“Nope. Nothing. Nada.” “Not at all.” “No”. “NO.” “NO!”
Those are just some of the more than 2,000 responses the University of Virginia received in October to a survey question asking community members whether there were parts of the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” that they supported.
Those curt replies were broadly representative of the responses as a whole. Faculty, staff, and students who answered the survey expressed overwhelming opposition to the compact, which would require UVa to make substantial changes in enrollment, hiring, grading, and more in exchange for preferential access to federal funding. UVa was one of the initial nine universities presented with a draft of the compact. No college has officially signed on.
The feedback, obtained by The Chronicle via a public-records request, illuminates the extent to which large swaths of the campus community balked at the idea of their university signing not just the controversial compact — but any agreement with the federal government. UVa eventually rejected the compact, but days later, it struck a deal with the Department of Justice to pause remaining investigations into its compliance with civil-rights law as long as it pledged to follow the government’s understanding of those laws. Many faculty members and several lawmakers have expressed concerns with that decision.
“It felt like a big win that the university took these comments into consideration as they made their decision about the draft compact,” said Jeri K. Seidman, an associate professor in the school of commerce and chair of the faculty senate. “But then it’s not clear that they actually did, because the same concerns would apply to the voluntary resolution agreement as well.”
In a statement to The Chronicle, Brian Coy, a spokesman for UVa, said the compact and the DOJ agreement were very different situations.
“While the compact was an offer institutions could either accept or reject, a government investigation is an accusation of possible wrongdoing, and it is not an option to simply refuse to resolve the matter somehow,” Coy wrote.
The survey also asked respondents to name provisions of the compact they opposed, and responses reveal how developments at the flagship, a central target in the Trump administration’s crusade against elite higher education, have weighed on its students, faculty, and staff.
Dozens of comments make reference to the June resignation of former university president James E. Ryan amid a DOJ probe of the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. Ryan, the board chair, and DOJ lawyers have offered conflicting accounts of what happened over the summer and who was primarily responsible, with Ryan suggesting the exit was engineered by rogue board members. But at the time of the compact survey, that complex portrait had not yet emerged, and many community members saw his departure as entirely the result of federal interference.
“Do not ruin the University of Virginia more than you already have,” one person wrote. “The BOV allowing the Trump Administration to run Jim Ryan off Grounds was an absolute embarrassment. Stop caving in to this bully — show some backbone and do the right thing this time.”
Many commenters took issue with the “principle” of the compact, saying that it essentially amounted to a loyalty oath, and didn’t go into detail evaluating its contents. Others took apart the compact point-by-point in hundreds of words, expressing fears for academic freedom, free speech, and inclusion. Some wrote that while they supported aspects of the compact — such as tuition freezes and financial transparency — they didn’t like the idea of handing over the university’s autonomy.
Wholehearted embraces of the draft compact were uncommon.
Bonnie Gordon, a professor in the music department, told The Chronicle that while one may argue people are more likely to respond to something they don’t like, a “pretty overwhelming no” emerges from the data.
“What people do not want is federal overreach,” Gordon added.
Some responses were personal. A respondent who said they were a first-year student said that if UVa signed “any variation” of the compact they would strongly consider transferring.
“This compact would make UVa a different university then the one I committed to attending last April and I believe among many things the quality of education I would receive here would not be as strong if UVa is to sign this compact,” they wrote.
The F-word is used nine times, including in a comment by someone who said they would transfer and would tell everyone they know to transfer if UVa signs the agreement. “I will harbor nothing but ill will for this Board and this school,” they wrote.
There were nearly 200 references to UVa’s founder, Thomas Jefferson, almost all of which were in service of the argument that the compact went against his vision of the university.
“Stand your ground,” one wrote. “You know it’s what Thomas Jefferson would have wanted.”
