John Warner

The fact that Democrats have a 10 point advantage over the GOP in Virginia on education shows just how wrong the national party/pundit takes on this issue have turned out to be. Virginia, of course, is where the narrative about the electoral power of school culture wars began

✴️When we say What Starts Here Changes The World, this is not what we should mean!

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

the usual story. rich guy wants to punish universities for not clamping down on pro-palestinian protests and for doing too much to recruit minorities. at base these guys want the top tier of american universities to become, once more, safe-spaces for their dunderheaded failsons

Billionaire Trump Ally Emerges as Key Broker in Harvard Fight

Any deal Harvard signs with Trump, no matter how favorable, is the end of considering them an independent entity operating in the traditions of higher education. The fact that Trump's billionaire buddy is the go-between is just an extra gross layer of crap on top. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

Just say no to digital necromancy. We have something much better from our important leaders from history, their actual speeches and writings, which can be discussed and debated. This is a tragic dumbing down. engagededucation.substack.com/p/just-say-n...

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.

It does seem part and parcel with the broader program to punish blue states, though I'm not sure this will necessarily result in improvements for red states so much as less damage overall.

Chancellors Playing Footsie With Authoritarianism But some people seem willing to give it away for a competitive advantage.

Don't sleep on Vanderbilt and Wash U. as contenders for the most favored institution of the regime. They've already clearly signaled a willingness to abandon their own dignity. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

University of Texas leaping to the top of the rankings of higher ed institutions most eager to cozy up to the authoritarian, taking over the top spot from previous leader, Columbia University. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

I think every academic in Texas has a story. Even if it is not direct censorship, the climate of fear on Texas is so real. The climate rewards staying quiet, speaking out becomes harder, the channels of dissent are narrower.

A New Project Exploring Attacks on Academic Freedom Faculty on the Front Lines: AAUP Members Share Stories of Repression and Resistance

When faculty are silenced it's not just about what those individuals. The community is also degraded. A new project is documenting these injustices. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/a-new-proj...

Somebody actually sat down and wrote these two sentences, one after another. www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/u...

"Through technological saviourism, the architects and vendors of AI tools will achieve the fortitude of moral conviction.... Their monopolistic grip over higher education will further constrict. And universities ... [will] fold into the arms of AI and its corporate beneficiaries."

Some schools will be starved of resources. Other schools will be offered bribes. The end goal is the same. To make the universities an extension of the Trump administration. Shame on any of these institutions willing to take the bribes.

A New Project Exploring Attacks on Academic Freedom Faculty on the Front Lines: AAUP Members Share Stories of Repression and Resistance

When faculty are silenced it's not just about what those individuals. The community is also degraded. A new project is documenting these injustices. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/a-new-proj...

Exclusive | White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage An initial round of nine schools, including Dartmouth, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, are being asked to sign a wide-ranging “compact.”

This is all kinds of crazy. But the enforcement mechanism? Universities would hire an auditor to "conduct anonymous polling among faculty, students and staff to evaluate the university’s performance against the agreement" w/ results made public and reviewed by the Justice Dept.

Right?

I'm no lawyer, but I hope and believe creators and copyright/trademark holders should be able to sue these things out of existence.

Working on an IHE post at this moment on what I've seen in my campus visits so far this fall and signs are encouraging on multiple fronts. There's a lot of considered responses going on, not just departments and faculty, but students too.

Phew, again.

Phew.

Crap.

I've been longing for the Chicago Cubs to return to the playoffs, but I'm now remembering that watching actual playoff games is just a form of torture as you sweat out every last pitch.

Excellent point. Coates understands the dynamics in ways Klein obviously can't appreciate. Coates says "sometimes we lose," and it's almost as if Klein can't accept this as an outcome.

Amen. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/o...

I had the same instant connection. Hegseth wants to put the dumbshit jingoism on display at that golf competition at the center of the American project

I'm saying your tone is a kind of hectoring lecture where you're telling me what I already believe, which is, IMO a form of condescension.

You may call me John, but you can drop the condescension because I agree with you! I don't approve of Klein's stance, I'm saying that I better understand where he's coming from. Previously I would've put him much closer to Coates in terms of political approach. He's clearly shifted, IMO.

Interesting observation. I agree. He's clearly shaken by Trump's "success" and seems to have moved off a kind of core liberal politics. I think he might argue that we're in an emergency where Trump has to be stopped, but Coates simply has a longer view.

...reponsbility. They denied Project 2025 was their vision when the heat came down. The P2025 dude is now running the government. They just lie and it works, electorally. It seems Klein is edging toward strategic lying.