PROVIDENCE : Brown University President Christina Paxson has refused to sign the Ivy League school onto a Trump administration memo. Paxson said accepting the memo’s terms would restrict academic freedom and undermine Brown’s governance autonomy. She stated the compact directly violates an agreement Brown signed with the administration in July. MIT became the first of nine elite universities to decline signing the compact last week. President Donald Trump has sought to eradicate what he labels as left-wing extremist thought from US universities. The administration asked the nine elite colleges to cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15%. It also demanded bans on using race or sex in hiring and admissions and defining genders based on biology. Schools pursuing values beyond the memo’s outline could forgo federal benefits. Institutions complying with the compact could be rewarded with preferential funding consideration. The administration has canceled federal contracts worth millions with numerous schools. Courts have ordered many of the federal funding cuts to be restored. Brown signed a July agreement to pay 50 million dollars over a decade for workforce development. This agreement restored the university’s federal funding for medical and health sciences. Paxson wrote that the July agreement affirms the government cannot dictate curriculum or academic speech. White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said Trump is committed to restoring academic excellence. She stated any university joining this effort would help shape America’s future positively. Trump wrote on social media about cracking down on schools illegally discriminating based on race or sex. He invited all institutions to enter into agreements for a golden age of academic excellence. The White House confirmed it only reached out to nine elite universities regarding such agreements. – Reuters