Opinion | When Viewpoint Diversity Means Conformity
Trump’s compact isn’t just coercive. It’s incoherent.
"Our very mode of conduct as academics is counter-authoritarian. Authoritarians want fixity, and they project it onto their opponents, but we remain open to change, self-critique, and revision. This is why we are seen as a problem."
-- Amanda Anderson
08.10.2025 02:16 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Brown must reject Trump’s so-called “Compact for Academic Excellence” – Stand Strong Brown
A petition from StandStrongBrown. If you're a member of teh Brown University community, please consider signing.
standstrongbrown.org/reject-trump...
04.10.2025 21:19 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
"Signatories commit ... to revising governance structures as necessary to create such an environment, including but not limited to transforming or abolishing units that purposefully
punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas." acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
02.10.2025 20:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Post card dated June 19, 2025
(On file in Chambers) TRUMP HAS PARDONS AND TANKS ... WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous,
Alone, I have nothing but my
sense of duty.
Together, We the People of the
United States –- you and me --
have our magnificent Constitution.
Here’s how that works out in a
specific case –-
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
I hope you found this
helpful. Thanks for writing.
It shows you care. You
should.
Sincerely & respectfully,
Bill Young
P.S. The next time you’re in
Boston [the postmark on the card
is from the Philadelphia area]
stop in at the Courthouse and
watch your fellow citizens, sitting
as jurors, reach out for justice.
It is here, and in courthouses
just like this one, both state and
federal, spread throughout our land
that our Constitution is most vibrantly
alive, for it is well said that “Where a
jury sits, there burns the lamp of
liberty.”
the postcard cited in judge young's ruling isn't just at the top, it's a framing device. the whole opinion is a letter to the postcard writer. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
30.09.2025 17:47 — 👍 1096 🔁 228 💬 20 📌 37
Discretion Is Not the Better Part of Academic Freedom
In a free society, we strive to eliminate the punishments that make discretion a rational choice—and not glorify discretion as a virtue when it is actually a vice.
Academic freedom will not survive by encouraging professors to censor themselves more.
“Too much of the response to the Trump admin’s repression has been driven by fear & cowardice. We need to fiercely support #academicfreedom as a fundamental right for all.”
— @johnkwilson.bsky.social
29.09.2025 18:35 — 👍 59 🔁 32 💬 0 📌 1
'A perfect storm' — more colleges at risk as enrollment falls and financial pressures mount
In part due to the Trump administration's changes to the student visa policy, there are fewer students on college campuses this fall.
"Declining international student enrollment is a piece of the larger puzzle undermining the financial health of higher ed. [We see] programs shut down, campuses shut down, smaller public or private institutions closing & a curtailment of opportunities for students."
— Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
30.09.2025 14:10 — 👍 24 🔁 12 💬 0 📌 0
Huge victory for @aaup.org in AAUP v. Rubio:
30.09.2025 17:37 — 👍 37 🔁 10 💬 1 📌 2
Reagan-Appointed Judge Calls Out Trump’s ‘Full-Throated Assault on the First Amendment’
Read more here.
NEW: A judge issued a 161-page rebuke of Trump, finding the U.S. government violated the First Amendment by targeting pro-Palestinian student activists for deportation and calling it a “full-throated assault on the First Amendment.”
30.09.2025 20:04 — 👍 1070 🔁 335 💬 35 📌 11