University faculties, senates and staff unions pushed back this week after the White House circulated a proposed "compact" that would give signatory institutions preferential access to federal research funds in exchange for broad new policy commitments. The Trump administration sent the document to nine research universities, including UVA, Arizona and Penn; faculty senates at the University of Virginia and the University of Arizona passed resolutions opposing the deal. Faculty leaders, unions and at least one law firm (Ropes & Gray) flagged constitutional and statutory questions about the compact’s scope and enforcement mechanisms, saying it asks institutions to surrender core governance and academic freedoms without specifying the funding at stake. University presidents have responded with requests for campus review and legal analysis; none of the nine institutions has publicly signed the agreement. The dispute has already drawn state-level action: Pennsylvania lawmakers proposed barring state-funded colleges from signing. The episode pits federal incentives against traditional board and faculty authority and raises near-term legal and governance risks for campuses contemplating the offer.