Before even delving into the details of the debate around restoring sanity to education, it needs to be said that the media is lying. They are framing President Trump’s Compact for Academic Excellence as cutting funding to schools that do not comply. This is false. The policy clearly states that schools in compliance will be prioritized. Those that don’t sign the compact will still be eligible for grants but will not receive priority or potential White House invitations for events.
Governor Gavin Newsom warned that California will cut off billions in state funding, including Cal Grants, to any college in the state that signs President Trump’s new higher education agreement, the “Compact for Academic Excellence.”
The 10-page document sent to nine universities this week, has been described in the media as imposing “Trump administration policies on admissions, hiring, free speech, curriculum, and endowment use in exchange for federal funding.” But when you read the document, it is not Trump’s agenda or his personal definitions of free speech and gender.
Instead, it is a framework that requires universities to uphold rights established during the civil rights movement: race, sex, and sexual orientation cannot be used in admissions, hiring, promotions, or firing. Institutions are expected to rely on merit-based systems, something liberals claim to support, while too often imposing quotas or demanding that outcomes mirror census demographics.
The compact also requires that universities allow voices from across the political spectrum, including conservatives, and protect the right to express factual statements that some label as “violence,” such as “there are only two genders” or “America is the greatest country that has ever existed.” Its definition of gender is not Trump’s invention but a recognition of biological reality. Male and female are observable categories, rooted in science, recognized across all human cultures, and affirmed throughout history.
Newsom, in an all-caps statement, said California will not “bankroll schools that sell out their students” by surrendering academic freedom. The White House pushed back, with spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accusing Newsom of mismanaging his state while rejecting reforms designed to cap tuition increases and protect free speech.
At the end of the day, the compact simply requires universities to be in compliance, or federal funding will be withheld. Ironically, liberals strongly supported similar mandates for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring and admissions, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) compliance, and vaccine requirements, all of which weakened our education system.
A further irony is that Gavin Newsom is threatening to withhold funding from universities that comply, which is the very same behavior he criticized the president for. Even worse, President Trump is only deprioritizing funding for schools that are not in compliance, whereas Newsom is threatening to cut funding completely.
Critics say the compact represents unprecedented federal intrusion into institutional autonomy, dictating who is admitted, who teaches, and what is taught. Faculty at Penn argued that when an “invitation is accompanied by consequences for not accepting it, it is in fact a threat, not an invitation.” Yet this is deeply ironic, given that universities readily accepted similar restrictions and government intrusion when imposed by previous administrations in support of liberal ideology.
There is also an old joke that academics have a liberal bias, whereas conservatism has a reality bias. The compact would ultimately force universities to acknowledge biological reality and uphold the basic tenet of scientific inquiry and academic discourse, that all conclusions and commonly held beliefs can be challenged, and it is not a microaggression or “science denial” to conduct research and present opposing viewpoints.
There is also legal precedent for the compact. It prohibits consideration of race, sex, religion, or national origin in hiring and admissions, consistent with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employers, including universities, from discriminating in hiring, firing, or promotion based on those characteristics.
The compact further requires that Title IX enforcement and policies on transgender participation in sports and access to facilities align with federal law. This includes maintaining sex-based spaces and competition categories according to biological reality rather than political invention.
The initiative is framed as a way to bring universities into compliance with existing legal standards and Supreme Court rulings on admissions, while also protecting conservative viewpoints from being marginalized and prioritizing institutions whose leaders have shown a willingness to pursue reform. Participation is voluntary, schools may decline and still receive federal funding, though signatories will gain priority in grants and other benefits.
The compact is framed as advancing the national interest in the relationship between the federal government and universities that depend on federal support. It is expected to be challenged in court, with the deadline for feedback and initial signatories set for November 21, 2025.
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