New Compact Shows Resistance Works, but Fight for Higher Ed Isn’t Over

AFT President Randi Weingarten and AAUP President Todd Wolfson issued the following response to the Trump administration's new higher education compact.

The Trump administration is back with a second version of its higher education compact. The reason is simple: The first one failed-and failed for good reason. This compact was not about investing in higher education or helping students succeed-it's all about continuing culture wars. Faculty, students, staff, alumni, and unions said 'no' the first time the Trump administration attempted to remake higher education through political pressure.

Now the administration is back with Compact 2.0, formally titled "A National Call to Action to University Presidents and Governing Boards." It includes some rhetorical flourishes intended to make it seem less threatening to teaching, learning and research. But make no mistake: It once again asks colleges and universities to align themselves with a far-right agenda at the expense of students' education and the public's well-being.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon's demands for "reform" are designed to make unprecedented federal political intervention in colleges and universities appear reasonable. Racially coded descriptions of "admissions decisions ... based on merit" and "prioritizing American students and faculty," as well as the mischaracterization of peaceful protesters as "unruly and violent," show that the Trump administration's goals remain the same.

Let's be clear: Compact 2.0 lacks many of the most egregious elements of its predecessor, including threats to federal research funding, offers of preferential government treatment and specific attacks on transgender people. That's a victory for the faculty, students, staff, and unions who resisted the original compact. It affirms what the AAUP and AFT have been saying from the beginning: The answer to authoritarianism is organized resistance-not preemptive compliance.

That the Association of American Universities and four university presidents-Andrew Martin at Washington University in St. Louis, Michael Crow at Arizona State University, Doug Girod at the University of Kansas, and Ronald Daniels at Johns Hopkins University-have reportedly collaborated with the Trump administration to further its sustained attack on higher education is an unconscionable dereliction of duty.

As with the first compact, the best path forward is for higher education workers to organize and demand that their administrations and governing boards reject Compact 2.0. There is every reason to believe we can do so again.

The solution to opaque college admissions, skyrocketing tuition, the onslaught of artificial intelligence and degraded academic freedom isn't the racism, program closures, restrictions on free speech and xenophobia embodied in Compact 2.0. Instead, we must continue fighting for what higher education should be: debt-free, an engine of innovation and economic opportunity, a driver of lifesaving research, a place where students prepare for meaningful careers and thriving lives, and an institution that welcomes everyone.

That is the future higher education deserves-not one dictated by partisan political demands.