May the current atmosphere of American politics and lack of integrity in mainstream oligarch-owned journalism encourage many more like Bruce Sagan to emerge. #OpposetheOligarchy #SaveJournalism

Bruce Sagan was a genuine, friendly and humble patron of Chicago journalism and arts for so many decades. He backed a lot of the work that I and so many others have done at the Daily Southtown, the Sun-Times and Chicago Public Media chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2...

Rest in power to Bruce Sagan—helped me with my first book and also published my first paid piece of writing. I love the Hyde Park Herald.

Bruce Sagan was one of Chicago's greats — a true renaissance man. He reshaped newsrooms, theaters, and city streets by bringing the city together and lifting local stories. MK and I send our deepest condolences to his family. May his memory be a blessing.

A lovely tribute to our beloved grandpa Bruce.

Bruce Sagan, the longtime owner and publisher of the Hyde Park Herald and arts leader who served on the WFMT Radio Committee for more than two decades, has died at the age of 96. to.wttw.com/4mA4QBn

Bruce Sagan, who died Sept. 21 at 96 following a battle with cancer, left a significant mark in the worlds of Chicago journalism, theater and dance. trib.al/hbbYEfK

Bruce Sagan was a great supporter of journalism in Chicago — and one of the most positive and energetic people I’ve known. He donated office space in his building for the Chicago News Coop in ‘09. Last time I saw him was at a WBEZ event in ‘22. May his memory be eternal

Bruce Sagan purchased the Hyde Park Herald in 1953 and ran it until he handed it off to essentially merge with the non profit South Side Weekly in 2021. What a run.

I was sad to hear of the passing of Bruce Sagan. He certainly did right by the Sun-Times. www.everygoddamnday.com/2016/02/youl...

UChicago alumni: we are drafting a letter targeting a few of the more persuadable-seeming trustees urging them to change course on humanities funding. Please sign: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... Explanation to follow ...

Highlighting some of the genres specifically desired for this position. Folks who write genre fiction take note! “Desirable additional subspecialties include speculative fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, graphic narrative, experimental fiction, hybrid forms, and climate fiction.”

Shattering and beautifully written. Please read and share this ⤵️

We keep getting asked what the value of a liberal arts education is, but the liberal arts prepares us for any number of pivots we may encounter over our careers. More than ever, the danger of these trends towards aligning higher ed with current (temporary) labor market needs should be obvious.

I don't have a good answer for what the alternative looks like, but asking 18 years to bet their future on highly specified training for jobs based on which they think will be in high demand 5-10 years from now turned out to be a very bad way to structure higher education

In case anyone thought "STEM" was safe, eliminated programs include Software Engineering, Geography, Atmospheric Science. It looks like academic PH at IN's public institutions is decimated - slated for elimination: BSPH & DrPH programs at IU Bloomington

In addition to many other important programs, IU Bloomington is eliminating its Folklore and Ethnomusicology Department, one of the most storied and successful in the country.

Most incredible about this is that IU-Bloomington has long been the no. 1 university in the world for teaching Asian languages and cultures, with many programs found nowhere else. They're slashing many of IU-B's most distinctive programs with zero thought or debate. They probably don't even know.

This list is appalling. And, the wide range of majors being slashed reveal how initial attacks on /skepticism of the humanities were never going to stop at the humanities and were, in fact, the gateway to a wholesale destruction of American higher education writ large.

The for-profit prison company GEO Group has surged in value under President Trump. But despite its soaring fortunes, the ICE contractor has continued to resist having to pay detainees more than $1 a day for cleaning facilities where the government has forced them to live. (Published March)

IL friends: Please join me in supporting the Back on the MAP campaign to end the 1987 ban on access to MAP grants for incarcerated students by signing this letter www.backonthemapil.org HB2466 passed the house, let’s get in through the senate and to @jbpritzker.bsky.social! #BackOnTheMAPIL

Cook County Jail Restrained People In Chairs 874 Times — And Never Reported It To The State. Good story @gracehauck.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2025/04/22/c...

Our friends from Augustana College testified about the value of college-in-prison and the need to end the ban on MAP grants for incarcerated students at the IL statehouse today! Thank you Rep Carol Ammons for sponsoring HB2466 and Rep Johnson for your support! backonthemapIl.org #BackOnTheMAPIL

Illinois residents: here’s two simple things you can do right now to support college in prison in IL by helping end the ban on student aid (MAP grants): 1. Sign the letter at www.backonthemapil.org 2. By 4pm central time today: sign a witness slip: my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/... #BackOnTheMAPIL

Everything is on fire and broken but at least the sun is going down at 7pm, and later each day. I’ll take a small win. ☀️🪻

Signs of spring in my Chicago garden.

One value of a liberal arts education is discovering things you are good at and love that you may have never guessed before being exposed to them. I see this over and over again with math and science in prison— both of which are part of a liberal arts education. hechingerreport.org/math-can-be-...

Moms for Liberty is shifting its focus to restorative justice, despite studies showing these programs improve social outcomes for students and communities. Critics question the group’s intentions.

With Pell eligibility work for college in prison seemingly on indefinite hold at the federal Dept of Ed, the need to ensure access to state level need based financial aid grants for incarcerated students is greater than ever. Several blue states have bans including IL, MA & PA. Let’s get to work.

This headline should read “restoring” rather than “opening.” We are talking about ending a ban put in place in the tough on crime era that decimated college in prison 30 yrs ago. Hear more from yours truly #BackOnTheMAPIL www.wbez.org/education/20...

It may not be cool or hip in some circles, but we legitimately do need a massive amount of people to run for office. Flood the school boards, councils, county seats, state legislatures, Congress, etc. Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom. And that can start now.

FUNDED BY NIH if that isn't front and center, people won't understand the cost of science infrastructure and funding being demolished in the US

If you're trying to figure out what to do right now, my advice is to just pick a thing that you think might be useful in some way, however small, and do it. Doing a thing leads you to doing another, bigger thing, and prepares you for that next thing.

“Education and justice are democracy’s only life insurance.” —Nannie Helen Burroughs Nannie Helen Burroughs, educator, entrepreneur, activist born 1880 to formerly enslaved parents. A staunch advocate of women’s rights, she established a school in the nation’s capital.

It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. When the fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.

Historians Politely Remind Nation To Check What's Happened In Past Before Making Any Big Decisions theonion.com/historians-p...

With US Dept of Ed Office of Correctional Education staff being placed on administrative leave, a ballast of state level financial aid is more crucial than ever.

It’s time to end the ban on student aid for incarcerated students in Illinois. #BackOnTheMAPIL www.wbez.org/education/20...

On Feb. 14th I try always to give honor to one of the greatest contributors to American democracy in our nation’s history, Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery, Douglass never knew his actual birthdate, and adopted Feb. 14th as the day. His penetrating insights about our country inspire me daily.

Make your calls. Go to your town halls. Ask your state and local officials what they are doing under state and local law. Rest. Hydrate. Make soup for the hungry. Don’t let people tell you that you’re doing it wrong. Not a sprint. Not a marathon. A relay. Find your team. Thank you.

Happy Valentine's Day! Love is an action and a practice and need not be romantic. Love fiercely, love humbly, love truthfully, love deeply. We all we got.

Some higher ed organizations who are loudly circling the wagons against federal funding cuts were oddly silent or circumspect about the earlier attacks on CRT and DEI. I wish there was a better understanding that these attacks are coming because we failed to repel those.

Grateful to @ltgovstratton.illinois.gov her team, and ICJIA for putting on this gathering. She reminded us not be problem lovers 💯 It was important to bring stakeholders together for solutions to push IL forward to grow this field. We have some ways to go but we know what we need to do to get there.

DOGE pretends to be a “reform” initiative—aligned with longstanding conservative goals to see a reduction in government—but the reality is that Musk has not limited government or dismantled the deep state; he is actively replacing it with himself.

There’s a new bill in Illinois to restore access to state level need based student aid — MAP grants — for incarcerated students: HB2466. Thank you Rep Carol Ammons! This year we are going to get #BACKonTheMAPIL ilga.gov/legislation/...

Thousands of people in jail are not evacuated as Hughes fire burns www.latimes.com/california/s...

Double digit drops in crimes like murder, robbery, and sex offenses (-9.9% for that last one, but we can round). There should be dozens of breathless above-the-fold articles on “OMG! What is Going Right? Why Do We See Such Improvement?!” But that isn’t what we will see.

Since a white man with a felony conviction is about to *be* president, I wrote about the millions of disproportionately Black people with felony convictions who aren't even legally permitted to *vote* for president ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

State officials propose completely defunding the state university. Welcome to 2025, Week Two. indianapublicmedia.org/news/state-c...

Fact: restoring MAP grants to incarcerated students in IL wouldn’t take one cent away from any other student who qualifies — it’s a need based entitlement which means my piece of the pie doesn’t shrink what’s left for you.