Brown University Joins MIT in Rejecting Trump Administration Offer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University President Christina H. Paxson said Tuesday that the university will not join the White House’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” warning that the initiative could give the federal government undue authority over university teaching and research.

“But while a number of provisions in the Compact reflect similar principles as the July agreement — as well as our own commitments to affordability and the free exchange of ideas — 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,” Paxson wrote in a letter to federal officials on Oct. 15.

Her letter points to Brown’s existing voluntary resolution agreement with the federal government, signed in July, which she said already advances goals of equity and accountability without compromising university independence. That agreement, she noted, led the federal government to restore Brown’s research funding and close three pending investigations into shared-ancestry and race discrimination.

“But most important,” Paxson wrote, “Brown’s existing agreement with the federal government expressly affirms the government’s lack of authority to dictate our curriculum or the content of academic speech — a principle that is not reflected in the Compact.”

She also criticized the Compact’s reference to possible new funding criteria for research awards, arguing that “a fundamental part of academic excellence is awarding research funding on the merits of the research being proposed.” Paxson warned that “funding research on criteria other than the soundness and likely impact of research would ultimately damage the health and prosperity of Americans.”

Paxson said Brown’s current agreement “affirms the University’s ability to compete fairly for new research grants in the future, a doctrine of fairness and a commitment to excellence that aligns with our values.” She added that Brown would continue to work with federal partners on higher-education initiatives but only in ways that preserve academic freedom and institutional self-governance.

Earlier this month, Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth released her own response on Oct. 10 declining the Compact.

In her letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Kornbluth affirmed that “these values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they’re right.” But she added that the Compact contains “principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.”

Kornbluth emphasized that “the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone” Kornbluth insisted that “in our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence,” and concluded, “we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”

Kornbluth recalled that MIT’s mission is grounded in a set of values awarding merit and welcoming students regardless of finances, adding that “we must hear facts and opinions we don’t like — and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.”