The Trump administration sent out a “Loyalty Oath” compact to 9 universities, asking them to dictate what schools teach, who they admit and hire, what researchers study, and who’s able to exercise their rights. Through this pact, Trump is trying to blackmail our university to let him and his unqualified bureaucrats run it. The University of Virginia's founding principles go directly against this – the core ideals of this university rests on intellectual freedom, open inquiry, and reasoned debate. These founding principles are fundamentally at odds with any attempts to suppress free speech or expression. Universities such as UVA were envisioned as a “marketplace of ideas,” where truth could emerge through the contest of diverse opinions — a concept that became a cornerstone of American higher education and democratic society.

Moreover, the university’s long commitment to student activism and student self-governance reinforce the idea that responsible citizenship grows from the ability to engage respectfully with differing views, not from suppressing them. Thus, modern attempts to curtail expression – whether through political pressure, social intimidation, or institutional censorship – violate the very DNA of UVA’s founding vision.
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As UVA students, faculty, and staff we demand that our universities commit to upholding freedom of speech and to providing an affordable, safe education for all. No capitulating to the demands of Trump’s authoritarian regime. Stand with students, reject the compact.