A new White House proposal is taking direct aim at affirmative action, demanding that nine leading universities ban the use of race or sex as factors in student admissions and faculty hiring. This condition is a cornerstone of a “compact” offered by the Trump administration, which ties lucrative federal funding to a university’s willingness to adopt a slew of conservative policies, fundamentally altering the landscape of diversity and inclusion in higher education.
The directive is part of a 10-point plan sent to institutions including the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Virginia. In addition to dismantling diversity-based admissions, the compact requires schools to cap international students at 15%, a move that would drastically reduce the global character of these campuses. These measures represent a forceful, top-down effort to reshape the demographic makeup of America’s student bodies.
The offer is explicitly transactional. Universities that sign the agreement are promised “substantial and meaningful federal grants.” However, the alternative is a complete withdrawal of all federal funding. This places university presidents in a difficult position, forced to weigh their commitment to diversity initiatives against the massive financial contributions they receive from the government for research and student aid.
The proposal has been met with fierce resistance. Critics argue that it’s an attempt to “erase diversity” and roll back decades of progress in creating more equitable and representative campus communities. By dictating admissions policies, the administration is stepping into a role traditionally held by the universities themselves, sparking concerns about federal overreach into institutional governance and academic affairs.
This focus on admissions is part of a broader ideological push. The compact also demands the promotion of conservative viewpoints and the elimination of departments seen as hostile to them. The combined measures paint a picture of an administration determined to use its financial power to enforce a specific vision of what an American university should be, with profound implications for students of all backgrounds.
