First HBCU contacts DOE expressing desire to join academic compact

SPECIAL: A historically black university in North Carolina has become the first to express interest in joining President Donald Trump’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education after Ivy League and high-profile public universities rejected the offer.

St. in Raleigh Verjanis Peoples, interim president of St. Augustine University, sent a letter to David Barker, the Trump administration’s assistant secretary for postsecondary education, confirming the school’s willingness to join the agreement. Sophie Gibson, chair of the school’s board of trustees, also signed the letter sent to the Department of Education by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“We write on behalf of the University of Saint Augustine to express our desire to join and help shape the Charter for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” the letter states. “As one of the nation’s oldest Black Colleges and Universities with a 158-year legacy of expanding educational opportunity and transforming lives, we support the Compact’s broad goal of strengthening academic excellence, accountability, and transparency in American higher education.”

School representatives added that they “see alignment between this mission and the Charter’s desire for excellence and accountability.”

But the letter includes a few frank acknowledgments of some of the unique challenges HBCUs may face post-joining.

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to guests after signing the HBCU executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2017. (REUTERS/Yuri Gripas)

The agreement, which depends on preferential federal funding for participating universities, expressly prohibits consideration of race, ethnicity, and other identity-based characteristics in admissions and scholarship decisions; this is an obvious potential hurdle for a historically Black school.

“For example, the Compact’s current restrictions on the use of race, ethnicity, or related indicators in admissions or financial aid—however well-intentioned—contradict Title III of the Higher Education Act and the express purpose of HBCUs to expand access for Black students and historically marginalized communities,” the letter says.

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The letter also notes that the tuition freeze, which states that participating schools cannot increase tuition for five years after signing the charter, could be a significant hurdle to overcome, given that HBCUs generally have smaller endowments than private schools and large public universities.

St. in Raleigh, NC. Entrance to St. Augustine University campus (Courtesy: University of St. Augustine)

Another concern for the school is whether it will comply with the charter, which bans DEI programs and limits foreign admissions to 15% of the student population and 5% from any other country, noting the school’s “global partnerships across the African diaspora” that are part of the school’s longstanding HBCU tradition.

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The letter ends on a positive note, saying the school is “keen to participate as a constructive partner and early engagement institution.”

“We believe that through thoughtful collaboration, the Department and participating institutions can develop the Charter to ensure that its implementation is rigorous, mission-focused, and inclusive of the Nation’s diverse higher education landscape,” he says. “The University of Saint Augustine respectfully requests a dialogue process that allows HBCUs to contribute their expertise, articulate mission-specific constraints, and help shape the final framework to support both the letter and spirit of the Compact while preserving our statutory intent.”

St. in Raleigh, NC. A stone building on the campus of St. Augustine University (Court: University of St. Augustine)

“As a Historically Black College/University, our mission is not symbolic; it is legitimate, purposeful, and essential to the students and communities we were created to serve,” Peoples said in a statement. “We fully support efforts to raise the bar for academic excellence nationwide, but these efforts must recognize the unique role HBCUs play in expanding opportunity. Saint Augustine University is eager to collaborate on a grant that is rigorous, mission-focused, and reflective of America’s diverse higher education landscape.”

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The Trump administration sought feedback from nine schools across the country, some public, some private. The deadline for feedback has been set as October 20. None of the universities signed the agreement; MIT, the University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, and the University of Virginia declined to participate.

Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas at Austin remain firm on the offer.

Read full letter: