NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A petition created by a member of the Vanderbilt Graduate Workers United Union is circulating among Vanderbilt students and faculty urging the university not to bend to the Trump administration’s demands in what the White House calls a “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education.”

The White House included Vanderbilt University and eight other higher education institutions in the proposed agreement. If Vanderbilt signs the compact, the university would get preferential treatment with federal funding.

Since the petition was created, the Vanderbilt Faculty Senate has also requested that the university rejects the deal.

"We don't know why Vanderbilt is taking so long to decide,” Nick Goodell, the Vanderbilt graduate worker who started the petition, told News 2.

Goodell said that the petition has garnered 1,100 signatures in 11 days.

“I just really worry about how this compact would impact my job at a time when I feel like academic freedom is already under threat,” Goodell added.

Some of the compact's demands include putting a 15% cap on international students, maintaining single-sex spaces in bathrooms and locker rooms, a mandatory five-year freeze in tuition and other stipulations that align with the Trump administration's agenda.

In addition to gathering signatures in opposition, the Vanderbilt Graduate Workers United Union also organized a march to Kirkland Hall where Vanderbilt administration offices are housed.

"We think that it's important to continue collecting signatures on that petition to show our Vanderbilt admin first that the community is against this by an overwhelming majority,” Jade Miller, a graduate worker at Vanderbilt, told News 2.

According to Vanderbilt's official student newspaper, The Hustler, a Vanderbilt student government poll of more than 1,000 students showed 78% of respondents are against Vanderbilt signing onto the compact while 22% are in favor of accepting the deal.

“The administration needs to do the right thing, the simple thing, and keep our university independent from the federal government, protect LGBTQ identities and protect international students on campus and protect free speech on our campus,” Goodell added.

Vanderbilt College Republicans said the compact is an "opportunity," calling it "a more merit-based, affordable, and ideologically diverse education system."

In a statement to News 2, Vanderbilt says the university “is carefully reviewing the Administration’s proposed Compact for Excellence in Higher Education and will provide meaningful feedback to the Administration. Our review is grounded in our independent judgment, pursuit of excellence and long-standing commitment to academic freedom and open inquiry. We understand and respect that members of our community hold a range of perspectives on these important issues, and we continue to encourage open dialogue and civil discourse across our campus. Our focus remains on preserving the conditions under which great research, teaching and scholarship thrive."

Of the nine universities the Trump administration asked to sign onto the compact, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was the first institution to reject the deal late last week.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/petition-urging-vanderbilt-university-to-reject-white-house-compact-garners-1100-signatures/