MIT soundly rejects Trump admin’s offer for priority federal funding

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) became the first university to publicly reject the Trump administration’s proposal that offered priority access for federal funding on Friday.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a letter to Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon that she believes the university’s values and practices have already met or surpassed many of the “standards” outlined in the agency’s proposal. The news comes after the Trump administration offered agreements to nine universities, including MIT, on Oct. 1 that would grant them a federal funding advantage over other schools.

“The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution,” Kornbluth wrote in the letter. “And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

MIT referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to Kornbluth’s letter when reached for comment. The White House and ED did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

“In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence,” Kornbluth continued. “In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”

The administration’s proposal, called the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” would allow universities that accept the terms of the deal to receive a variety of “positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) first reported on Oct. 1. The proposed compact includes stipulations such as asking the universities to cease the use of race or sex as factors in admissions and requesting that the schools eliminate any departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” according to the WSJ.

“Our hope is that a lot of schools see that this is highly reasonable,” May Mailman, senior adviser for special projects at the White House, said, the WSJ reported.

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