"Even after accounting for the upfront costs and delayed benefits, enrolling marginal applicants to public universities generates substantial net returns for society, the marginal students themselves, and the government budget." Public Universities FTW!

Our new golden age of free speech, where opposition to immigration enforcement can trigger a federal investigation

For higher ed's next steps, "internal reform, improved communication, and better defense are inseparable parts of a whole." Kathryn Enke and I are @insidehighered.com, responding to @saracuster.insidehighered.com on higher ed's public trust problem. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/lett...

As someone who has been friends with @hcrichardson.bsky.social since before she was famous, I think this Nate Silver piece offers an interesting analysis of Democratic Party politics but misunderstands Heather and her appeal a bit. www.natesilver.net/p/what-is-he...

An outstanding @nytopinion.nytimes.com op-ed on homeschooling from @Stefan Merrill Block, which includes extensive coverage of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education and its work. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/o...

What a pleasure it was today to read a profile of my brilliant and generous friend @boddice.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com. Overall it's a great piece, and more people should understand the revolutionary potential of Rob's work. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work. Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/

This is true but so maddening. The promise of social media was that you could make friends with people who didn't live near you or travel in your circles. Because social media companies have monetized sharing your thoughts with the world's worst trolls instead, that promise is gone.

Higher Education’s Compact with America: Shared Principles for the Common Good https://bit.ly/3WbZv8K

Great piece by @compact.org's Bobbie Laur in response to the other "Compact" being proffered to universities by the administration. compact.org/news/a-highe...

I enjoyed speaking with Juliet Schulman-Hall for @masslive.bsky.social about how the Professor Watchlist and Canary Mission get us farther from, not closer to, a free exchange of ideas on campus. www.masslive.com/news/2025/10...

“Surviving for a purpose means keeping the mission of an institution at the forefront of decision-making.” Read AAC&U's @jeremycyoung.bsky.social’s “Survive for a Purpose.” https://bit.ly/4h1cUtE #LibEdMag

We got some coverage for the new Advancing Public Trust initiative in @theeduledger.bsky.social (formerly Diverse)! www.theeduledger.com/leadership-p...

AAC&U Launches Initiative to Restore Public Trust in Higher Education: https://bit.ly/46JDLqN

And we're live! Announcing the launch of @aacu.org's new Advancing Public Trust in Higher Education (APT) initiative, which I co-lead with Kathryn Enke. You'll be hearing a lot more about APT in the coming months. www.aacu.org/newsroom/aac...

As colleges consider the "Compact," I write @aacu.org, "higher education leaders need to make hard choices that will allow their institutions to survive—but they must remember that their goal is to survive for a purpose, not merely to continue to exist." www.aacu.org/liberaleduca...

Our statement @aacu.org: "In renewing the call for constructive engagement, AAC&U also strongly opposes any alternative that would erode or eviscerate essential freedoms and promote instability."

I'm hiring! www.aacu.org/about/employ...

Enjoyed speaking with Gianna Jakubowski for this piece in the GW Hatchet! gwhatchet.com/2025/09/15/t...

When the Founding Fathers adopted the First Amendment, the censorship that kept them up at night was censorship or private citizens by the government. That's what they made unconstitutional. Not social pressure. Not social media pile-ons. Not hate speech. Censorship by the government.

I'm thrilled to welcome Tess Ulrey as @responsiblehs.bsky.social's newest Executive Director. As I said in the release, "Tess is an expert in helping nonprofits fulfill their potential…[her] proven record of accomplishment in youth development, advocacy, and fundraising makes her the ideal choice."

NEW: two recent polls show an uptick in popularity for higher ed. That says more about the "thermostatic effect" in politics than it does about colleges, I explain in @aacu.org's Liberal Education Online -- but it does give us an opening to make our case. www.aacu.org/liberaleduca...

Dreamed that Clint Hurdle added me to the Pittsburgh Pirates' roster even though I can't play baseball, because he valued my ideas and charisma. Team activities consisted of him calling the players together and imparting life lessons about equality and social justice, and he wanted my contributions

Scholars push back against Trump’s Smithsonian review. #HigherEd #AcademicSky www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

This is not an accurate description either of how science works or of how it is viewed by the administration. It's as if RFK Jr. doesn't exist. This every-man-for-himself panic just sets us further back. We must all hang together, or we will surely all hang separately.

In my first piece for @aacu.org's Liberal Education Online, I discuss an alarming feature of the DOJ's recent anti-DEI memo: targeting thought crimes like "proxies," "perceptions," and "intent," even when they don't involve actual differential treatment of students by identity group.

This is a spectacular piece by Ian Simmons on why business and industry should be all in for academic freedom. www.forbes.com/sites/iansim...

the US profoundly needs a children's rights movement. children are not property... they deserve opportunity and learning and autonomy and security.... and our country just does not acknowledge this

More of this, please. Protect Science and American Innovation Day of Action happening today. www.protectscienceandinnovation.org

Interesting-looking November conference on higher ed and democracy, organized by my friend @jpygold.bsky.social at @bulaw.bsky.social! www.bu.edu/law/engageme...

I enjoyed speaking with @masslive.bsky.social's Juliet Schulman-Hall about the impact of the BBB on higher ed. Spoiler alert, it's not good, but not as bad as it could have been. www.masslive.com/news/2025/07...

I'm on the board at @responsiblehs.bsky.social, and we're searching for our next Executive Director -- Someone w/skills in fundraising, strategic planning, policy, & management. Relevant lived experience a plus. Happy to answer qs (I'm not on the committee). responsiblehomeschooling.org/employment/

Rallying our community to stand up for our rights. Creating life-changing resources for survivors. Training professionals to support at-risk children. Your gift of any amount today directly supports our one-of-a-kind work. #HomeschoolChat

I'm on the board of directors at @responsiblehs.bsky.social, the only organization in the US advocating for responsible oversight of homeschooling to protect kids from abuse. This org is my passion, and I'd be grateful if you'd consider a one-time or recurring donation to their summer fundraiser.

We're suing the government to overturn the massive cuts to NSF funding, including to our own program building STEM education pipelines for students from minority and underserved populations. Proud to be part of @aacu.org and to have the support of @democracyforward.org in this fight.

I'm sure I'll take shit for saying this, but this passage from Glenn Loury's Chronicle interview perfectly captures for me the civilizational necessity of a relatively autonomous academic sphere. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

"A successful college education is measured not by what its graduates believe but by what they can conceive." Important piece by Lynn Pasquerella on @aacu.org's Call for Constructive Engagement statement and higher ed leaders' response to the present crisis. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Really enjoyed this conversation with Michelle Deutchman @ucfreespeech.bsky.social, which touched on the @aacu.org presidents' statement (approaching 600 signatories!) and other things. freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/speechmatter...

A worthy statement by PEN America's Champions of Higher Education, with over a hundred signatures from former college presidents. Worth reading in full.

Good for @historians.org for redoing this important survey, last completed a decade ago. If you're contingent faculty, please consider filling it out.

More than 150 leaders of America's colleges, universities, and scholarly societies issued "A Call for Constructive Engagement" in response to the ongoing government intrusion into #highered. Read the full statement: www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...

Excited about this statement by current college presidents released by @aacu.org, which is now up to over 200 signers and counting. As the statement notes, higher ed institutions "speaking with one voice" is vitally needed right now. www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...

“The termination of your grant represents an urgent priority for this administration” My NEH grant has been terminated Incredible when the funding for your book about the educational culture wars is cut as a result of the educational culture wars You can’t say history isn’t relevant

Thrilled to announce that I'm joining @aacu.org as Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, working with President Lynn Pasquerella and across the organization on a variety of projects regarding AAC&U's mission of liberal education. www.aacu.org/newsroom/aac...

Hello all: I am seeking a new professional opportunity. I’m a dynamic and experienced nonprofit professional with a unique ability to assemble coalitions and build and execute programs in the higher education, state advocacy, and democracy spaces. Here are a few of the things I’ve done: 🧵

"Efforts to build inclusive and diverse campus communities are neither discriminatory nor illegal." Bravo to @aceducation.bsky.social and 68 higher ed associations for this muscular, powerful, unified response to the Ed Dept "Dear Colleague" letter. www.acenet.edu/Documents/Le...

@jeremycyoung.bsky.social, director of state and higher education policy at the free expression group PEN America, said senator Ted Cruz's database of “questionable” university research projects creates “a hit list” for higher education research. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

NEW: “For higher education to survive the current onslaught, it must fight,” writes PEN America’s @jeremycyoung.bsky.social. “Nothing on a college campus is more worth fighting for than the freedom of ideas from government control.” Read more @chronicle.com: www.chronicle.com/article/hand...

For @chronicle.com, I take stock of the moment in which higher ed finds itself -- under attack from forces in the government and in civil society -- and what we should do about it. www.chronicle.com/article/hand...