Local opinion: Feds offer university a poisoned apple

When offered a poisoned apple, history suggests that it is wise not to take a bite. In this case, the poisoned apple is a so-called “compact” that would require nine universities nationwide, including the University of Arizona, to commit to Trump Administration political priorities in exchange for possibly preferential federal funding based on political compliance in place of merit.

The Board of Regents and the University of Arizona must vigorously decline this hypocrisy. After all, the only requirement of this special offer is that the University alter its programs, priorities and finances.

Aside from compromising the University’s integrity, this compact could jeopardize programs designed to serve the needs of the state’s diverse communities and industries — programs approved by the Board of Regents and funded by the state Legislature.

The merits of our contributions to the nation’s scientific achievements in astronomy and optical sciences, in medicine, agriculture, the arts, literature and humanities are monumental. To have our educational and research programs subjected to a “politically correct” means test by any party in control of the government — now or in the future — runs counter to the established research models of our university system that are the envy of the world.

Political factions and the courts have assaulted efforts by colleges and universities to provide opportunities for financially, physically or culturally disadvantaged individuals. Equal opportunity, a concept widely supported across the political spectrum, means that all people are born equal, but in the current climate, to paraphrase George Orwell: “Some people are more equal than others.”

Discrimination and oppression have denied groups and individuals even minuscule opportunities for economic and educational advancement, but recently, most institutional efforts to overcome past injustices have been struck down. The Trump administration holds that any attempt to improve the chances for advancement by the poor and otherwise disadvantaged cannot come at the expense of white privilege.

As President of the University of Arizona, I was privileged to lead the institution through a remarkable period of growth and evolution, key to the position of international prominence it enjoys today. This was a collective achievement, enabled by our faculty, students, Regents and the Legislature.

Programs created within the university, supported with funds from multiple sources, have aided all students to achieve goals, transforming family dreams to realities. A helping hand is not a handout – everyone is enriched. I know, because America extended its arms and hands to me and my family.

My parents emigrated from a troubled Germany to New York City in 1928. I was born in 1934, during the Great Depression. My father, an iron worker, was out of work for 18 months after I was born; my mother worked as a maid and babysitter. By 1937, both became citizens. Neither had more than an elementary school education, but they urged me to pay attention in school, for an education was the way to get ahead in America. It took me a while to appreciate that message.

When I started school in 1940, my command of English was poor, but I soon caught up with the rest of the class and was encouraged to compete for admission to one of New York’s elite high schools for talented students. I was admitted to Brooklyn Technical High School. My record in high school placed me very near the top … of the bottom half of my class. While an excellent student in the sciences and literature, subjects I cared about, I was passive about others and a C grade seemed fine. I was also torn by competing career goals: to teach or to replace Duke Snider as center fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers’ loss was education’s gain. Subsequent academic achievements led me to Arizona and a chance to make a difference in the lives of our community.

The letter from the current administration to the University is not a proposal. Let us call it by its proper name: extortion. Since 1885, the University has met the evolving needs of the territory, then the State of Arizona and the multitudes of those whom it has served. When called upon, our faculty responded to the needs and objectives of the nation and the world through partnerships with entities such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, our Arts and Humanities Foundations and Military.

If our history and character are deemed insufficient by the nation’s government, that will be the nation’s loss. Acceding to blackmail is a never-ending slide downhill. The only honorable response to the federal proposal is “No.”