle Eastern Studies professor Leila Hudson says Arizona already lives up to some of the things in the compact like avoiding discrimination in admissions and hiring. But she says the Administration has no business holding back funding to ensure compliance.
“Remember, I've spent a lot of my life in the Middle East watching what it looks like in authoritarian systems in which your access, your funding, in many cases, your ability to go on with your livelihood is based on ideological or partisan loyalty that is absolutely inimical to our American values.”
U of A Sophomore Marnisha Brows hopes the University does not give in to the White House demands.
“I think it's a bit arbitrary, especially with the standards they are setting. I don’t even think we should have to pay so much for the education that we're fighting to get. And now you want to put rules and stipulations, and then I feel like if we give in to those stipulations, what's next? What more are we going to have to have to give up?”
It’s not clear why U of A is among the nine universities, but Leila Hudson says it could be an opportunity— to engage with the people who wrote the compact and try to convince them not to try to fix a system that she says is not broken.
——-
Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
