University of Alaska Board of Regents hear public opinion about Trump administration regulations

Story by Jonathan Wasilewski

At the Nov. 3 University of Alaska’s Board of Regents, or BOR, public testimony section of their quarterly meeting there was an organized effort pushing back against a demand from the federal government. Speakers at the meeting were against the Oct. 1 request from the Trump administration which asks universities to sign a compact dictating schools will follow the government’s higher education agenda in order for preferential treatment in doling out funds. 

The Compact for Academic Excellence in American Education imposes new regulations on universities if signed: students will only be admitted based on their standardized test scores, universities must protect academic freedom and prevent discrimination (including against conservative ideas), universities must maintain institutional neutrality, grades only represent academic performance, students must have sex-based privacy and fairness, students will only be addressed as male and female, universities must freeze American students’ tuition rates for the next five years, and foreign student visas must be approved by the federal government.

“[The compact] just strikes me as astonishing government overreach,” said Libby Roderick. Roderick, who tuned into the BOR meeting by phone, is a teacher and singer/songwriter from Anchorage.

“As a lifelong Alaskan, I really strongly believe that we need not have the federal government telling people what they can say, what they can teach, what they can research, and so on,” she said.

Jill Dumesnil, president of United Academics and math professor at the University of Alaska Southeast called in from Juneau opposing the compact.  

“We encourage you [BOR] to decline any opportunity to sign onto the Compact for Academic Excellence in American Education. We launched a petition which garnered 659 signatures in little over a week,” Dumesnil said. 

She read the petition to the meeting, stating that the BOR currently has the authority to govern the UA system and the federal government shouldn’t have that right. “[It] is contrary to our state constitution,” Dumesnil said. 

As for comments from the Board of Regents, the UA system hasn’t received any official communications from the Trump Administration regarding the compact, Director of Public Affairs Jonathon Taylor wrote. 

“There's nothing for Regents to take action on, nor are there specific impacts on the University for me to speak to at this time. The details of the compact released in the media lack the specificity needed for the UA Board of Regents to decide what is in the best interest of our students, staff, and faculty,” Taylor said. 

Taylor was also unable to comment on what would occur if the compact was signed. “I'm also unable to speculate on its potential impacts on UA or UAF, nor is it clear whether or how such a compact might be enforced,” he said. 

According to Roderick on November 3, seven of the nine universities pressured to sign the compact have declined.