WHEREAS on October 14, 2025, the federal administration announced a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” open to all higher education institutions and tying continued access to federal funding to a range of new conditions that would, among other things: intrude upon institutional autonomy in admissions; impose oversight of campus community members’ personal expression; mandate changes to university governance structures; require adherence to prescribed and scientifically inaccurate definitions of gender; restrict students’ academic choices; limit international student enrollment; and compel recurring public affirmations of institutional conformity in order to maintain eligibility for federal funding;
WHEREAS these provisions are inconsistent with the core values at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and the historic mission of higher education, including the protection of academic freedom, the independence of scholarly inquiry, and the right to free expression;
WHEREAS such provisions may infringe upon state and federal legal protections, as well as the constitutional rights of members of the academic community;
WHEREAS TCNJ, like its peer institutions, upholds the principles of intellectual integrity, open inquiry, and shared governance as essential to the advancement of knowledge and the public good; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate of The College of New Jersey firmly opposes the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education as written; expresses support for President Bernstein’s endorsement of the AAC&U Statement opposing federal overreach into academic governance and expression; and calls upon the Board of Trustees (BOT) to reject this Compact and upon the President and BOT to reject any similar measures that threaten the mission, values, or independence of the College.
Unanimous adoption by Faculty Senate on November 5th 2025.