President Trump's proposed compact is an attempt to buy UVA's compliance

RICHMOND, Va. – In response to the Trump administration urging nine universities, including the University of Virginia, to agree to a list of demands in exchange for federal funding, ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer released the following statement:

“In less than a week, the Trump administration hopes to see the University of Virginia capitulate to the unconstitutional demands laid out in its so-called ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.’ But neither speech, nor protest, nor identity are for sale. We urge the UVA Board of Visitors, interim president, and working group to reject the anti-civil rights agenda the Trump administration is trying to force upon its faculty and students – one in which transgender students do not exist, foreign students are not welcome, and no member of the University of Virginia may do the critical academic work of fostering learning or exchanging ideas.”