The Trump administration has warned nine U.S. universities to sign an agreement supporting its political agenda or risk losing federal funding. The move has sparked concern among educators over academic freedom and government overreach.

Washington

The Trump administration sent a letter to nine U.S. universities, urging them to pledge support for its political agenda or face the potential loss of federal funding. The letter, described as a 'compact,' outlines requirements for institutional neutrality and calls for the elimination of academic departments perceived as hostile to conservative ideas. 

Several universities, including USC, Vanderbilt, UVA, and MIT, are reviewing the agreement, while others have not commented. Free speech advocates have expressed concern that the compact could undermine academic freedom and the First Amendment, especially as the Department of Justice would have unilateral authority to determine compliance.

Trump tells nine universities to back agenda or lose federal funds

So last week, the Trump administration sent a letter to nine U.S. universities asking them to pledge support for the Trump administration's political agenda or risk losing access to federal funding. CBS News obtained a copy of that so-called compact, and the 10-page letter says, quote, institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values other than those below if the institution elects to forego federal benefits. Of the nine schools that received that compact, USC, Vanderbilt, UVA, and MIT told CBS News they are still reviewing the agreement. Others did not immediately respond for comment. To talk more about this, let's bring in Tyler Coward. He is the lead counsel for government affairs over at FIRE, which stands for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Tyler, thanks for being here to talk about all this. This is just the latest attempt here by the Trump administration to assert some control over higher education in this country. What concerns do you have about this so-called compact and the effects that it could have on campus freedoms? Sure. Well, first, you know, the compact includes some troubling language and some language that doesn't concern us at FIRE being a free speech and academic freedom organization. But the language that is concerning is it calls for institutions to eliminate academic departments deemed to, quote, purposefully punish, belittle, or even spark violence against conservative ideas. We should be clear that speech that offends or criticizes political views is not violence. Conflating words with violence undermines both free speech and efforts to combat real threats. So these nine universities, they have until October 20th to respond here. What happens if they do agree? What happens if they don't agree? How will this legally be enforced by the government? How does it all really play out here? Well, there are a couple of different concerns here. One of the requirements to getting good with the federal government under this compact is a demand that they remain institutionally neutral. And we at FIRE think that institutional neutrality is a good thing. It allows for a real marketplace of ideas to flourish on campus without top-down pressure from campus administrators. This has to be voluntary. The moment the federal government threatens to pull funds or pull benefits from institutions unless they keep quiet about certain issues, then neutrality turns into censorship, and that's a real First Amendment concern. Second, it comes down to how this is enforced. Right now, the terms of this compact allow the Department of Justice unilateral authority to determine whether or not an institution is compliant with the terms of this compact. And it's one thing to sort of—oh, excuse me, we've seen time and time and time again that when universities face a choice between maintaining access to federal benefits or standing up against federal pressure to censor students or faculty, all too often, our universities choose money and access over standing up for fundamental liberties. Tyler Coward, thank you very much for joining us here. Thank you.

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