Sarah Smith-Frigerio

Image of the outstanding faculty service award plaque, college of arts letters at the University of Tampa 2024-2025.

Image of Sarah Smith-Frigerio standing on the veranda of plant hall at the University Tampa.

I’m honored to have received the Outstanding Faculty Service Award from the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Tampa this afternoon. What a blessing to have found my academic home!

The colonnaded Widener Library looks out over Tercentenary Theatre at the heart of Harvard’s campus.

Harvard will not comply with the Trump administration’s demands to dismantle its diversity programming and limit student protests in exchange for its federal funding, the university president announced www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

We’re seeing #KillTheCuts flyers popping up on UTampa doors this morning! Please feel free to add yours in the replies!

Measles wipes out immunity (in general) to diseases—factory reset. HIV kills T4 cells. EBV (mono) can cause the immune system to begin attacking the body. COVID seems to prevent new immune cells from maturing. I took one biomedical science class in college. The fact we all don’t know this already… ☹️

Letter to Faculty on Self-Censorship and Boldness (opinion) In a letter to fellow faculty, Nolan L. Cabrera argues that self-censorship is not a strategy for self-preservation.

“Bending the knee and precomplying will not stave off these attacks.

Acquiescing to censorship will not stop the threats.

Only engaging in collective, bold, public, strategic struggle & disruption has the potential to do so.

We did not pick this fight, but this is the fight that we are in.”

I’m just waiting for my entire faculty bio and CV to be scrubbed. They’ve already started with the administrative offices on our campus.

What a wonderful talk this evening! Thank you to @loriemerson.net for coming to @uoftampa.bsky.social to discuss your new book! #othernetworks

I have to admit, watching universities cave, watching friends go quiet on some of the most egregious actions, and all because we’re supposed to be terrified of folks who can’t follow the PowerPoint on SCIFs & handling classified materials or check the random number in the group chat? Sigh.

AFT Sues U.S. Department of Education, Demands Justice for Student Loan Borrowers Blocked from Affordable Loan Payments - Student Borrower Protection Center Last night, the 1.8 million-member AFT sued the United States Department of Education (ED) for effectively breaking the student loan system, denying borrowers’ access to affordable loan payments and blocking progress towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), in violation of federal law.

🚨 BREAKING: Last night, @aftunion.bsky.social filed a lawsuit against @usedgov.bsky.social for illegally denying student loan borrowers’ access to affordable loan payments through IDR and blocking progress towards PSLF for public service workers.

Statement:
protectborrowers.org...

Nah, woman, women, female and females are all banned. Just like in all federal grants now.

Hot take: This was piloted with New College (and others, to be sure) a couple years back and no one moved to stop it. The FL publics didn’t band together to fight it. Two years on, and we have a clear example of what will happen if we all don’t come together now. #dontcomplyinadvance

That might be a really good idea!

My senior portfolio students called me out for not having updated my personal website in years. 😳 So I spent this morning updating my personal website a bit. Looks like I might have a larger summer project to add to the list! 😬 These young folks keeping me honest…

U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities Under Investigation for Antisemitic Discrimination and Harassment WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) 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 Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities. The letters are addressed to all U.S. universities that are presently under investigation for Title VI violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination. “The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.” The schools that received letters from the Office for Civil Rights include:

American University Arizona State University Boston University Brown University California State University, Sacramento Chapman University Columbia University Cornell University Drexel University Eastern Washington University Emerson College George Mason University Harvard University Illinois Wesleyan University Indiana University, Bloomington Johns Hopkins University Lafayette College Lehigh University Middlebury College Muhlenberg College Northwestern University Ohio State University Pacific Lutheran University Pomona College Portland State University

Princeton University Rutgers University Rutgers University-Newark Santa Monica College Sarah Lawrence College Stanford University State University of New York Binghamton State University of New York Rockland State University of New York, Purchase Swarthmore College Temple University The New School Tufts University Tulane University Union College University of California Davis University of California San Diego University of California Santa Barbara University of California, Berkeley University of Cincinnati University of Hawaii at Manoa University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Michigan University of Minnesota, Twin Cities University of North Carolina University of South Florida University of Southern California University of Tampa University of Tennessee University of Virginia University of Washington-Seattle University of Wisconsin, Madison Wellesley College Whitman College Yale University

The Ed. Department's Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 additional institutions "warning them of potential enforcement actions" for "violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination" including Harvard, Brown, Stanford, Princeton, UNC, and several UC's

Social Security Workers Aren’t Allowed to Read This Story New internet restrictions at the embattled SSA have cut off access to WIRED, along with other “general news” websites like The Washington Post and The New York Times.

NEW: WIRED got IP blocked by the Social Security Administration, among other outlets covering Musk's takeover.

Federal workers are now "prohibited" from accessing our reporting on "government-furnished equipment."

WaPo, NYT, and MSNBC are likewise banned, sources confirm.

The NSF’s higher ed research "hit list" Senator Ted Cruz has released a database of more than 3,400 National Science Foundation grants he believes push “a far-left ideology.” Free speech advocates and researchers say it’s a scare tactic tha...

The NSF’s Higher Ed Research ‘Hit List’

Senator Ted Cruz has released a database of more than 3,400 National Science Foundation grants he believes push “a far-left ideology.” Free speech advocates and researchers say it’s a scare tactic that... #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/3Qxe0RH

After hurricane and wildfires, colleges continue aiding students Students say they are still being impacted by wildfires and floods that cost them their housing, jobs and transportation weeks or months ago.

Weeks and Months After Natural Disaster, Colleges Stand By Their Students

Students say they are still being impacted by wildfires and floods that cost them their housing, jobs and transportation weeks or months ago. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/43brkCS

BREAKING: Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier released from prison after nearly 50 years

I am surprised by the number of folks who are ready to give it up and comply in advance. I understand those who are overwhelmed or scared into inaction, but folks who are just like, “this is how it is now…” what? Higher ed is one of the institutions uniquely suited to fight this! We have the tools!

@nytopinion columnist Ezra Klein argues that if you look closely at the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s second term, you’ll see something very different than what he wants you to see. #nytopinion TikTok video by New York Times Opinion

Watched this OpEd and really appreciated it! Also, glad to see traditional media actually working with TikTok here:

www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Yj3NTf/

The last couple of days has just solidified my belief that I should never be in charge of a country. I would not have called and cajoled him. I would have just posted “play stupid games, win stupid prizes” on my socials and watched the tantrum. 😬

It ain’t a war crime until after the first time! 🤣

Every time I hear news that overwhelms or enrages me now, my new thing is to do an act of self-care. Fired 1100 EPA agents? CDC data gone? Liter of water! Healthy homemade breakfast. Tried to break into a SCIF at USAID? Laundry done and put away! Stock market crash? Skincare and moisturize…

Saw a TikTok from yesterday that the passport application system (website) is down (“for maintenance”) and fillable form is expired. Confirmed it myself this morning on the Travel State gov website.

Academics: Do you imagine you're in the clear b/c you've played it safe, avoided commenting on so-called "controversial" issues, and/or don't teach or write on one of "those" subjects? Think again. It may start with x, y, or z "issues" or subjects. But rest assured that will be just the beginning.

My understanding is that we’re being very demure, very mindful about protests, lest they escalate the situation in certain ways. However, there is a call to commit to a national strike. And this is a great time to build community locally, that gives protective factors to the most vulnerable of us.

Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.

it's not hyperbolic to say we're witnessing a coup.

Researchers rush to preserve federal health databases before they disappear from government websites Journalists have long relied on federal health data for their reporting. We include several tips that they can use to help researchers preserve the data.

"A group of researchers and students at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is gathered today for a data preservation marathon, scraping and downloading data related to health equity from U.S. government agency websites before they disappear." journalistsresource.org/home/researc...

Exile. Imprisonment. The end of elections. We know what tyranny looks like once it’s underway. But how does it start? We spoke with people from around the world who missed the warning signs of tyranny... TikTok video by New York Times Opinion

How many 🚩 can you spot today?

www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8YRLTKo/

#jacksonville #jacksonvilleflorida #jacksonvillefl #jaxfl #jaxflorida #904 #duval #duvalcounty #duvalcountyflorida #duvalcounty904 #duvalcountyschoolboard TikTok video by Shannon Schott

Happening in Duval county, FL.

www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8YdRY8r/