Scot Evans

A Compact for Control (opinion) No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write.

A Compact for Control:
No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write.
@yalelawschool-yls.bsky.social @uchicagolaw.bsky.social
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

But I thought if you smeared someone and they were then the victim of violence, that meant you had to be fired from your job.

Or does Fox News only think that applies to teachers?

Tensions arise between Faculty Senate and Mahoney over Compact from Trump admin In his first time speaking publicly about the invitation, Mahoney shared that he has formed a working group to address the invitation and accompanying Compact.

Good action from U VA faculty senate

www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

1/2

UVA Faculty Senate with a clear statement of values: facultysenate.virginia.edu/resolution-o...

"[A]ll universities have to do now is do nothing—no accepting the compact, no counter-offers, nothing—and the government will be left with no more power to coerce and control the First Amendment-protected activities of major American universities than it has today."

The only real use of AI I see at a moment is as yet another tool of oligarchic state control

It is used to control knowledge, destroy education (in its emancipatory understanding) and ultimately curtail democratic imagination at a time when authoritarian measures become the norm

For those Venezuelans out there, some of whom have now been working and living legally in the United States for over 4 years, I am sorry. This shouldn't be happening to you. Venezuela is still not safe for you. Yet you have been abandoned by your former allies. You deserve better.

Universities considering capitulating to the Trump “conditions” should use this real world example to understand they will simply be destroying their own institution. bsky.app/profile/nich...

Colleges weigh whether to sign onto Trump plan or forgo federal benefits A new proposal from the Trump administration would give colleges funding advantages if they adopt conservative priorities.

This isn't "signing on to Trump's plan"--it is straight up extortion--and "the benefits" are akin to Mafia protection. Nice university ya got there, shame if something should happen to it. Just. Say. No. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Chris Rufo's disastrous takeover of New College in Florida shows what universities would become if they sign the Trump regime's extortionary "compact."

New College was supposed to model the anti-woke conservative higher-ed Americans crave. Instead, it showed the opposite, and serves as a warning.

Trump Offered Universities an Invitation for a Deal. Some See a Trap.

Of course it’s a trap.

“They would reward campuses that toe the party line and punish those that cherish their independence,” a statement from AAUP and AFT says. “In doing so, it would commit the very viewpoint discrimination it claims to redress.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

That's the only way to play this. The only form of resistance that can work to this kind of authoritarian power-grab is resistance where universities all refuse to voluntarily give up autonomy over what they teach, write, and allow their students and faculty to say.

Then fight in court, one by one.

New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference." The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

Universities Must Reject Trump Admin 'Loyalty Oath' Compacts The AAUP and AFT warn that the Trump administration’s offer to give preferential treatment to colleges and universities that court government favor in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological...

The Trump admin’s offer to give preferential treatment to institutions that toe the party line reeks of bribery in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological agenda.

This is corruption.

Adherence to ‘loyalty oaths’ would usher in a new era of thought policing in American higher education.

Shocked!

“I would advise universities to resist the urge for efficiency that AI tools promise. Because in-depth reflection and thinking takes time, and we should take that time despite all the promises of efficiency emanating from AI."

Image with quote from Tom Alter "With universities as centers of learning, open debate, tolerance, and free speech, the possibility exists that students might become sensitive to the suffering of other people and question an economy based on profit over people as well as the role of the US military around the world."

www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/24/f...

If they capitulate, they should be boycotted.
archive.is/ycQrr

Jimmy Fallon Plans to ‘Keep My Head Down’ and Avoid Politics on ‘The Tonight Show’: ‘We Hit Both Sides Equally’ Jimmy Fallon says he plans to "keep my head down" and avoid politics on "The Tonight Show."

Fucking disgusting variety.com/2025/tv/news...

@aaup.org is doing the good work right now, on campus and beyond. Congrats on this victory.

If any other president in all of history said the military should use American cities as a training ground he would be removed from office that same day. The hardest thing to tolerate in all this is how relatively silent elected democrats are. It’s ridiculous.

We Should Care About The Harm Generative AI Is Causing The harms to marginalized communities caused by AI are palpable, yet they don’t always resonate with everyday people, thanks in part to messaging that paints it as useful and necessary.

[COMMENTARY] The harms to marginalized communities caused by AI are palpable, yet they don’t always resonate with everyday people, thanks in part to messaging that paints it as useful and necessary.

https://bit.ly/4gOmM9W

Opinion

This case … squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us.”

“The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do’.

— Judge William G. Young

#AAUPvRubio

Fix this @apnews.com.

quick while the government is shut down let’s all switch to metric

HEY CORPORATE MEDIA,

Say it with me. Your headline is REPUBLICAN CONGRESS FAILS TO FUND GOVERNMENT: SHUTDOWN IMMINENT

Let me know if you need any help with this

Court Rules in AAUP v Rubio: Trump Admin Violated First Amendment The AAUP and partners sued to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members for ideological reasons.

Once again, it is *faculty*—not administrators—who brought this case and won. Including UC Faculty Association chapters of the AAUP.

The number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills.

Norway - 0
UK - 0
France - 0
Spain - 0
Portugal - 0
Denmark - 0
Australia - 0
Iceland - 0
Italy - 0
Finland - 0
Ireland - 0
Germany - 0
Netherlands - 0
Sweden - 0
Japan - 0
Canada - 0
United States - 643k