MIT rejects federal compact
Move comes amidst student and faculty petitions in opposition to Trump administration’s demands
Lee Chen–The Tech
Lee Chen–The Tech
On Friday Oct. 10, MIT President Sally Kornbluth formally rejected the Trump administration's proposed compact in an email to the U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon. This decision came after mounting pressure from many MIT organizations, students and faculty alike, that called on the Institute to formally reject the compact. MIT is the first university to openly decline the compact.
The Institute’s Response
In her response to Secretary McMahon, President Kornbluth emphasized MIT’s “freely” chosen priorities of academic excellence, merit-based admissions, need-blind financial support, and free expression. She stated while such principles aligned with aspects of the compact, compliance with the totality of the document would compromise other core Institute values.
In particular, Kornbluth wrote the compact “restricts freedom of expression and [the Institute’s] independence as an institution. She wrote that the compact contradicts MIT’s core belief that “scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.” These sentiments echo previous Institute messaging, including a website reiterating the university’s focus on “merit-based and affordable” education with a “mission of national service.”
Kornbluth added that America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on the open competition for excellence in the “free marketplace of ideas,” which she states the compact could obstruct. Kornbluth emphasizes the alleged benefits of the scientific partnership between America’s research universities and the U.S. government nurtured by MIT leaders, ending her response by stating that she hopes MIT can continue to work with the administration.
Mounting pressure from students and faculty
On Oct. 9, the MIT Undergraduate Association stated their opposition to the contract in a joint statement with the representatives of student governments from the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, Vanderbilt, the University of Virginia, and the University of Arizona.
An open letter published by the MIT Graduate Student Union (GSU) has been signed by 29 campus organizations and over 400 individuals at the time of publication. The authors labelled the compact a “fundamental violation of core principles of higher education and academic freedom,” and argued that signing the compact would enable “unprecedented control” from presidential administrations over MIT’s student body’s academic freedom and civil rights.
In an official statement published on Monday, Oct. 6, the MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) corroborated the GSU’s open letter, calling for MIT senior leadership and the MIT Corporation to reject the compact “wholesale.”
The remaining eight
Nine institutions, both private and public, were asked to agree to the compact. MIT is the first to formally reject the measure. The other university leaders who have made public statements thus far have also emphasized the importance of preserving their institution’s values.
On Oct. 3, Dartmouth’s president, Sian Leah Beilock, did not explicitly make a decision on whether or not Dartmouth would sign the compact, but stated she would “never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.” On Oct 5th, J. Larry Jameson, President of Penn, stated he would “continue to seek the input of the Penn community” in responding to the compact. On Oct. 10, Christina Paxson, President of Brown, pledged a similar course of action.
The University of Texas at Austin, in contrast, may be more receptive to the compact’s demands. Kevin Eltife, the chairman of the Board of Regents for the University of Texas, stated that he “enthusiastically” anticipated working with university officials to review the plan. The other two public universities, Arizona and Virginia, are still in the process of review as of time of publication.
The institutions have until Oct. 20 to respond to the compact.