RFK called moms. gov a "one-stop shop" for mom/child health, but it's real aim seems to be "asserting Trump’s pro mom bona fides while preying on vulnerable women with thinly veiled propaganda of an anti-abortion, anti-vaccine, and anti-feminist bent."--my latest for MSNOW www.ms.now/opinion/moms...

Harvard University's top leaders likely enslaved thousands of people between the founding of the school in 1636 and the defeat of the Confederacy, according to new research.

BREAKING: Canvas says it has reached an agreement with the hackers. A letter shared with CalMatters from Canvas's parent company says: "As part of that agreement, the data was returned to us, we received assurances that it will not be further shared on the dark web or elsewhere" OUR STORY:

some really, really exciting news. we're hiring a two-year reporting fellow to cover higher ed in NYC but especially CUNY!! come work with me and dive into an amazing, complicated and under-covered beat

Well said, @bakerdphd.bsky.social. This is a great piece on the troubles with transparency in college admissions. www.chronicle.com/article/why-...

“For the good of society, your son will work in the trades. Oh, my son? My son will be a titan of politics and industry. For the good of society, your daughter will be a tradwife. Oh, my daughter? My daughter will host a lucrative rightwing podcast.”

Tons of fascinating results in this thread

Thrilled to see this research finally out, looking at dynamics in a majority Black suburban district. W/ Sarah Asson, Ruth Buck, & @csfowler.bsky.social

Open letter calling for the reinstatement of the National Science Board. This letter is from leaders of the National Academies Note: This does not refer to the leaders on paper such as presidents of the NAS, NAM, and NAE. www.standupforscience.net/nasem-letter... @standupforscience.net

This is basically harassment of scholars willing to question the Trump administration’s targeting of Chinese colleagues. Innes already had the FBI investigate his lab and was given the all clear. Now USDA is shutting down the Lab, which focuses on making fungus-resistant plants.

It’s amazing to watch the discussion of the end of Black political representation as a polarization issue…

It’s not polarization, it’s White supremacy all the way down.

I'm reminded of the number of times in graduate school and during my early career where I heard supposedly rigorous scholars dismiss work on racism as too radical or unserious. “Things have changed” they assured me.

I'll just note that critical race theory predicts quite a lot about the current racial retrenchment and for being *correct* it was pilloried in the press and by some academics.

Brown II effectively bought time to undo civil rights legislation & anti-discrimination policies. States could slowly ‘attempt’ desegregation while white supremacists were able to test rebranded attacks with individualistic arguments about meritocracy & colorblindness.

New: Since DOGE cut the statistical arm of the Education Department, basic facts about American schools are no longer readily available. Some of these data points can be found elsewhere but are now harder to track down. Others simply don't exist anymore. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/05/07/e...

There is not enough discussion of the EEOC's lawsuit against @nytimes.com for discriminating against a white man. Here's a gift link. Let's get into it.🧵 www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/b...

Kind of surprised that this hasn't been bigger news. It's finals week for a whole lot of universities, and yet, Canvas (a learning/grading platform used by ~9,000 schools globally) is currently inaccessible because of a pay-or-have-your-data-leaked hack. www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...

One reason Republicans are banning books and classes on race is because reading even one book about Jim Crow or Reconstruction makes it clear that they are hoping to reinstate segregation.

"And today, the Supreme Court supermajority they spent decades building is fulfilling its purpose, while the administration advocates a white supremacism more shameless than anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes." 🔥

White students make up 12.5% of NYC public school students with IEPs, but they are 71% of students receiving public school funding to attend private schools. These inequalities were anecdotally clear before - now we have this staggering data. Excellent reporting by @alexzimmerman.bsky.social.

I've been scooped (in a good way). I was working on a piece along these lines. This is better. substack.com/home/post/p-...

The DOJ’s ‘findings’ are weak but show that all SFFA & other groups want behind their ‘meritocracy’ rhetoric is to focus solely on GPAs & test scores while distorting how & why holistic admissions works. It’s government overreach to extend the SFFA v Harvard decision to push a segregationist agenda.

absolute heater from @jamellebouie.net one of those pieces where I find myself saying MMHMM repeatedly while reading www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/o...

When Christopher fucking Rufo came out in favor of “institutional neutrality” (which was always a right-wing con) the brilliant people who supported this could have maybe spent a minute rethinking their strategy.

Interested in #caregiver issues? Especially in #Michigan, but also the rest of the US? Join me, @spattersearch.bsky.social, and others today for a noon ET livestream where we'll share new data and resources: ihpi.umich.edu/news-events/...

The Universities of Wisconsin got $25 million in the state budget to give pay raises to faculty in "high-demand" fields, plus a $2 million earmark to Madison for conservative thought. State funding models tied to demand are fairly common. Trying to raises is new. captimes.com/news/educati...

Post-graduation morning tranquility @umichlaw.bsky.social

But not all directorates are getting grants out the door. SBE is still stuck at 2 (two) new grants and STEM Education isn't much further along.

NSF grantmaking update: Last week (4/27) New grants: 737/3303 — 22.2% of avg. Obligations: 700 mil/1.86 bil — 37.7% of avg. This week (5/4) New grants: 836/3480 — 24.0% of avg. Obligations: 810 mil/1.96 bil — 41.5% of avg. So a slight uptick in both, though still far below average levels.

The Upjohn Institute is hiring a full-time research analyst to support our team with statistical programming, data analysis, and other tasks. Read more about the role on our website: www.upjohn.org/sites... #econsky, #econ_ra

Oh no, continued

Oh no

The AAUP & @aft.org stand in solidarity with UM Faculty Senate Chair Derek Peterson. Right-wing attacks on his commencement speech are a direct threat to academic freedom. University leaders must stop apologizing to political agitators & start defending their faculty & protected speech. 👇

It's a very odd feeling to read that the cost of your firing was $20 billion to the US economy. Studies like this are so important. It's hard to put a value on a public service. Trustworthy economic data is vital to so much economic activity in a $29 trillion economy. Worth your time to read.

More weaponization of the Ed Dept & anti-discrimination policies…

By the time all these festivities are over, folks will be crying, “Be gone already!” A whole conference is to come at the end of May, which I had no hand in organizing. Grateful to all the colleagues & students who insisted that I let myself be feted in this way. woodson.as.virginia.edu/McDowell2026

"I understand people want to do STEM. But if you don't know where you've come from, that's history,... and you can't communicate, you're really not going to be a very good engineer or scientist" bit.ly/4w6hONa

I already dealt with this.

"So we noticed that most professors are NOT voting for the party that's defunding higher education, canceling grants for political grievances, banning books, attacking entire fields, placing professors on 'watch lists,' and pushing pseudoscience." "Well, clearly that is the fault of universities."

"Our students are not wilting flowers. They can handle controversy. They do not need sentimental, cloying nostalgia. They need encouragement to face a flawed and unjust world head on, using the tools we've given them: critical reasoning, careful research, sympathy for the oppressed."

Why GSA’s anti-DEI certification is raising alarm in higher education

🫠

This means that hundreds, if not thousands of labs all over the country will close. Tens of thousands of jobs will be lost. This is in defiance of Congress's will and in defiance of good stewardship of the US economy. This is entirely because Russ Vought hates science

I just repeated the analysis for grants in fiscal year 2026. I found 98 grants with title changes upon administrative (non-competitive) renewal. Here is the removed word cloud for fiscal year 2026. 4/5

Last year I looked at NIH grants for which the the titles had changed in the course of administrative renewal. These title changes were part of the negotiations required between program officers and applicants (a process referred to as "remediation" by Deputy Director Jon Lorsch). 1/5

Elites focus on <125 institutions. Getting in can solidify a good educ, networks, & doing better than most. Feel slighted despite a ‘golden ticket?’ Tap those resources/networks for political office, demonize those institutions as ‘out of touch/lacking merit,’ & then send your kids there to repeat.

A necessary read. Those of us who believe in the promise of multiracial democracy must demand more from those who represent us. This Court has consistently undermined hard-won progress toward a freer and more equal country. Everything must be on the table. No court should have this much power.

“Indeed, [SCOTUS] has undone nearly every form of justice Marshall & Black freedom fighters assembled…[&] covered its eyes to the cause of injustice, confirming Marshall’s foreboding: ‘The battle against pernicious racial discrimination or its effects is nowhere near won.’” ~ @saigrundy.bsky.social