Trump Deals: The UVA Model Explained

Universities have been in fight mode with the Trump Administration, but it doesn’t have to be that way. On Wednesday the University of Virginia signed an agreement with the Justice Department that pauses all federal investigations against the school, without an enormous ransom or coercive new mandates.

The agreement specifies that UVA and the government “affirm the importance of and their support for academic freedom.” It says the agreement should not be read as “giving the United States authority to dictate the content of academic speech or curricula.” That’s an important note for intellectual independence.