Bradford Vivian

AAUP, AFT Leaders Respond to Trump’s Higher Education Admissions Directive WASHINGTON—American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram and issued the following statements in respo...

“This and other executive orders eliminating federal funding and forcing faculty to end legally permissible work will deprive students of opportunities for educational advancement and economic flourishing.”

—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

Read full press release and response to Trump’s directive👇

Critical Thinking Bootcamp The Future of Critical Thinking Tuesday, August 12, 2025 8:30am PT | 11:30am ET | 4:30pm BST Sage

Brief reminder that I'll be participating in the @sagepub.com Critical Thinking Bootcamp next week, discussing how to recognize misinformation about universities. (Thanks so much to Sage for inviting me.)

Full info and registration here: www.sagepub.com/our-initiati...

#EduSky

This from @progressivereform.bsky.social is on point. Looking at university applicants' race without their socioeconomic status is manipulating the data. Only reason to do it the Trump admin way is to use fake claims of anti-white racism to force schools to stop considering socioeconomic status too.

WNBA sex toy incidents may be linked to cryptocurrency group’s money scheme The group's coin was created the day before the first incident, and as of Thursday, its worth had nearly tripled in one week.

Throwing sex toys at women doing their jobs is outrageous, textbook sexual harassment. It’s inexcusable. “The sexualization of women is what’s used to hold women down, and this is no different,” Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “These people that are doing this should be held accountable.”

Stanford newspaper sues Trump administration over student deportations The lawsuit challenges Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s ability to revoke student visas and deem an individual deportable based on the content of their speech.

Stanford University’s student-run newspaper sued two senior Trump administration officials Wednesday, challenging Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s ability to revoke student visas and deem an individual deportable based on the content of their speech.

Critical Thinking Bootcamp The Future of Critical Thinking Tuesday, August 12, 2025 8:30am PT | 11:30am ET | 4:30pm BST Sage

Brief reminder that I'll be participating in the @sagepub.com Critical Thinking Bootcamp next week, discussing how to recognize misinformation about universities. (Thanks so much to Sage for inviting me.)

Full info and registration here: www.sagepub.com/our-initiati...

#EduSky

There’s lots wrong with the Columbia settlement but the provisions relating to foreign students are among the most disturbing—because of the degree of intrusion into the university’s autonomy and the far-reaching effect they may have. knightcolumbia.org/blog/what-th...

Purdue student detained by ICE and taken to troubled Louisiana holding facility Yeonsoo Go, 20, was detained after her immigration hearing in Manhattan and taken away by ICE agents.

Go, a college student, has a dependent visa (her mother, an Episcopal minister, is here on a religious worker visa), which doesn't expire until Dec. But when she tried to renew it early, ICE nabbed her and sent her halfway across the US to a detention center.
www.wthr.com/article/news...

In Columbia’s Deal, More Gaslighting (opinion) Columbia’s deal reaffirms rather than challenges a narrative of widespread antisemitism, while reinforcing the ongoing erasure of Palestinians, Jennifer Ruth writes.

🚩COLUMBIA’S GASLIGHTING🚩

“When the presidents of our universities & colleges compromise our academic freedom…they co-create with the federal government a culture of fear that makes us scared to use our voices as professors to name & discuss genocide.“

—Jennifer Ruth, Committee on Academic Freedom

Headline from Harvard Crimson: "Harvard President Garber Tells Faculty He Is Not Considering a $500 Million Deal With Trump."

Text of story: Harvard prez Garber says report of a deal "was apparently leaked to the press by White House officials." NYT ran with it as a story.

Important details from this story:

1) Yet another news-break by student journalists (this time @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social) www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

2) Harvard saying "see you in court," not "let's make a deal."

3) Per Garber, WH/MAGA leaked news of a "deal." NYT then ran with it.

Trump Went to War With the Ivies. Community Colleges Are Being Hit.

the trump administration is selling its war on higher education as a strike against the elites who have disadvantaged ordinary americans. in actuality, the administration is destroying advanced education for *everyone* in pursuit of its effort to deskill the american public

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

Judge Removes Youngkin’s University Board Picks The ruling in favor of state Democrats will likely be appealed.

“Tell me how faculty can feel safe, not just to exercise their academic freedom, but safe in their personhood, when you have extremist board members siccing their organizations on us.”

www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

The UK's scramble to find an effective age verification method shows us that there isn't one, and it's high time for politicians to take that seriously. The Online Safety Act is a threat to the privacy of users, restricts free expression by arbitrating speech online, exposes users to algorithmic discrimination through face checks, and leaves millions of people without a personal device or form of ID excluded from accessing the internet.

Thanks, _The Anxious Generation_.

nymag.com/intelligence...

The UK's scramble to find an effective age verification method shows us that there isn't one, and it's high time for politicians to take that seriously. The Online Safety Act is a threat to the privacy of users, restricts free expression by arbitrating speech online, exposes users to algorithmic discrimination through face checks, and leaves millions of people without a personal device or form of ID excluded from accessing the internet.

Thanks, _The Anxious Generation_.

nymag.com/intelligence...

Provost: UNC-CH Chancellor Signed Off On Plan To Delay Tenure Chris Clemens wrote in an email obtained by The Assembly that Chancellor Lee Roberts agreed to delay tenure votes for financial reasons.

BREAKING: @theassemblync.bsky.social obtained an email in which UNC-Chapel Hill's ex-provost said Chancellor Lee Roberts agreed to the Board of Trustees’ controversial move to delay tenure votes for financial reasons.

From me & @themhartman.bsky.social

www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...

👇👇👇

GMU update:

In a delightful twist, the GMU board just approved a 1.5% raise for President Washington. There had been widespread speculation that the board might fire him today. There was considerable attendance and media at today's meeting. The closed session was nearly 4 hrs!

What's next?

👇👇👇

Mary Anne Franks This is "Mary Anne Franks" by Rhodes Trust on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

ICYMI, here's the video of the Rhodes Scholars' Library fireplace chat about my book, Fearless Speech @rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk vimeo.com/1104094043/a...

Wow. A group of top scholars at Harvard just sent a letter to its president, Alan Garber, warning against surrendering to Trump.

Signatories include Steven Levitsky, Dani Rodrik, Ryan Enos, Theda Skocpol, and Steven Walt.

Someone forwarded it to me. Read it here:

Brown University Makes a Deal With the White House to Restore Funding

One of the tenets of the liberal arts tradition is to stand against injustice.

At no point do we teach students to yield to a shakedown by homophobes and racists. Call them by their true names.

Brown University Makes a Deal With the White House to Restore Funding www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/u...

DOJ Declares Slew of DEI Practices Unlawful in Memo The nine-page memo builds on the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Or, Justice Department Declares Uniformity, Inequity, and Exclusion Lawful.

www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Want to help defend #GeorgeMasonUniversity against state censorship and federal restrictions on academic freedom? Here’s a website where you can do do: shorturl.at/Nx0in

#EduSky

Trump administration widens probes into Virginia’s largest public university The Trump administration has launched a fourth investigation into George Mason University over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

There’s been some useful national reporting over the past week:

www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Michael Roth is pitch-perfect:

"The White House has determined how students should be disciplined at a private university. This is massive overreach. This is an assault on the independence of civil society in America. And conservatives, liberals, moderates, they should all be concerned..."

Want to help defend #GeorgeMasonUniversity against state censorship and federal restrictions on academic freedom? Here’s a website where you can do do: shorturl.at/Nx0in

#EduSky

Re-upping the written comments I submitted as a #GeorgeMasonUniversity alum in advance of the next #GMU BoV meeting. #EduSky

AAUP President: DOJ investigation at George Mason an attack on Academic Freedom On July 25, the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division sent a letter launching an investigation into the George Mason University Faculty Senate—because faculty members dared to show support fo...

‼️DOJ Investigation at George Mason an attack on Academic Freedom‼️

“If the DOJ can investigate faculty governance bodies for citing a university’s own strategic plan…then no campus is safe. Today it’s Mason. Tomorrow it could be yours.”

—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

www.aaup.org/news/aaup-pr...

Highly recommend 👇