Penn’s Faculty Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging the University to reject the federal government’s higher education compact proposal at a Wednesday meeting of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
The resolution — which was endorsed on Oct. 15 and obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian — described the demands from the White House in exchange for preferential funding treatment as an “unprecedented and unconstitutional” government oversight. The Executive Committee emphasized that signing the compact would “compromise” Penn’s academic freedom and scholarly diversity.
“The ‘Compact’ erodes the foundation on which higher education in the United States is built,” the resolution read. “The University of Pennsylvania Faculty Senate urges President Jameson and the Board of Trustees to reject it and any other proposal that similarly threatens our mission and values.”
Penn was one of nine universities to receive the Oct. 1 proposal. Four days later, Jameson wrote in an email that the University was orchestrating its “review and response” to the compact and will “seek the input of our Penn community.”
In an interview with the DP, Faculty Senate Chair Kathleen Brown confirmed that an “SEC select committee composed of 11 faculty from nine schools crafted the statement.”
“The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority,” Brown added. “SEC resolutions are statements intended to advise the President on the faculty’s views.”
According to a voting member of the Executive Committee — composed of more than 50 faculty members across the University — the resolution passed by a vote of 40 in favor, 2 in opposition, and 2 abstentions.
“There was a lot of discussion of the risks to both signing and not signing, to students, faculty, staff — everyone in our community,” the Executive Committee member wrote in a statement to the DP. “We do not take this recommendation lightly. I think many feel that there is no safe path forward but that we need to be at a university we can be proud of.”
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The resolution acknowledged the importance of “educational excellence” in reviewing applicants qualifications, but emphasized that the compact threatens “the liberty of individual faculty, trainees, and students to pursue facts and truth.”
The DP previously reported that the compact would significantly disrupt Penn’s practice of shared governance, in which the Faculty Senate serves as a central decision-making body in conjunction with administrators and boards.
“The open and honest exchange of ideas, viewpoints, and values is the bedrock of higher education,” the resolution continued. “The ‘Compact’ undermines the ideal of scholarly diversity by allowing the government to define which intellectual approaches should be prioritized.”
The Executive Committee also pointed to the potential loss of educational opportunities if Penn were to agree to the demands, adding that the compact “proposes infeasible and likely unconstitutional restrictions on how applicants are evaluated and admitted.”
According to a DP analysis, Penn’s agreement to the proposed compact could signal widespread changes to the University’s admissions process, including the University’s reputation among prospective applicants.
The resolution similarly mentioned the “immeasurable benefits” of the research relationship between Penn and the federal government. The Executive Committee wrote, however, that the compact “violates” the principle of open competition for funding by “privileging considerations other than scholarly excellence.”
The Executive Committee member stated that while no members were “advocating for signing” the compact, individual faculty were divided on “whether we should try to be more agreeable” or not.
“The hesitation had to do with the tone of the resolution,” the Executive Committee member wrote. “But most of us thought we should leave that strategizing to Jameson and focus on a strong rebuke of the Compact.”
Brown drew parallels between the recent resolution and the Executive Committee’s January 2024 statement on open expression and academic freedom, which similarly “[made] a recommendation to the President.”
Multiple constituencies across the University have raised concerns in recent weeks about the prospect of Penn signing the compact. On Oct. 10, the Undergraduate Assembly published a joint statement criticizing the White House’s expectations.
Penn faculty members have also denounced the compact in interviews and statements to the DP.
While the resolution highlighted the Executive Committee’s commitment to University-wide excellence, the statement cautioned that “the best approach … is not capitulation to a ‘Compact’ that purports to promote academic excellence but instead shackles the independence, creativity, and pursuit of truth that has enabled American universities to provide enormous benefits to our society.”
“We make progress not by abandoning our principles but by upholding them,” the resolution stated.
