First historically Black university tells Trump admin it wants to join academic compact after schools decline

EXCLUSIVE: A historically Black assemblage successful North Carolina is the archetypal to explicit involvement successful joining President Donald Trump's Compact for Academic Excellence successful Higher Education aft Ivy League and high-profile authorities universities declined the offer.

Verjanis Peoples, the interim president of St. Augustine's University successful Raleigh, sent a missive to David Barker, the Trump administration's adjunct caput for postsecondary education, confirming the school's privation to enactment successful the compact. Sophie Gibson, the seat of the school's committee of trustees, besides signed the missive obtained by Fox News Digital, which was sent to the Department of Education connected Wednesday. 

"On behalf of Saint Augustine’s University, we constitute to explicit our tendency to enactment successful and assistance signifier the Compact for Academic Excellence successful Higher Education," the missive says. 

"As 1 of the nation’s oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities, with a 158-year bequest of expanding acquisition accidental and transforming lives, we enactment the Compact’s wide extremity of strengthening world excellence, accountability, and transparency crossed American higher education."

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An aerial presumption of the St. Augustine's University field successful Raleigh, N.C. (St. Augustine's University)

The schoolhouse representatives added that they "see alignment betwixt this ngo and the Compact’s aspirations for excellence and accountability."

However, the missive lays retired a fewer candid acknowledgments of immoderate unsocial challenges an HBCU mightiness person upon joining. 

President Donald Trump talks to guests aft signing the HBCU enforcement bid successful the Oval Office of the White House successful Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2017.  (Reuters/Yuri Gripas)

The compact, which is tied to preferential national backing for universities that participate, explicitly bars information of race, ethnicity and different identity-based characteristics for admissions and assistance decisions, an evident imaginable hurdle for a historically Black school.

"For example, the Compact’s existent restrictions connected the usage of race, ethnicity, oregon related indicators successful admissions oregon fiscal support—while good intentioned—conflict with Title III of the Higher Education Act and with the explicit intent of HBCUs to grow entree for Black students and historically marginalized communities," the missive says. 

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The missive besides notes that the compact's tuition freeze, which says that schools joining the compact cannot rise tuition for 5 years aft signing, could beryllium a important hurdle to wide fixed that HBCUs typically person smaller endowments than backstage schools and ample authorities universities. 

An entranceway to the St. Augustine's University field successful Raleigh, N.C. (St. Augustine's University)

Another interest for the schoolhouse is whether the compact, which forbids DEI programs and caps overseas admissions to 15% of the pupil population, and 5% from immoderate azygous nation, volition beryllium compatible with the compact, noting the school's "global partnerships crossed the African diaspora," which is portion of longstanding HBCU tradition. 

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The missive ends connected a affirmative note, saying the schoolhouse "remains anxious to enactment arsenic a constructive spouse and early-engagement institution."

"We judge that with thoughtful collaboration, the Department and participating institutions tin refine the Compact to guarantee that its implementation is rigorous, mission-aligned, and inclusive of the Nation’s divers higher acquisition landscape," it says. "Saint Augustine’s University respectfully requests a dialog process that allows HBCUs to lend expertise, articulate mission-specific constraints, and assistance signifier the last model successful ways that uphold some the missive and tone of the Compact portion safeguarding our statutory purpose."

A chromatic gathering connected the field of St. Augustine's University successful Raleigh, N.C.  (St. Augustine's University)

"Our ngo arsenic a Historically Black College/University is not symbolic—it is statutory, purposeful, and indispensable to the students and communities we were created to serve," Peoples said successful a statement. "We afloat enactment efforts to rise the barroom connected world excellence nationwide, but those efforts indispensable admit the unsocial relation HBCUs play successful expanding opportunity. Saint Augustine’s University is anxious to collaborate connected a assistance that is rigorous, mission-aligned, and reflective of America’s divers higher acquisition landscape."

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The Trump medication solicited feedback from 9 schools, immoderate nationalist and immoderate private, nationwide. A feedback deadline was acceptable for Oct. 20. None of the colleges signed the compact, with MIT, the University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California and the University of Virginia declining to participate.

Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas astatine Austin stay noncommittal connected the proposal.

Read the afloat letter: