Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats

Thank you, this is great. If I may, there's one other big factor that coverage of Vought leaves out: Like a lot of MAGA types, he was formed intellectually by his experience as a "real conservative" at Wheaton College. Wheaton is a (relatively) diverse place, but it has always nurtured this type.

I guess that's why they didn't do much Halloweening in 1852.

Their regular lives were creepy enough.

"Sit still for the daguerreotype, dear, or the Demon Haggraotaz will invest your soul...."

Thank you!

Maybe not? I'm not at all surprised that parents will keep photos of lost children, but I thought the actual photo-of-the-dead-child thing ended in the late 19th century, like hair jewelry.

I'm told, though, that it's not too uncommon these days for parents to take this kind of photo. News to me.

I just keep thinking of how this would have played in like, 1987. The mom brings the little corpses to Sears at the Mall for their photo.....?

Wow, it's the "Jerk Store" episode, but in the Oval Office....

Wharf Arts Center Wharf Arts Center is an arts center which plays host to Cake in "Bad Tina," the young magicians competition in "Presto Tina-o," a charity ball in "I Get Psy-chic Out of You," an art exhibition in "Bob...

Did no one in the room watch Bob's Burgers?
bobs-burgers.fandom.com/wiki/Wharf_A...

How has it worked? I'm a former high-school teacher and I wondered if 17-year-olds would understand the dilemma of adult siblings. I do a lot of work with adult teachers now and they seem to dig the analogy.

It's a powerful analogy. Here's another one that one of my students told me once:

Imagine a group of adult siblings.

One says, "We need to talk about Mom's drinking problem."

Another says, "Fuck you I love Mom."

...we ALL love Mom. That's WHY we need to talk about her problems.

Here *it* is. Sorry.

The weird thing about this is that it echoes exactly the strategies of white supremacists like Bob Jones in the 1970s and 1980s. They gave up their tax-exempt status rather than desegregating.

Conservative universities like Hillsdale and Grove City have never taken federal $$$, either.

Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told

Here is is, from Bryan Stevenson @eji.org.
What's wrong with "heroic history?"
"It’s like saying, 'I’m going to the doctor, but I’ve already instructed my doctor, Don’t give me any bad news' ... if you don’t want to be sick... you have to be willing to hear the truth of your condition."
[gift link]:

YouTube video by The Office Michael Scott Inspires The Next Generation - The Office US

Michael Scott: "I'd like to start today by inspiring you..."

Okay, everything sucks, but here's some student art from New York City's African Free School, 1812-1828:

Thank you!

Thank you! I assume the announcement of the final winner in Providence will look something like this: :)

Thank you!

Mr. Lancaster’s System: The Failed Reform that Created America’s Public Schools [UPDATE: It is out in the world! Get your copy today.] There’s no doubt something big happened. Historians know it. People at the time knew it. When it came to the startling changes sweeping their …

Feels weird to announce good news in the midst of all this, but I just learned Mr. Lancaster's System is a finalist for the Robert L. Hampel Outstanding Book Award from the History of Ed Society.

Wish me luck, and thanks to the judges and @gmbritton.bsky.social!

So 100 years ago they banned ideas from colleges and museums. States like AR, MS, and TN all banned a broad set of ideas they called "evolution."

What happened? A journalist investigated and found that many colleges suffered. Students left. Budgets fell.

But the teaching went on...

Oh, no.

Research universities can't negotiate about science. It's not possible to give up, like, half or 2/3 of science.

It's not even about doing the right thing (which MIT should absolutely do.)

This is an old one: When you cut the baby in half, it dies.

Office of the President Dear Dartmouth community, As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence. You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves. Best, Sian Leah Beilock President

It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.

I feel like we need a seminar for university leaders on the lessons of the 1920s and 1940s/50s. When presidents like Harry Chase of the Univ of NC fought back, they won. When they caved, they lost it all.

"I caught it."

And just in case people missed it, stop your doomscrolling and check out the glories of Brewers Fever, c. 1978:

"It is never too late to abandon the disgusting cub." From your lips to Craig Counsell's ears.

Religious Studies folks: If you know any students thinking about applying for the PhD program at Penn, please send them this invitation to our online information session on Oct. 13!

Spending Soars, Rankings Fall at New College of Florida Student outcomes and rankings are slipping at the liberal arts college while spending is up. Critics believe the college is at risk of implosion, and some are calling for privatization.

The takeaway?

University leaders have to fight back hard. They will win.

Trump's "Compact" will not succeed in protecting "conservative ideas," but it will inflict great harm on universities.

They will all end up like Florida's New College, with no students, soaring costs, and crappy outcomes.

NC and KY almost banned "evolution" from their public colleges. But they were defeated by activism by university presidents.

At NC, Harry Chase sent legislators a detailed list of the faculty who would leave, and where they would go (Johns Hopkins and Wisconsin mostly).

In the 1920s, MS, TN, and AR all banned the teaching of "evolution" from their public colleges.

It hurt those colleges immensely. Students left. So did faculty and admin.

And here's the thing: professors reported that they still taught basically the same, just sneakier.