Give KU chancellor a break: Talking to Trump doesn’t mean Jayhawks will don MAGA hats anytime soon
A small fan dressed up as a Jayhawk meets big J, the University of Kansas mascot, during a pep rally to celebrate the men's basketball teams win over the University of North Carolina in 2022. (Eric Thomas for Kansas Reflector)
I would pay money not to have Doug Girod’s job.
As chancellor of the University of Kansas, Girod has to navigate the state’s premier higher education institution through choppy waters while placating lawmakers and the public. When the call came in late last week to conference with officials from President Donald Trump’s administration, what was Girod supposed to do? Spit in their faces? The chancellor did what people in institutions across this country should do: Engage with the White House, explain the situation as he sees it and hopefully move the conversation in a productive direction.
Please, folks in Kansas Reflector comment sections: Calm yourselves. We do not know whether KU was invited to join the group of universities the Trump administration has courted to be part of its higher education reform efforts. If it was, we do not know whether the university agreed to those terms.
All we know is that they talked.
The White House had asked nine schools to agree to a slew of rightwing restrictions in exchange for preferential access to federal funds. Seven have rejected the administration’s offer. According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, additional universities were then invited to offer feedback.
Would KU agree to such a deal if it were offered? Count me skeptical.
Here are the asks, as reported by the Reflector’s Tim Carpenter:
“The Trump administration’s compact would mandate that schools freeze tuition for five years, limit international students to 15% of undergraduate enrollment, impose standardized tests for admission, abide by a ban on DEI programs and adopt a definition of gender that would block transgender individuals from using restrooms or participating in sports that aligned with their gender identity.
”In addition, the arrangement would forbid participating colleges and universities from allowing employees to express political views on behalf of their institutions. Academic departments offering opinions counter to views held by conservatives would have to be closed. Students and employees would be polled on compact compliance and the results released publicly. There would be financial penalties for institutions that violated pledges included in the deal.”
Some of those restrictions, such as the DEI ban, have already been instituted in Kansas. But others, such as agreeing to a half-decade tuition freeze, sound all but impossible given the looming threats to higher education. That’s not even getting into limiting the free speech rights of faculty and instituting ideological litmus tests.
Unless those terms change — and substantially — I find it difficult to imagine KU leaping aboard the Trump train. The proposed compact would harm the university and its students.
On the other hand, telling the Trump administration why the plan falls short could help both sides move forward. As vice chair for the Association of American Universities, Girod has an interest in all of our country’s higher education institutions. He likely believed he had a responsibility to show up and speak frankly.
Listen, I don’t just find Trump reprehensible. I believe he’s a clear and present danger to our American republic, and I’ve said so. But until he departs our national stage, Americans have only an handful of options to handle the man. All have drawbacks.
First, you can refuse to engage with him or the administration at all. That gives you a moral high ground, but it also leaves you out of the current political conversation.
Second, you can throw yourself at his feet, begging him for favors and showering him with acclaim. This might win you financial or political victories, but you sacrifice your soul in the process.
Third and finally, you can try to collaborate when possible with the president and the White House, hoping to improve our country or at least limit the destruction.
Those in positions of power across our nation have to make their decisions. While it might feel satisfying to place yourself in the first group, and it might enrich you to show up in the second, those in the third might hold the keys to our country’s survival.
Universities of the United States have a vital role to play, now and in decades to come. Their graduates will build the post-Trump United States. Without great professors, sharp students and cutting-edge research, higher education will wither and our country erode from within.
Girod took a reasoned approach, refraining from either embracing or rejecting Trump. That was likely a good choice — for Kansans and KU alike.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.