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The White House invited five undecided universities to a Friday call about President Donald Trump’s higher-education compact after four of nine initial invitees rejected it and none have signed ahead of an Oct. 20 feedback deadline. The deal offers favorable access to federal funding in exchange for adopting 10 pages of commitments, including eliminating race and sex from admissions and accepting a strict binary definition of gender. Students and faculty have protested, Democrats threatened state funding cuts, and more than 30 higher-ed groups urged withdrawal. A Boston judge last month reversed Harvard funding cuts as unconstitutional overreach.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.