TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — University of Arizona students gathered in front of Old Main Friday afternoon to protest the idea that the University might agree to let the White House set standards for university affairs in return for better access to Federal grants.
It happened on the same afternoon when UA President Suresh Garimella was in a secret meeting with the Board of Regents to consider what to do with the deal.
Organizers say 18 student groups have come together right outside the office of the U of A President to call on the university to reject the White House compact.
That agreement asks universities to remove sex and ethnicity as criteria for admissions and hiring, limit foreign students, forbid transgender people on sports teams, and forbid actions that would suppress conservative ideas. There are ten conditions in all.
UA student Luke Felix Rose says, “If the university signs on to this compact, a lot of my friends and mentors will be without jobs, and the student spaces from which we organize will no longer exist. My international students and friends will be at risk of being taken and what I'm allowed to say on campus will be heavily restricted.”
So far, MIT, Brown, University of Pennsylvania and USC have rejected the deal. The University of Texas has seemed open to the agreement but has not formally accepted it.
As other schools dropped out, the Wall Street Journal is reporting the Trump administration approached Arizona State about joining the deal.
Schools are supposed to give the White House feedback on the plan by this Monday but the administration has said the deal is very close to its final form.
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