UVA secures more favorable terms in deal with Trump compared to private school counterparts
The University of Virginia (UVA) this past week became the first public university to reach a deal with the Trump administration, gaining more favorable terms than other institutions in a development that could show the winds are blowing in higher education’s favor.
UVA avoided the worst endured by Columbia University, Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania, as it was not required to make multimillion dollar payouts, thought it didn’t get off entirely free.
To pause federal investigations, UVA agreed to adhere to the administration’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,” which the Department of Justice says ensures the university’s hiring, admissions or other processes won’t use “unlawful racial discrimination.”
UVA will also submit quarterly reports to the Trump administration so it can ensure compliance with the agreement. Although the university avoided an outside monitor, the federal government gets to decide if what UVA is doing is enough to be in line with the deal.
“It gives the administration ‘sole discretion’ to determine whether, in its view, these laws have been violated and to tie future funding to its determination. It puts UVA on a short leash and needs to be seen in a larger context in which the Administration is seeking to improperly interfere with the freedom schools have traditionally enjoyed relating to admissions, faculty appointments and the content of their teaching,” said Michael Posner, director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University’s Stern School of Business and a former assistant secretary of State.
https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5571818-uva-trump-deal-favorable-terms/
