Want to Host a Teach-In on Trump’s (Extortion) “Compact”?
Arnold Korotkin
Want to Host a Teach-In on Trump’s (Extortion) “Compact”?
Here are Some Resources That Might Be Useful
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On Wednesday, October 1, the Department of Education sent nine universities a 10-page document laying out a “compact” that the schools could sign on to. The “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” uses the carrot of preferential treatment in grant applications and the stick of denying access to federal grants, contracts, and student loans, research funding, and visas for non-citizens. This compact has been described as a “complete adoption of the MAGA higher-education agenda.”
As of October 15, MIT and Brown University have publicly rejected the compact, with Dartmouth issuing a statement expressing concern that the compact might compromise academic freedom. These responses have been made possible by a swift and organized response to this extortion effort. Campus AAUP chapters, such as the one at University of Pennsylvania, have issued statements opposing the compact. Faculty governing bodies have passed resolutions condemning the compact, both at institutions named in the compact (including University of Virginia, University of Arizona, and Vanderbilt University) and at institutions not included (including Michigan State). The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) issued a sign-on letter condemning the compact, which has been signed by more than ninety university presidents. The AAUP issued one of the first public statements condemning the compact, and the AFT-AAUP organizational sign-on statement has more than fifty signatories. There is also a sign-on letter for individuals expressing opposition. In response to this resistance, Trump indicated that he would open the compact to any interested academic institution.
One powerful strategy for organizing against the compact is to host teach-ins on your campus. Register to join the National Teach-In on Loyalty Oaths hosted by the AAUP and AFT Friday, October 17 2:00-3:00 pm ET.
If you are looking to host teach-ins, write op-eds, produce social media content, write letters to university leadership, or other forms of organizing, here are some messaging suggestions and resources.
Messaging Suggestions
Frame the issue as an attack on academic freedom and institutional autonomy. However, in doing so, don’t necessarily depend upon technical terminology and abstract principles. Rather, demonstrate what this means by example. Be specific to your particular institution. What is the lifesaving scientific research that will be put at risk? What international collaborations will be jeopardized? What departments would face closure? Which students will be affected?
Include the voices of as many people as possible. Yes, this compact will affect faculty. However, it will also dramatically remake the student experience. Include student voices in your programming. Include Student Life staff, admissions officers, and others whose work will be policed and regulated. Who are the international students and faculty who risk having their visas revoked? And who are the international services staff who will have to do even more to support these students and faculty? Include university leadership that will have to navigate the arbitrary policies and make institution-critical decisions based on political–rather than educational–calculations.
Include voices from across the political spectrum. For example, the compact has also been condemned by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression (FIRE) as well as fellows at the Cato Institute and the American Enterprise Institute.
Demonstrate that this is the culmination of existing attacks on higher education. For example, the compact was largely conceived by hedge fund billionaire Marc Rowan, who has a history of using his position on the Board of Trustees at UPenn to force out President Magill and push for radical institutional transformations.
Resources
To provide some additional context, I’ve put together some in-text commentary on the compact that offers a section-by-section breakdown of some of the main issues and provides some analysis. It provides some general context as well as a little snark thrown in for good measure.
There has also been a lot written about the compact so far. Attack academics, and we are prone to rapidly produce well-thought-out and impassioned texts in response. Here are some of the analyses that I have found particularly useful:
Amanda Anderson’s “When Viewpoint Diversity Means Conformity”
Brendan Cantwell, “A Rotten Compact”
Joseph Fishkin’s “The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal”
Amanda Shanor and Serena Mayeri, “A Brief Legal Analysis of the Department of Education’s Proposed Compact for Higher Education”
Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg’s “A Compact for Control”
Remember: This is About Organizing!
In developing programming, work with existing groups on campus, such as AAUP chapters, unions, student government, and alumni associations. Use this as a way to build connections across and beyond campus. Ask academic workers to join the AAUP, if they are not already members.
Be deliberate about who you invite. For example, you can invite university leadership and use the public forum to encourage them to make public commitments to rejecting the compact. Likewise, you could livestream the event and make it available to alumni, parents, community members, and others who have a stake in the institution beyond students, staff, or faculty.
Remember that teach-ins have always been educational and political events, based on the premise that educating a population is a necessary first step in moving to action. As such, when organizing a teach-in, build in a “next step.” This could include having a campus-specific petition ready for attendees to sign demanding that their institution publicly reject the compact. Or, if you don’t have such a petition or resolution written, use the teach-in to gather a group of people to write such a document. Have a QR code for the national sign-on letters posted on slides or handouts, allowing attendees to sign while the event is ongoing. Collect names of attendees, and follow up with specific asks.
Remember: Organizing is about building community. Teach-ins have the ability to inform, inspire, empower, and connect.
The views expressed in this newsletter are those of individual contributors and not those of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) or the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom.
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