While the Wharton's leadership has characterized the change as an improvement to club culture, some students have expressed concern that fewer interview opportunities will lead to a more unfair process.

According to an Oct. 16 email from Penn President Larry Jameson, the University rejected the compact after considering input from Penn faculty, alumni, trustees, students, and staff.

The union’s victory came just days before its one-year anniversary of negotiations, which began on Oct. 17, 2024.

With the decision, Penn became the third university to decline the offer.

The Executive Committee emphasized that signing the compact would “compromise” Penn’s academic freedom and scholarly diversity.

At the Oct. 15 conference, lawmakers criticized Penn for not immediately rejecting the White House agreement, and asserted that it threatens campus diversity and academic freedom.

With less than a week remaining before the Oct. 20 deadline for universities to provide feedback on the draft document, The Daily Pennsylvanian examined the potential University-wide implications of signing it.

The statements call on Penn to hold the students in the video accountable for their actions, publicly acknowledge the video, and reaffirm its commitment to supporting and protecting Black students.   

Mann attributed the departure from his vice provost role to tension between his science policy advocacy work and Penn’s institutional neutrality policy. He remains a professor at Penn, and is the director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media.

According to English faculty members, the decision to end the nearly 40-year-old program was made abruptly by Penn Abroad at the start of the fall 2025 semester. 

The Oct. 11 message was sent in response to a memo from Penn that outlined recommendations for department chairs to “maintain teaching continuity” should graduate students participate in a work stoppage.

He described his new role as an effort to maintain the University’s momentum — a mission that requires institutional flexibility amid an evolving landscape of federal policies and financial stress.

At the picket, GET-UP announced that its members have begun pledging to authorize a strike if Penn continues to reject the union’s proposed contract. 

The compact was broadly described as a threat to the practice of shared governance — where faculty, staff, administrators, boards, and sometimes students share responsibility for decision-making and policy development. 

“There is no room for hate within the Penn community,” a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to the DP. 

The Oct. 3 memo condemned the compact as “another attempt” by the Trump administration to pressure universities “to comply with its political agenda.” 

In an Oct. 5 message, Penn President Larry Jameson said that administrators will “seek the input” of stakeholders across campus to develop the University’s response to the federal government.