Dr. Gordon Maples

Supreme Court Ethics: Ta-Nehisi Coates Case Won’t Be Heard Due To Recusals The case involves the publisher behind many of the justices’ books.

Apologies for yelling, but—

SCOTUS COULDN’T DO ITS JOB BECAUSE TOO MANY JUSTICES HAVE BOOK DEALS WITH A PARTY IN A CASE

As an expert on religious diversity in higher ed who has worked around Eboo for over a decade: he drags the whole field down with his watered down pluralism that neglects intersectionality, ignores power dynamics, and dismisses the work of "jerk" activists who don't subscribe to his preferred tone

"We're trying not to be controversial"

If the boat doesn't rock, you aren't having impact

He would have you shake hands with a Nazi - with wet blood on his hands - for the sake of being considerate

I genuinely don't understand how Eboo Patel is a keynote speaker in 2025, advocating for bridge-building, civil discourse, and tone policing in *THIS* (*waves arms wildly*)

The man is a preserved fossil of the Obama era

I've heard a lot of dismissive and condescending discussion of student activists at NASPA, which I am immensely disappointed by. It feels out of touch, out of step, and off-mission for the field of student affairs.

Gordon Maples, Ph.D. on LinkedIn: Events of October 7 and Aftermath Led to US Campus Upheaval - Jenny L… New publication that I'm pleased to have written with Jenny Small! This is a look at the immediate higher education institutional responses to October 7 and…

New publication!

This is a look at the immediate higher education institutional responses to October 7 and the subsequent war in Israel and Palestine.

I hope there are some lessons that SSAOs and administrators can take away from this analysis

www.linkedin.com/posts/gordon...

Just a heads up. I can only speak to education but Title IV funds, which include the Pell Grant, are currently excluded from the "freeze." This is still incredibly catastrophic (and illegal? though lol what are laws?). Just don't take this list as the final word, it's an evolving situation.

The ground doesn't feel very solid today

UNO to furlough hundreds of employees as it faces $10 million budget gap "We still have got a big gap to go after this,” said Edwin Litolff, the university's CFO.

Hmmm. There's no easy answer to set UNO's ship straight, but I feel like furloughing employees making 30k isn't going to ingratiate you much with a local working class community that you critically need to win back to survive as an institution.

www.nola.com/news/educati...

Inside Poe Hall: The chemicals and where they were found Last year, a group of NC State employees battling breast cancer urged the university to test Poe Hall for environmental hazards. The results showed dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals, promptin...

News from investigations of PCBs in NC State College of Ed building:

"Notably, on the sixth floor, an office in Suite 608 was found to have PCB levels 460 times higher than EPA limits. Three individuals who worked in that office have since been diagnosed with cancer."

www.wral.com/story/inside...

I do love working with students, but there's definitely an undeniable academia nut at my core

My supervisor asked me to put together a lit review about something, and I was *ECSTATIC*

Last week I had to dig into the school's archive for a course catalog from the 90s. Got my blood pumping!

Trying to find the balance between being a student affairs practitioner and continuing my academic pursuits. I still have a few ongoing projects, but it is certainly taking an adjustment to balance my time. I have lots of respect for folks who found the sweet spot for publishing as a practitioner.

Data-informed practice is not inherently a bad thing at all, but it does require some literacy/expertise in survey design, analysis, and a critical understanding of what data is, means, and potentially misses.

Is there a BlueSky equivalent of vague-tweeting yet?

"Each percentage point increase is the population of Hammond. Superdomes worth of people in the state with new credentials. That has multigenerational impacts."

This really helps illustrate the scale of the increases in degree attainment

"People aren't graduating with the wrong degrees - they just aren't graduating. We need students at every postsecondary credential level in all fields."

Interesting comparison of the current LA degree attainment with the posted employment needs in the state.

(Tristan Denley, LA BoR)

"It is imperative that students are placed in the correct math classes - math crushes dreams"

"If you don't tell students on Day 1 that they need a social network - people to give recommendation letters, internships, insider field knowledge - then it may not matter that they succeed with their grades, degrees, and other challenges"

About to hear from the LA higher ed commissioner Dr. Kim Hunter Reed at the Cowen Institute (Tulane U) convening on postsecondary access/success in New Orleans, "Life After High School."

Excited to learn more about the LA and New Orleans education landscape, particularly in relation to higher ed.

In the past two months, I started a new job, adopted a *very* old one-eyed chihuahua, lost my last grandparent and a cat, and went on a fantastic jaunt to New Mexico. I would very much like to take a nap now but the country is exploding and the anxiety done cranked to 11 real quick

I've got some serious job hunting blues today. Anyone have tips on how to keep your head up?

Strategic thinking

Wow! I have seen some accounts of squirrel 'attacks' but hadn't heard one directly

I'm collecting stories about campus squirrels. It can be real things that happened, legends, reputations, etc.

I've come across squirrel attacks, squirrel clubs, faculty using robots to scare them, students dressing them up in clothes, squirrel statues, squirrel poisonings...

Analysis finds colleges fumbled Oct. 7 statements New analysis on university statements following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the retaliatory war that has since killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians found that multiple universiti...

A recent study that Dr. Jenny Small and I conducted is covered in today's @insidehighered.bsky.social. We analyzed official statements from 100 universities released after the October 7 attacks and subsequent outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. #highered

www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

A doc student at UMKC is doing a study on sense of belonging for Jewish students at 4-year colleges. The online survey takes about 20 minutes to complete, and is open until March 1. They are hoping to have 1,000 student-participants from campuses across the United States. Help spread the word!

Also, I've started doing workshops. If you're interested in a speaker/expert on religious/secular/spiritual diversity in education, I'm available. My diss on religious accommodations was featured in Inside Higher Ed, and I've spent years researching and working with students from marginalized RSSIs.

I have the fancy letters on my name and my Google Scholar numbers inch forward at a leisurely (but respectable, I think) pace. I've led research teams, been a role player, and generally like doing things that have a positive impact.