USC faculty members shun deal with Trump

At Academic Senate meeting, speakers vigorously denounce president’s overture.

- BY DANIEL MILLER

ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times UNIVERSITIES that acquiesce could get favorable access to federal funding. Above, a USC building.

During an impassioned USC Academic Senate meeting on Monday, faculty members strongly denounced and rejected the Trump administration offer to give the university funding preference in exchange for abiding by conservative education goals.

In forceful speeches, department chairs, professors, researchers and others who attended the virtual meeting called the compact “egregiously invalid,” “probably unconstitutional,” “antithetical to principles of academic freedom” and “a Trojan horse.”

The compact, which was also provided to eight other prominent universities across the country, has roiled higher education and has drawn the ire of Gov. Gavin Newsom with its demands for rightward campus policy shifts in exchange for priority federal funding.

Not one speaker among the roughly 500 attendees expressed support for the compact, which calls on universities to follow President Trump's views on admissions, diversity and free speech, among other areas.

The hourlong discussion, which was broadcast online via Zoom and viewed by The Times, opened with comments from interim President Beong-Soo Kim, who did not offer his opinion of the compact. He noted that USC did not solicit the offer from Trump.

“The university has not made any kind of final decision — that’s because I wanted to make sure that I heard from the community and received your input,” Kim said. He said USC had not been asked to sign the compact — and instead was given a chance by the Trump administration to offer feedback on it.

“I do understand fully how strongly people feel about some ofthe issues presented here,” Kim said. Ina statement Friday, he said the offer “covers anumber of issues that I believe are important to study and discuss.”