Jamie O'Connell

AITANA D'OR.
2023 - 2024 - 2025

Try substituting beginning of WWI and your birthdate (if I may presume)!

The silence of Stanford (my employer) is staggering.

More Than 220 Academic Leaders Condemn Trump’s ‘Overreach’ The statement came a day after Harvard University sued the administration over its decision to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding, following the school’s refusal to submit to a list of dema...

Why hasn’t Stanford President Jonathan Levin signed to stand with the rest of the academy against the Trump Administration’s autocratic campaign to subordinate universities? The presidents of nearly every Ivy plus MIT have, plus over 200 others.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/u...

A great profile of my fabulous colleague Gulika Reddy!

How to (Self-)Destroy a Hegemon in 6 Easy Steps:

1. Wreck academia + science infrastructure
2. Erect massive tariff barriers + supercharge econ inequality
3. Re-segregate your (very) diverse military
4. Destroy elements of soft power (e.g., USAID)
5. Dismantle your democracy
6. Nuke immigration

Defending Democracy in America It’s time to take action.

Defending Democracy in America
www.persuasion.community/p/defending-...

We should all appreciate that we have already entered very scary times.

Huge news from Turkey: Ekrem İ̇mamoğlu, Istanbul’s popular mayor and Erdogan opponent has been detained alongside a long list of his political allies. This comes hours after his decades long university diploma was revoked; today long list of alleged crimes, claiming he leads a criminal organization.

It Is Not Enough to Fight. You Have to Meet the Moment “There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation.

It’s late. Read it in the morning. But my new one is up.

open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

I wish university leaders would a) read this, and b) reconsider their silence.

This administration is coming for higher education. Failing to point out the illegality, the violation of basic legal rights, and attacks on research and what they mean isn't going to save us.

U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities Under Investigation for Antisemitic Discrimination and Harassment The Office for Civil Rights today sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil...

The list of 60 academic institutions under investigation for “antisemitic discrimination and harassment” is here:

www.ed.gov/about/news/p...

Trump Officials Warn 60 Colleges of Possible Antisemitism Penalties The administration’s warning came just after it pulled hundreds of millions of dollars from Columbia University.

The action against Columbia, the investigation of nine other schools, and now this against 60 (including Columbia and many in the list of nine) are all meant to terrorize university administrations into chilling speech against any Trump policies.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/u...

Student expulsions, funding threats, and labels like “agitators” and “illegal protests” are straight out of the playbook of communist parties and modern autocrats like Orban.

He’s trying to do away with the freedoms of speech, association, and inquiry, and it’s not going to stop with universities.

Top Law Firm Targeted by Trump Over Clinton Campaign Work Hires Counsel President Trump stripped Perkins Coie of access to federal buildings and personnel, citing its work for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. The firm hired Williams & Connolly, which is skilled in fightin...

NEW: Perkins Coie has hired Williams & Connolly to fight Trump's executive order targeting Perkins.

There had been concern in the legal community about whether major law firms would shy away from the fight out of fear of incurring Trump's wrath.

But Williams & Connolly is considered formidable.

Arresting and threatening to deport students because of their participation in political protest is the kind of action one ordinarily associates with the world’s most repressive regimes. It’s genuinely shocking that this appears to be what’s going on right here. 1/

In chaotic Washington blitz, Elon Musk’s ultimate goal becomes clear Shrink government, control data and -- according to one official closely watching the billionaire’s DOGE -- replace “the human workforce with machines.”

A depressing but highly illuminating must-read: In chaotic Washington blitz, Elon Musk’s ultimate goal becomes clear www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...