The Trump administration threatens nine universities with the loss of federal aid and other benefits unless they accept certain conservative ideologies. The universities should reject the offer.

If we were to boil down the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” to its essence, it would go something like this: Nice university you have here. Would be a shame if anything happened to it.

That’s the extortionist message underlying the deal the administration just “offered” nine major universities, threatening them with the loss of federal support and other benefits unless they accept a list of conditions on, among other things, admissions, faculty speech, and foreign students.

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We urge these institutions to reject this “deal,” not just for the sake of their own integrity, but for the sake of the independence of higher education in America. These nine institutions — surely only the first of many to come if the administration has its way — can either knuckle under the way too many other schools, law firms, and media organizations already have, or they can take a stand against Mr. Trump’s creeping authoritarianism.

With all the subtlety of a protection racket scheme, the compact opens with a list of benefits the government provides colleges and universities: access to student........

© Times Union