Joint Resolution of The Central New Mexico Community College Faculty Senate and The University of New Mexico Faculty Senate Opposing the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education"
WHEREAS on October 2, 2025, the Trump administration delivered to nine institutions a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," which makes access to federal funding conditional on the acceptance of government-prescribed institutional policies and practices; and
WHEREAS an informal offer to join this “Compact” has been extended to all institutions of higher education in the United States; and
WHEREAS the compact demands “institutional neutrality” while also demanding affirmative representation of specific ideological viewpoints and punishing those the Trump administration disagrees with, being thus inconsistent and unenforceable; and
WHEREAS the 1967 Kalven Report, a landmark document on institutional neutrality, established that while universities should generally remain neutral on contested public issues, they have a responsibility to speak when their core values are at risk; and
WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions antithetical to the core values of our institutions, values which include commitments to inclusion and transparency; and
WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions which endanger the independence and integrity of our institutions, and threatens to withhold federal funding if institutions fail to conform; and
WHEREAS the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) have called on all colleges and universities to reject the compact, calling it "preferential treatment . . . in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological agenda;" and
WHEREAS the Compact, per the legal counsel of AAUP, raises "significant first amendment problems," poses threats to academic freedom, and increases risk of constitutional liability; and
WHEREAS the Central New Mexico Community College and The University of New Mexico Faculty Senates have already passed resolutions in favor of a Mutual Academic Defense Compact; and
WHEREAS Central New Mexico Community College and The University of New Mexico exemplify academic values of the highest standard, including the cultivation and preservation of academic freedom; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Central New Mexico Community College Faculty Senate and the University of New Mexico Faculty Senate firmly oppose the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" as written, and call upon campus administrations to also reject this Compact outright as well as any similar proposal compromising the core values and independence of our institutions.
Passed at
January 27, 2026 Senate meeting at , Zoom