Reject the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”
University of Wisconsin Faculty, Staff, Graduate Students, Researchers, and Teachers
On October 13, the Trump administration extended its "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" to all US institutions of higher education, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Through it, Trump demands that universities either adopt his ideologically extremist positions or face the loss
of federal funding.
THE DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE IS OCTOBER 20, so the time is NOW to urge Chancellor Mnookin, the University leadership, and UW System President Rothman say NO TO THE COMPACT.
There is a Faculty Senate resolution coming that rejects the compact (see text below), but the Senate will not meet before this deadline. We have incorporated text from that Resolution into the petition below.
It is urgent that we tell UW-Madison's leadership that there is nothing to be gained by signing away the rights of its students, faculty and staff: the right to free speech, the right to teach and to learn without government interference, the right for students around the world to study in the U.S., and the right of the people of the University to be the ones making the decisions about its future.
On October 2, when the first nine universities received the Compact's offer, the UW-Madison chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) sent a letter to UW-Madison Chancellor Mnookin and UW System President Rothman urging them to protect the UW community's First Amendment and free speech rights. Now that our campus has received this offer, this is even more urgent.
Sign this petition if you agree that the UW administration should say NO to the Compact!
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Faculty Senate Resolution
RESOLUTION CONCERNING ANY POTENTIAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
Sponsors: Senators April Haynes (History), Aireale Rodgers (Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis), Allison Powers Useche (History), Revel Sims (Planning and Landscape Architecture)
WHEREAS, on October 2, 2025, the Trump administration delivered to nine institutions a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which makes access to federal funding conditional on the acceptance of government-prescribed institutional policies and practices; and
WHEREAS, the compact demands “institutional neutrality” while also demanding affirmative representation of specific ideological viewpoints and punishing those the Trump administration disagrees with, being thus inconsistent and unenforceable; and
WHEREAS, the 1967 Kalven Report, a landmark document on institutional neutrality, established that while universities should generally remain neutral on contested public issues, they have a responsibility to speak when their core mission is at risk; and
WHEREAS, the core mission of US higher education writ large – the production of knowledge, the education of students, and service to society - is currently at grave risk, since the Compact and other such agreements would destroy the foundational principles of US higher education, which are academic freedom and institutional autonomy; and
WHEREAS, the AAC&U, the AAUP, and other academic coalitions have issued strong statements opposing the spirit and letter of the Compact; and
WHEREAS, the compact is but one development in a series of coercive attempts on the part of the Trump administration to dictate the functions, mission, and ideology of higher education in the United States, via agreements with or investigations into individual institutions including the University of Wisconsin; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, the Faculty Senate calls on the University administration and Board of Regents to reject any agreement with the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” or any similar compact, memorandum of understanding, settlement agreement, or other arrangement that:
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Conditions federal funding on the adoption of specific ideological perspectives in hiring, curriculum, or academic programming;
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Grants federal authorities oversight or approval power over faculty hiring, promotion, curriculum development, academic standards, or other matters properly governed by professional expertise;
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Mandates institutional policies regarding student or faculty speech beyond those required by existing state and federal law;
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Threatens the employment and/or immigration status of individuals based on legally- protected speech;
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Mandates the replacement of science by ideology on issues including but not limited to biological sex and climate change; or,
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Otherwise compromises academic freedom or institutional autonomy in academic matters.
Be it further resolved, the Faculty Senate calls upon the University administration and Board of Regents to actively practice and defend shared governance by:
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briefing the Faculty Senate on communications received from federal authorities regarding institutional policies, agreements, or conditions for federal funding,
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and establishing a transparent process for faculty review and input before responding.
Be it further resolved, the Faculty Senate calls upon the University administration and Board of Regents to join with other institutions of higher education in collective opposition to federal intrusion into academic matters, in the spirit of the Senate’s May 5, 2025 Resolution to Establish a Mutual Academic Defense Compact for the Universities of the Big Ten Academic Alliance in Defense of Academic Freedom, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise; and
Be it further resolved, the Faculty Senate stands in solidarity with faculty at the nine institutions contacted by the Trump administration and with faculty at all institutions of higher education facing governmental pressure to compromise academic freedom or institutional autonomy. We call upon faculty senates and academic organizations nationwide to adopt similar resolutions defending the foundational principles of American higher education.
Petition by
Sponsored by
To:
University of Wisconsin Faculty, Staff, Graduate Students, Researchers, and Teachers
From:
[Your Name]
We, the signers of this petition, endorse the statement of the AAUP UW-Madison and call on you as leaders of the University of Wisconsin to categorically reject the Compact for Excellence in Higher Education. We have seen that other universities' deals with the Trump administration and concessions to threats have, as predicted, simply emboldened the administration to come back for more.
The core mission of US higher education writ large – the production of knowledge, the education of students, and service to society - is currently at grave risk, since the Compact and other such agreements would destroy the foundational principles of US higher education, which are academic freedom and institutional autonomy.
The compact is but one development in a series of coercive attempts on the part of the Trump administration to dictate the functions, mission, and ideology of higher education in the United States, via agreements with or investigations into individual institutions including the University of Wisconsin.
We call on the University leadership to reject any agreement with the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” or any similar compact, memorandum of understanding, settlement agreement, or other arrangement that:
• Conditions federal funding on the adoption of specific ideological perspectives in hiring, curriculum, or academic programming;
• Grants federal authorities oversight or approval power over faculty hiring, promotion, curriculum development, academic standards, or other matters properly governed by professional expertise;
• Mandates institutional policies regarding student or faculty speech beyond those required by existing state and federal law;
• Threatens the employment and/or immigration status of individuals based on legally- protected speech;
• Mandates the replacement of science by ideology on issues including but not limited to biological sex and climate change; or,
• Otherwise compromises academic freedom or institutional autonomy in academic matters.
The AAC&U, the AAUP, faculty senates at many other universities, and other academic coalitions have already issued strong statements opposing the spirit and letter of the Compact. We join this powerful and growing national opposition to the Compact, and commit to protecting our students, our colleagues, our community, our legacy of truth-telling though "constant sifting and winnowing," and the best of the Wisconsin Idea.