Something is going on in Wisconsin as the system president said the board told him he needed to resign or retire. And the board won't tell him why. @byjoshmoody.bsky.social has the letters from Rothman in which he said he won't step down. www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

An important life update from me on this week's episode of The Key: I've finally watched K-Pop Demon Hunters. www.insidehighered.com/podcasts/key...

I don’t love April Fools, but it’s fun to see the creativity and effort that colleges put into pranking their students. Here’s @j-alonso.bsky.social annual roundup. www.insidehighered.com/news/institu...

Great news!

Off into to the sunset. Farewell, #dcstreetcar The DC streetcar takes its last ride ending 10 PM March 31, 2026

IHE's @knottkatherine.bsky.social interviewed the one-man public records machine behind @foiaball.com to talk about his great work digging into college athletic budgets. (Full disclosure: I'm a FOIAball subscriber, and you should be too.) www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

Just remembered that this happened a year ago today. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

There's a lot of questions about how this partnership will work, but Ryan has the details on what we know so far.

From the first episode of this season’s Love is Blind, I’ve wanted to read more about Vic. And @emmawhitford.bsky.social delivers. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

The Green Line Soccer gamer from a bummed-out Audi Field, where the Washington Spirit worried the Portland Thorns without actually creating real danger. Olivia Moultrie showed them how it's done, giving the visitors a 1-0 win to open the NWSL season.

So I watched Trump's college sports roundtable, so you don't have to. As college leaders warn that college athletics is running out of time for reform, they want the federal government to do something to help. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Some of the institutions where fellowships were canceled—as well as those listed as potential replacements—never received notification from the Pentagon, these universities told Inside Higher Ed. It’s unclear if any did. www.insidehighered.com/news/admissi...

The arrest of a Columbia student shows the limited options that universities have in resisting ICE agents, especially if they won't follow protocols. Advocates are urging college leaders to demand that federal lawmakers hold ICE officers accountable. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

The new Spirit kits are out. Details, photos, my take, all at Green Line Soccer

Great news for those of us who bike to Audi on game days

A team of skilled Zamboni drivers and technicians at the Winter Olympics keep the ice in the arena at the right temperature and thickness for competition. The challenge? Each event needs a different kind of ice.

BREAKING: A 6-3 Supreme Court STRIKES DOWN President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs, finding the International Emergency Economic Powers Act *doesn’t* authorize the president to issue them. #SCOTUS www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Y’all, I think I finally understand curling.

Trump Administration Agrees to End Race-Based Criteria for McNair Grant The decision ends a lawsuit from a conservative student group and will open up the doctoral grant program that originally targeted underrepresented students. https://bit.ly/4aoZ7LY #AcademicSky #HigherEd #EDUSky

The Pell Grant is projected to be short at least $100 billion over the next 10 years—a shortfall that Congress will have to address either with cuts or new money. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

okay so I actually just got off the phone with some UTEP and travel industry people if anybody is interested in a quick thread about "what an athletic department does when they wake up and see the FAA has closed their airport"

Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family. “He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.

just to be clear, this also means that huge numbers of romance titles are now functionally out of print. and sure, romance has always been an ephemeral genre, but this decimates the genre in a very real way. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...

The Education Department is investigating what organizers say is "nation’s only objective study of college student voting and registration," and threatening colleges that participate. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Yesterday, hundreds of those people were swept out, because of the charlatans in charge. Hundreds remain, carrying on the work. I wish Americans could really see & feel what it's like in a newsroom. The care. The effort. @sallyjenx.bsky.social captures it here: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

The Washington Post but it’s ‘The Traitors’

A subscription starts a $10 a month. We can do this.

🧵 1/ We’re devastated about the layoffs at The Washington Post, which are gutting D.C. reporting. These journalists are an incalculable loss for our city. The 51st’s mission has always felt urgent, but now we know it needs to kick into high gear.

“The Post, instead, is abandoning its current audience in search of one that may not exist.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

There is a (tax deductible!) way to repurpose your Washington Post subscription dollars — it is, again, making deep cuts to its local coverage — by becoming a sustaining supporter of @51st.news Join community leaders like @mkraju.bsky.social, @eli.pizza — and lowlifes like myself and @caseym.org

Not for nothing, but it was a Washington Post article about romance fiction that pushed Jacob Tierney to contact Rachel Reid about making #HeatedRivalry.

Today’s a terrible day for DC journalism. But at least we can support the 51st.

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

Seven years ago yesterday, this ad ran during the Super Bowl.

The Post layoffs are brutal. And the sports cuts especially make no sense. A town with teams from the NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, NWSL, UFL, and NFL really can’t support a sports section? I’m a Spirit season ticket holder! I want to read about my team.

A ‘Barrage of Bills’ Would Overhaul Higher Ed in Iowa—If They Actually Pass www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

It’s a girl! An elephant gave birth at the National Zoo yesterday, marking the first time in almost 25 years the zoo has welcomed a baby Asian elephant 🐘💕

According to GAO, the OCR layoffs have all been rescinded. (ED had tried in March to fire half of the OCR staffers.) www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

Will the Classic Learning Test Shake Up College Admissions? The CLT is now accepted by all public institutions in three states, plus the nation’s service academies. But even as it gains popularity, critics question both its content and its quality. https://bit.ly/49OnZfU #EDUSky #AcademicSky

We've got good news to share, something in short supply these days: We’re doubling the size of our full-time staff to four people — earlier than would be possible with fundraising alone — thanks to the DC Solidarity Economy Loan Fund. More on how this loan works, and what it's enabling us to do:

D.C. deserves a robust local news ecosystem. We’re building one piece of that — a worker-led newsroom whose first priority is our community’s information needs. Join us? www.51st.news/signup

The “R-word,” long considered a slur for those with intellectual disabilities, is seeing a resurgence on social media and across the political right. The word’s proliferation has alarmed many advocates and people with disabilities who thought it had long since been removed from circulation.

this small drop of good news could not be better timed: heated rivalry ebooks are now open to anyone with an NYPL card, no waitlists happy snowstorm eve from the library 💕 www.nypl.org/blog/2026/01...

A reminder.

There’s video floating around. You don’t want to watch it. News feed will be updated continuously. No paywall. www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

As my D.C. journo colleagues/friends have pointed out, Trinity Rodman's record deal wouldn't have happened without the Spirit community. While sports continue to be dictated by balance sheets, it's a nice reminder of where women's soccer's soul lies. @theathletic.com www.nytimes.com/athletic/699...

Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 24, 2026

the league tried its damnedest to mess this up, and if rodman didn't have the connection to dc and the community of supporters at audi field, she would be yet another star leaving. they'll tout this as a league-wide win, it is not, the win is the property of the women's soccer community in dc.

GIRL WHO IS GOING TO BE OKAY