URBANA—Faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have formally opposed a higher education compact proposed by the Trump administration.
The school’s University Senate voted Monday on a resolution urging administrators to keep the school out of the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.
Universities that sign the compact would receive special federal funding opportunities in exchange for following certain policies, like limiting international enrollment and closing departments that belittle conservative ideas.
U of I education professor Jon Hale presented the resolution, saying the compact would undermine the school’s mission.
“[This resolution is] to signal that we are not going to support this compact, or further compacts that ask us to take stances antithetical to our values,” Hale said.
Provost John Coleman previously said the proposed compact runs counter to the U of I’s commitment to academic freedom.
The University of Virginia, Dartmouth, MIT and the University of Southern California have publicly rejected the compact.
The Trump administration first offered the agreement to a handful of universities and then said any university could sign on. No university has publicly accepted yet, but some have indicated interest.
University aims to bring $1 million to tiny home village
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is also getting involved with a local housing initiative to support those experiencing chronic homelessness.
A neighborhood of tiny homes called Hope Village is being constructed on a vacant plot of land in north Urbana.
The U of I is seeking to set aside $1 million to support the project.
Chancellor Charles Isbell told the University Senate Monday the move aligns with the campus’ mission to use its expertise to tackle social issues.
“Through this initiative, we are generating academic insights and research opportunities that can help address housing challenges across the nation while making a measurable and real time impact on our own local community,” Isbell said.
The university says Hope Village will also allow it to conduct research in health sciences, architecture and other disciplines in a respectful way.
Hope Village is also being funded in partnership with Carle Health and a mix of state and federal grants.
Construction started on the neighborhood in July. Some neighbors have voiced concerns about details of the project.
The U of I Board of Trustees will consider the $1 million contribution at a meeting Thursday.
Isbell: ‘It will take months, years, a generation to get back’
Isbell also spoke about the ongoing government shutdown, referring to the university’s food assistance and emergency resources for faculty, students and staff who have been affected.
He said the university should take an active role in supporting community members through these kinds of large-scale challenges.
“I do think that there is a kind of hope that somehow, at the end of the next election, or the election after that, everything will be better,” he said. “And perhaps it will be, I certainly hope it will be for higher ed and for all of the people who are with us in this community and beyond.
“But even if the world somehow changes in the way that many of you might hope, it is certainly the case that enough change has been done to the structures that we live in that it will take months, years, and perhaps even a generation, for us to get back to where we are. And we should realize that we as public higher education have an obligation, an obligation we should embrace, to push those things forward over time, and so we will hopefully continue to do that in partnership.”
IPM Education Reporter Emily Hays contributed reporting.