Joseph Graves Jr.: Academic Freedom Would Be Destroyed by Administration’s Compact

10/19/25 News 1 min read

PreMiEr researcher Joseph L. Graves Jr. examines the proposed "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" and argues it would undermine academic freedom at American universities.

Duke Chapel — Joseph Graves Jr.: Academic Freedom Would Be Destroyed by Administration’s Compact

On October 1, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote to the presidents of several leading universities, including MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia, announcing a planned “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” In his Greensboro News & Record column, Graves argues the compact would threaten academic freedom. He makes the case that academic disciplines rightly exclude ideas rejected by evidence, in the same way biology departments do not employ creationists and chemistry departments do not employ alchemists.