'Inconsistent with our core belief': This university is the first to reject Trump’s 'compact'

U.S. President Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology became the first school to publicly reject President Donald Trump's “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," which offered "preferential access to federal funds in exchange for agreeing to a set of demands," reports NBC News.

In a letter written to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and shared with members of the MIT community, the school's president Sally Kornbluth wrote, "In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence."

She continued, saying "In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education."

Kornbluth argued that the "compact" would restrict the lauded institution’s freedom of expression and independence, saying "fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."

Sent to nine universities — Vanderbilt University, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia — the compact asked them to agree to conditions including freezing tuition, barring transgender people from using restrooms or playing in sports that align with their gender identities and capping international undergraduate student enrollment.

Kornbluth, the first of the nine presidents to formally reject Trump's proposal , wrote, “We must hear facts and opinions we don’t like — and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree."

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