About 50 students gathered in a lecture hall in the Henry Koffler building on Oct. 9 to talk with the Associated Students of the University of Arizona to discuss their concerns about the Trump Administration’s proposed compact with the UA. 

Talking to constituents who represent a variety of student organizations on campus, ASUA senators passed out sheets of paper for students’ questions, comments and concerns. 

ASUA Student Body President Adriana Grijalva opened the discussion with a statement outlining the timeline of the event and expectations for respectful civil discourse among students.

“This isn’t about sides or labels. It’s about our students here. It’s about making sure that the people most affected by major decisions have the opportunity to be heard,” Grijalva said. “At the end of the day, without students, there is no university.”

Grijalva emphasized the weight of the compact and the impact on the students and shared that ASUA hears all of the voices of the student body.  

 “We share your concerns and frustrations,” Grijalva said. “It will shape classrooms, programs, resources and the way we live and learn on this campus.”

What does the compact say?

Grijalva then turned attention to Rahel Hehn, ASUA Community Outreach and Belonging Director, to break down what the compact is asking of the university. UA leaders must respond whether to sign, not sign or negotiate the terms by Oct. 20. 

“The UA benefits from government partnerships for funding, loans, contracts et cetera,” Hehn said. “The compact letter expects the university to uphold these requirements outlined. The UA can choose to sign the letter or not sign and forgo federal benefits.”

These requirements cover university functions such as admissions equality, student learning, foreign entanglement, neutrality, civil discourse, financial responsibility, hiring, U.S. citizen preference in admissions and reporting duties of the UA president, provost and admissions head. 

ASUA representatives then introduced the speakers for the night starting with Vice President of Student Affairs Amanda Kraus. 

“I want to hear your perspectives, your concerns and your questions, and I know that our executive leadership wants to hear that too, so I’m going to convey what I can to the president and provost,” Kraus said. “I think this is complicated, it’s upsetting, it’s confusing and parts of it are really vague, probably intentionally so.”

Student speakers share perspectives

ASUA then welcomed Ben Armentrout, a graduate student and member of UA Graduate and Professional Student Council representing the College of Optical Sciences. 

Armentrout spoke how the lack of diversity would greatly impact the UA upon signing the compact and that this would be incredibly evident on UA campus and in classrooms. 

“When you fail to look at each student individually, you get worse classes,” Armentrout said.  “The reality is when schools make these changes from different admission strategies to other ones; they reproduce the same historical inequalities.”

Armentrout went on to talk about the consequences that will deeply impact students pursuing research, especially at the graduate level and the value of viewpoint diversity within higher education. 

“Ideologies come here to college to get tested against facts, against discussion. That’s what scholars do. 
They’re not here to have an ideology. You’re here to test ideologies,” Armentrout said. 

“We have to find a way to negotiate,” Armentrout said. “We cannot sign this and we need to be vocal as a student body about what we want as the merit of how we make decisions at the university and put that into action.”

Miss Native of University of Arizona 2025–2026, Daelyn Nez, also spoke on behalf of Native American and Indigenous students at UA. 

“As Miss MUNA, my platform was to create an environment for our students, our native population, so they can be comfortable in pursuing their higher education, wherever they go,” Nez said.

Nez warned that the UA’s response to this compact will set the precedent for several other land grant universities across the country and urged the administration to consider the impact on not only native students, but also the native community as a whole. 

“The compact itself has caused a lot of harm to our community,” Nez said. “Our tribal sovereignty is under attack, especially from a Land Grant Institution.”

ASUA then invited John Piamonte to the floor, speaking on behalf of the Asian Pacific American student council representing Asian American Student Affairs which is now known as the Lotus Lounge Student Space. 

“We, as a council, are deeply concerned about the White House compacts that the University of Arizona is being asked to sign,” Piamonte said. “While the compact claims to promote fairness and accountability, many of its stipulations would actually harm our community and restrict the very values that make our university thrive.”

Piamonte advocated against the changes to the admissions process which heavily relies on GPA and standardized test scores. He emphasized that these do not reflect the whole student, and advocates for students who have perhaps come from backgrounds with fewer resources. 

“We risk shutting out the various students we are supposed to uplift. We cannot allow incomplete measures of success to deny every student’s right to pursue higher education,” Piamonte said.

He also expressed concern for student equality, especially regarding the newly structured and renamed cultural centers and for international students, as the compact would limit foreign student enrollment to 15% overall.   

“We want a university that prioritizes learning, not politics, we want a culture of dialogue, not censorship, and we want a leadership that chooses the people, not profit,” Piamonte said. 

ASUA members then opened up the floor to statements from the students who attended the discussion. Many students raised similar concerns regarding the compact’s impact on international students, funding and research and diversity at UA. 

Desiree Nguyen spoke out about the lasting consequences that the compact will have on academics and research for students and how it will be detrimental to international students, LGBTQ+ students and many other students. 

“We know that this isn’t right, we know that the only moral course of action, the only right course of action, is to demand for Garimalla and the rest of the UA administration to reject this compact in order to protect the civil liberties and academic freedom, not just for students, not just for workers, not just for faculty, but for the people of Tucson,” Nguyen said.  

Bryan Gramajo shared how the cultural centers at the UA played a critical role in his time here, and what attacks on diversity, equity and inclusivity mean for him as a Latino student. 

“For me, that attack on culture centers, from over the summer, was personal, because if it wasn’t for the culture centers, I wouldn’t be a senior in college right now,” Gramajo said.

“Cause for a lot of students like myself, for a lot of first generation students, it’s lonely being in college.”

The discussion came to a close as ASUA representatives collected feedback on the compact online and on paper from all the participants. 

The University has been asked to formally respond to the compact by Oct. 20. However, ASUA has issued a statement formally opposing the compact.