The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) just fired a shot across the bow of one particular White House proposal. This proposal would have completely reformed the way we fund our nation’s colleges and universities. To these ideas, nine leading U.S. universities responded with their proposal, Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. Excluded from this list are Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia.
The administration’s plan would like to apply an array of restrictions on these top few hundred schools. Among these provisions is an enrollment cap on international students and a five-year tuition freeze. On top of that, there are narrow definitions of gender and banning any discussion that could infringe on ridicule of right wing perspectives. As you might expect, the administration is going in for the kill. They’re doing this by withholding research funding—or threatening to do so—amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars if these institutions fail to adopt the changes Nassar is proposing.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth expressed strong objections to the proposal, stating that accepting its terms “would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.” She emphasized that MIT already adheres to many principles outlined in the proposal but fundamentally disagrees with others that could compromise academic freedom.
“Fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone,” – Sally Kornbluth
Kornbluth’s comments reveal a deeper fear among academic leaders about the possible consequences of the Compact. To many, this is seen as a direct affront to institutional autonomy. They fear it’s trying to re-write the bedrock principles that have long regulated academic campuses.
The academic freedom and intellectual diversity values of the universities at the center of this misguided proposal have long been deeply rooted. They argue that the proposed restrictions not only undermine their independence but threaten the integrity of research and education in the United States.