CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Fairly quiet since the semester began at the University of Virginia in light of the summer’s Jim Ryan resignation, and now the Compact the White House has sent the University, the quiet will be broken next week with a rally tentatively set for next Friday, October 17. Sociology Professor Ian Mullins with the UVA United Campus Workers of Virginia told CvilleRightNow Tuesday said a coalition of groups will be at that rally in opposition to the Compact and make the demand the University not accept the Trump Administration’s terms.

This after much of the conversation about the compact has been done in formal meetings. The Faculty Senate heard last week from Interim President Paul Mahoney about the Compact, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution immediately after to reject the Compact.

“He said he’s glad that UVA received a letter, but he did not indicate whether he was leaning toward accepting, rejecting, or just not responding to it”, Mullins said.

Mullins and others from the UCW were at Tuesday’s president search special committee meeting concerned at the pall the Compact casts over the Presidential selection.

After that, Mullins said the College of Arts & Science Committee on Academic Freedom and Speech met in emergency session Monday and overwhelmingly passed a statement “to refuse to discuss the Compact with the Trump Administration”.

“What kind of candidate wants to walk into a university that could potentially give away its academic freedom, free speech, its ability to govern itself, and for faculty to teach and research the things they were hired to teach and research,” Mullins said. “We’re concerned with the Compact’s ability to chill our ability to find truth. I mean, we’ve seen with this Administration when they find information they don’t like, they try to silence it.”