Masking Control as Inclusion: The Problem with Trump’s Higher Education Compact

https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse45/34224813432

Edited by Eli Bardash, Juliette Calderon, Owen Andrews, and Sarah Ahmad

On October 1st, 2025, nine colleges received Trump’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. Prior to this, the Trump administration withheld billions in federal funding from elite schools, disapproving of the expansion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and claiming that schools were accommodating antisemitism. In October, the White House positioned itself as a “collaborator,” offering nine universities a Compact through which the universities could gain access to greater funding opportunities. However, the White House was using this so-called partnership to gain control over universities, pressuring them to comply with an agenda rooted in transphobia and racism. 

These nine colleges included the University of Arizona, Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, Vanderbilt, and the University of Virginia. 

According to May Mailman, a senior White House advisor, these universities were selected because they were “good actors,” as she told the Wall Street Journal. “They have a president who is a reformer or a board that has really indicated they are committed to a higher-quality education.” In other words, the Trump administration believed the boards or presidents would buy into the “conservatization” of their campuses.  

The Compact begins by listing the principle of “Equality in Admissions,” stating that schools cannot treat certain groups differently when evaluating applications. While this may sound like the Trump administration is truly concerned about racism, this section offers no ideas not already addressed by current law. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against considerations of race in college admissions. By presenting this as a new idea, Trump attempts to gain credibility without contributing anything transformative. 

Next, the Compact states that there must be a “marketplace of ideas and civil discourse” on campuses. This term suggests that Trump is advocating for a diverse range of ideologies and perspectives; however, it is clear that this provision’s true aim is to push conservative views. The Compact specifically states that colleges cannot “punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” saying nothing about other ideologies. Instead of promoting ideological diversity, Trump solely protects that of his followers while essentially inhibiting left-leaning speech. 

Section six, “Student Equality,” claims, “Students shall be treated as individuals and not on the basis of their immutable characteristics.” It then directly contradicts this statement with a transphobic component. The Compact states that “women’s equality” requires single-sex spaces such as bathrooms and sports. It goes on to clarify that institutions must commit to “defining and otherwise interpreting ‘male,’ ‘female,’ ‘woman,’ and ‘man’ according to reproductive function and biological processes.” This provision implicitly prohibits transgender students from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity and bars them from sports. While the Compact might seem to protect people against discrimination, it is actually codifying discrimination against transgender and non-binary people. 

After stating that students should not be treated differently on account of racial identity, the Compact goes on to describe international students as “saturating the campus with noxious values … creating serious national security risks.” This paragraph is followed by the provision of a 15% cap on international students. Labeling international students as a threat is xenophobic and carries a racist connotation. Although not all international students are people of color, this description still portrays the entirety of this group as essentially harmful.  

“Today it’s these things,” said Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education. “Next week, it may be a whole new set. This is a power play, and it’s designed to divide the higher education community.” Trump’s Compact is indeed an attempt to take control of American universities. While its language suggests that Trump’s incentives are to eliminate inequity and promote diversity, in reality, he wants the opposite. On October 10th, MIT rejected participation in the Compact. After a string of protests by students and professors, others promptly followed. Now, all but Vanderbilt and the University of Texas have rejected the Compact. 

At the University of Virginia, students protested this Compact on October 17th, and later that evening the University formally announced the rejection of signing it. Even after most of the universities rejected the Compact, The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), has continued to demand action against the Trump administration’s attempt to control higher ed., ultimately calling for over 100 protests across various schools. “Universities should be a place of learning, not propaganda machines,” as Alicia Colomer, managing director at Campus Climate Network, said ahead of a National Day of Action on November 7.

As the Trump administration finds new ways to try to influence schools, it is crucial that we understand the intention behind their words and, with that, recognize the effectiveness of persistent student action and protests.