What will the killing of Charlie Kirk mean for higher education and the country? Check out the College Matters podcast to hear analysis from The Chronicle’s Jack Stripling and Nell Gluckman. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

In Detroit this week for the annual Education Writers Association's gathering of higher education reporters. Are you in town to attend or speak? Want to catch up over a cup of coffee? Grab me and we'll make it happen.

Did Northwestern University's president think about hiring an anti-Israeli rabbi in order to get students to take down a campus encampment? www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

The Trump administration violated Harvard University's rights when it canceled hundreds of grants over antisemitism, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Have you been through, or are currently going through, a leadership training aimed at turning you into a senior academic leader - even a president? I'd like to talk to you for a story I'm doing. Feel free to DM me, or email me [email protected]

“Most people want a college degree and have options to choose from, just as they do vehicles. We built a system of education organized around competition. Why, then, are we surprised when we see it?” www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

Great chat last week with The ‪@chronicle.com of Higher Education on keeping institutions moving forward in turbulent times. Thanks to @reporterdavidj.bsky.social , Leslie Brunelli, and @jordanackermi.bsky.social for their insights. Watch: www.chronicle.com/events/virtu...

If Harvard and Columbia are the clear losers under the Trump administration, Grand Canyon is a clear winner. On a campus that celebrated in the streets when Trump won, the change in administrations has meant a seismic shift in how the college is viewed in D.C. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

We’ve been vacationing at this same spot on Lake Huron for the last dozen years or so, just outside Mackinac city at the top of Michigan’s lower peninsula. If you’ve never been up here before, you should put it on your list — it’s the perfect spot.

You've still got time to get signed up for tomorrow's panel I'm hosting, featuring University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker, Washington State University CFO Leslie Brunelli and Weber State University President Brad Mortensen www.chronicle.com/events/virtu...

U. of Florida is extending interim President Kent Fuchs’ contract through Sept. 1 as it continues to find a temporary successor after Santa J. Ono’s failed bid. A new search will launch early 2026. www.wuft.org/fresh-take-f...

Excited to host this virtual conversation on Thursday with University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker; Weber State University President Brad Mortensen and Washington State University CFO Leslie Brunelli. Join us by signing up below. www.chronicle.com/events/virtu...

A new leader for the Chron: www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

My late-afternoon office. Days like these are why we put up with Michigan winters.

Despite being dissolved as an official entity in early May by the state of South Carolina, Bob Jones University has continued to operate as normal – including graduating students and running summer orientation – despite state law saying it should cease operations. www.chronicle.com/article/appa...

Looking for someone with expertise in required legal corporation filings universities have to make. Who should I reach out to? DM me or email me: [email protected]

Are you currently, or have you been, an appointed board member at a public university? If so, I'd like to talk to you for a story. Please DM me or email me at [email protected]

If a college flipped to not accepting federal funds to get away from government control, they would see a fund-raising boom, one president of a college that doesn't take federal funds said. “I think they would see a financial uplift from their supporters rallying around them,” he said.

Looking for studies on the process used to set indirect cost allocations on academic research. Point me to what I should be reading, please.

The story of Santa Ono, who foreswore DEI and walked away with nothing, has taken on an allegorical quality. His experience strikes at the heart of the most pressing questions confronting higher education today: What do we stand for? What are we willing to abandon? And how much will ever be enough?

UPDATED: Ono spent much of the meeting dodging direct answers. When pressed on Covid mandates — with the questioner pointing out that as an immunologist, he must have an opinion — he answered: “I’m a mouse doctor. I’m a test tube kind of guy.” www.chronicle.com/article/stat...

BREAKING: Statewide Board Rejects Santa Ono's Bid to Become U. of Florida President. More to come shortly. www.chronicle.com/article/stat...

BREAKING: The Florida higher education system Board of Governors rejects the hiring of Santa Ono as University of Florida president. Vote was 6 yes, 10 no.

By inserting himself so deliberately into a single public university’s presidential search, Rufo has signaled what he says will be a new normal in higher education. Future university leaders, he said, should be vetted like political candidates...." www.chronicle.com/article/for-...

Throughout his historically short tenure in charge of one of the premier public universities in the nation, Santa Ono often would disappear, leaving staff, including the university’s top administrators, looking for direction, sources told me. www.chronicle.com/article/at-u...

We interrupt the normal postings here for an important PSA: Having survived a house fire earlier this week solely due to smoke detectors waking us up, I can't urge you strongly enough to stop surfing the Internet and go and make sure: 1. You have smoke alarms all over your house. 2. They are working

BREAKING: St. Andrews University will close May 5. @brappaport.bsky.social and I have the story for @theassemblync.bsky.social and Border Belt Independent, including details about what President Tarun Malik told faculty in a meeting this morning. www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...

Last week, I sent an open records request for some pretty basic and targeted records to 20 major public universities across the country. Records have begun to flow in, none with a charge, except for one: @umich.edu wants $367 and will do their best to get it to me within 60 days.

Buried in Debt, This Small College Says It May Be Headed for Closure chronicle.com/article/buri...

"But New College today resembles neither the conservative dream nor the liberal nightmare. Part everyday small college and part proxy battle in the culture war, it is plagued by ordinary questions over how to boost enrollment amid extraordinary levels of outside scrutiny." From Emma Pettit.

Follow along here

Deportation crackdown targets foreign college students in Michigan www.freep.com/story/news/e...

Word of that change came less than two weeks after Michigan’s president, Santa J. Ono, and other top university officials announced that the office she oversees would be eliminated and the university’s strategic plan, DEI 2.0, would be discontinued.

Check out this article from Detroit Free Press: Lawyer for U-M protester detained at airport after spring break trip with family www.freep.com/story/news/l...

Today’s mail included some reading material for next week

Higher-Ed Employees Say the Sector Is Less Attractive Under Trump www.chronicle.com/article/high...

SCOOP: You've heard about the NIH terminating grants. I've learned of another, less visible way it's disrupting science: It’s removing some applications from peer review. Not rejecting them, but putting them on hold without saying why or if they'll ever be reviewed. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

U of Mich. dean sends message on Friday saying DEI will continue at his school, despite university saying it was done. On Monday, he issues new statement after provost talks to him. www.chronicle.com/article/dei-...

And then read my colleague @reporterdavidj.bsky.social’s story on how college leaders are planning budgets in the face of so much uncertainty: www.chronicle.com/article/its-...

Hiring freezes and budget cuts have arrived on many college campuses. “I think it’s going to be devastating,” one union leader told me. “People are already panicking.” www.chronicle.com/article/trum...

Jack Stripling and @brownepoints.bsky.social are great colleagues. @andyandy.bsky.social is my direct boss so I have to be careful, but I think all three missed the best scandal out there: Michigan president mark schlissel and his emails about a box of knishes.. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

New UVM president reflects on what she learned at her previous job: "What I learned is that when people disagree, if you have the courage to walk toward that conflict, the incredible work of higher education can be so transformative to the conversation." www.chronicle.com/article/have...

"My worse fear is that our [university] administration would overreact with drastic cuts if there were such a summer surprise — and I anticipate such a surprise that primarily aims to sow chaos." www.chronicle.com/article/its-...

Are you a faculty member concerned about what the budget for next year might look like at your institution in light of all the uncertainty over funding from the federal government? I'd like to talk to you for a story. DM me, or email me: [email protected]

Reporting request: Do you know of someone who advocates for and counsels colleges to double down on a local, teaching, open-access, student-success-oriented mission — rather than chasing traditional markers of prestige, like rankings? Bonus if you know they're good at writing!

My latest: Congress has to pay for extending the Trump tax cuts this year, and they may expand the college endowment tax to do it.

I'm looking for a list of how each state handles higher education: Do they have a statewide board that is in charge? Do individual universities have control? Can you point me to something that has already gathered all that information? Who is studying this topic I should talk to?

U-M Pres. Santa Ono is chair of the APLU; a board member of ACE. Tells his board he is working to guide higher ed sector. Yet every time I've sought an interview on these topics, his team has said he won't talk. detroitnews.com/story/news/p...