Please, Penn — stand up to the Trump administration this time

Last Wednesday, the Trump administration invited nine universities to enter into a compact that would guarantee them preferential access to federal funding. All they need to do in exchange is sell their souls.

I hope they don’t.

I say that as a professor at Penn, which is one of the schools that got the invitation. We receive over $1 billion per year in grants and other aid from the federal government. I understand why it might look like an offer we can’t refuse.

But refuse it we must. Our entire model of education and scholarship is based on the full and free exchange of views. And signing this deal would do away with all of that.

Start with the Trump administration’s demand that we ensure a “vibrant marketplace of ideas.” At first glance, that seems fully consistent with our mission.

But look again. The deal would empower the federal government to determine if we were protecting free expression and dialogue. Close your eyes and ask yourself: do you trust this administration to do that, fairly and impartially? I didn’t think so.

Ditto for the compact’s demand that schools create a more welcoming climate for conservatives, by abolishing departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.” I’m not sure which departments (or which acts of violence) they’re referring to here. But of course I don’t want conservative ideas — indeed, any ideas — to be threatened or muzzled.

Again, though, who will be the judge of all that? Do we really want the federal government to decide which departments are protecting conservatism and which ones are “belittling” it?

That’s a formula for fear and censorship. Everyone will be looking over their shoulders, wondering if they said the wrong thing about the American Right. And many of us will bite our tongues, lest we get on the bad side of the government — or violate our deal with it. So much for the vibrant marketplace of ideas.

The compact makes other demands that seem reasonable — even laudable — on their face: halt grade inflation, freeze tuition for five years, and make college free for students studying in the hard sciences at institutions with endowments higher than $2 million per undergraduate.

But I still don’t want the federal government enforcing these requirements, which involve complicated decision-making and trade-offs. This compact is brought to you by the same administration that recently gutted the Department of Education on the grounds that education should be a state and local concern. Why, then, is it seeking new federal controls on colleges and universities?

By now, we all know the answer: this administration thinks “universities are the enemy,” as Vice President JD Vance said in a now-famous 2021 address. And it’s putting aside the GOP’s long-standing principles — including small government and local control — to bring us to heel.

So, what should we do in response? We’ve already heard one craven answer, courtesy of the University of Texas. The chairman of its Board of Regents said the school was “honored” to have been “selected by the Trump administration for potential funding advantages.” Translated: Show us the money, and we’ll do what you want.

Please, Penn: don’t go that route. We already caved to the Trump administration once, back in July, when we agreed to strip trans swimmer Lia Thomas of her records and apologize to the other women who lost to her. That way, we could retain the $175 million that the White House was threatening to dock us.

This administration thinks ‘universities are the enemy.’

The question of trans athletes is a complicated one and reasonable people disagree about it. But does anyone truly believe that we were sorry for letting Thomas swim on the women’s team, in accord with the federal rules at the time? Of course we weren’t. We were just saying that to save our skins.

That’s what happens in authoritarian countries: you mouth the words that the leaders want, so you can remain in their good graces. It’s time we put that aside, once and for all.

According to the Trump administration, Penn and the other eight universities were invited to join the compact because they have “a president who is a reformer or a board that [is] committed to a. higher-quality education.” Now we’ll find out whether that’s true. If our leaders are truly committed to education — and to democracy — they’ll say no to the deal.

You can’t make a deal with a bully, anyway. We already tried that once, and Trump came after us again. This isn’t a compact. It’s a shakedown.

We need to stand up and say that, without hesitation or fear. And maybe, just maybe, some of the other schools will follow our lead. As Penn founder Ben Franklin said, in a very different context, we must all hang together or we will surely hang separately. And the bully will win.

Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of “Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools” and eight other books.