MIT President Sally Kornbluth formally declined the administration’s 'Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,' saying the document would restrict free expression and institutional independence. MIT is the first of nine invited universities to publicly refuse; the compact had offered preferential federal treatment in exchange for mandated changes on merit, cost, and speech. Kornbluth argued MIT already meets many stated goals and warned the compact’s premise is inconsistent with its commitment to open inquiry and competition for excellence.