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Trump administration asks universities to sign pledge to access funds · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The White House is asking nine US universities to sign
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  Speaker 1: a pledge to uphold the administration's values on education. Access
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: to federal funding could be put at risk if these
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  Speaker 1: nine universities don't sign on. That's according to a new
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  Speaker 1: government memo. It says, in part that signatories must change
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  Speaker 1: or get rid of entities that quote purposefully punish, belittle,
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  Speaker 1: and even spark violence against conservative ideas. The nine page
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  Speaker 1: pledge also asks schools to freeze their tuition for five
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  Speaker 1: years and cap international student admissions, among other stipulated requirements.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Leila Hudson joins US now. She is the faculty chair
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  Speaker 1: at the University of Arizona, where she's also a professor
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  Speaker 1: of Global Studies. Professor Hudson, thank you for your time.
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate it. I want to get your reaction. I'm
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  Speaker 1: sure you've read this document from the federal government closely.
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  Speaker 1: What's your take.
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  Speaker 2: Well, there are a lot of ideas in this document
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  Speaker 2: people across the political spectrum have no problem with, and indeed,
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  Speaker 2: many things in it already align with our values, our goals,
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  Speaker 2: our aspirations. The problem is when the government tries to
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  Speaker 2: put these mostly good ideas and some ideas that require
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  Speaker 2: further discussion, debate, and civil discourse. When the government tries
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  Speaker 2: to put those ideas into an enforcable and punitive regime,
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  Speaker 2: that is a problem. So we want federal funds for
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  Speaker 2: our research. We need federal funds for our research. But
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  Speaker 2: to have those federal funds allocated to us on the
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  Speaker 2: basis of anything other than their scientific merit evaluated by
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  Speaker 2: experts is a problem, and it puts us at the
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  Speaker 2: top of a very slippery, very ugly slope.
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  Speaker 1: Professor President, I want to read to you a part
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  Speaker 1: of a letter you sent to the University of Arizona. President.
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  Speaker 1: Let me quote you. I remind you of what you
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  Speaker 1: know well that our institutional mission transcends all partisan politics
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  Speaker 1: and the dirty compromises that partisan politics demands. Our mission
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  Speaker 1: does not work without a bedrock commitment on the part
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  Speaker 1: of our leadership to everyone's freedoms, constitutional, academic, and otherwise.
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  Speaker 1: Have you got any response to that and in that
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  Speaker 1: letter in any way differ from some of the comments
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  Speaker 1: you made earlier that some of the ideas you found
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  Speaker 1: in the document are acceptable.
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  Speaker 2: I have found almost unanimous approval of those basic sentiments. Again,
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  Speaker 2: no one is more equal than other than others. No one,
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  Speaker 2: especially the federal government, should be micromanaging the way we
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  Speaker 2: produce knowledge, the way we train students, again, which is
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  Speaker 2: an alignment with many of the ideas in that document.
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  Speaker 2: The practice is that we are always improving and always
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  Speaker 2: governing on our own mission are the ones that have
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  Speaker 2: made the United States academic system the envy of the world.
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  Speaker 2: Now is not the time to mess with that.
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  Speaker 1: What would be the consequence at the University of of
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  Speaker 1: Arizona if tuition were capped for five years and also
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  Speaker 1: international student admissions were either capped or lowered.
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  Speaker 2: Well, capping tuition is an idea that I and so
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  Speaker 2: many of my colleagues strongly approve of. That's a great
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  Speaker 2: example of where there's no daylight between the ideas articulated
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  Speaker 2: in this document and the conventional wisdom in academia. And
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  Speaker 2: as for international students, we need to do everything that
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  Speaker 2: we can to continue to make American education available to
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  Speaker 2: students the world over. After all, international education is probably
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  Speaker 2: one of our top ten export sectors as the United States. Currently,
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  Speaker 2: I understand we've got room to grow before we would
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  Speaker 2: anywhere get anywhere near that fifteen percent cap. So there's
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  Speaker 2: plenty of room for business as usual and ameliorating the
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  Speaker 2: conditions that international students are experiencing. It hasn't been an
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  Speaker 2: easy time for them.
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  Speaker 1: Professor Hudson, do you have any sense why University of
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  Speaker 1: Arizona became one of the nine communicated to by the
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  Speaker 1: federal government.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know that, but what I do see is
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity for our leadership and our values to come
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  Speaker 2: into dialog with the administration and hopefully to make positive change.
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  Speaker 2: We have an opportunity here to educate, and that is
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  Speaker 2: what we do.
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  Speaker 1: And do you fear very quickly, Professor, that if University
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  Speaker 1: of Arizona says no things will be withheld to the
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  Speaker 1: detriment not only of you, your department and students.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think that we are at
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  Speaker 2: the beginning of a dialogue. We have an opportunity to educate.
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  Speaker 2: We have learned over the last five years at our institution,
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  Speaker 2: and certainly over the last six to nine months, to
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  Speaker 2: do more with less. Our mission will continue, fueled by
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  Speaker 2: the creativity of our people and the integrity of our
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  Speaker 2: traditions of freedom.
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  Speaker 1: Professor Laila Hudson, University of Arizona, Thank you so very
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  Speaker 1: much for your time.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you