Elite Colleges Grow a Spine and Reject Trump’s Authoritarian “Compact”

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Several elite U.S. colleges, including Brown, Dartmouth, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have all rejected a “compact” with the Trump administration, in which the schools might have received additional federal funding as long as they implemented a number of conservative policies on campus, such as restricting the rights of transgender students. This is a marked shift from earlier this year, when many universities cut deals with the administration. The schools’ rejection of the compact is a very positive development, said Ryan Enos, a professor of government at Harvard. In the latest edition of Right Now, Enos argued that colleges are finally realizing both that they must stand up for themselves and that they will be more effective in resisting Trump if they coordinate and collaborate with one another. Enos said that Trump’s demolition of the East Wing of the White House is alarming both because the president flouted laws and regulations to execute the project and it’s another sign that he doesn’t respect American traditions. Enos joined other scholars in saying that America today is best described as a “competitive authoritarian” regime, as opposed to a full-fledged democracy.