WASHINGTON – The University of Arizona on Monday rejected an offer of preferential funding in exchange for embracing the Trump administration’s political agenda – though in a more conciliatory way than some universities.

“We seek no special treatment and believe in our ability to compete for federally funded research strictly on merit,” UA President Suresh Garimella wrote to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, emphasizing that “we have much common ground with the ideas your administration is advancing on changes that would benefit American higher education and our nation at large.”

That brought to seven the number of universities that have rejected the proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” sent Oct. 1 to UA and eight other universities.

On Friday, White House

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