The UC Regents finally released the “settlement agreement” the Trump administration proposed in August. It’s a doozy. UC alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents, donors—and all citizens of California: Now is the time to let the UC Regents know you do not want them to sign this bad deal.

Here is the proposed agreement the Trump admin sent to UCLA, which administrators fought tooth and claw to keep secret ucop.edu/communicatio...

NEW WRITING: It's aimed at students, with some specific examples for astro/physics folks, but I think other people may find it useful too. 🔭⚛️🧪 "Knowledge is worth your time because of how it shapes your mind. And the authoritarians may take many things from us, but they cannot take our minds."

From the Daily Texan, the UT student newspaper: Academic freedom should not be for sale. thedailytexan.com/2025/10/16/a...

Arts & Sciences Dean says WashU will not sign Trump’s higher ed compact as-is - Student Life www.studlife.com/news/2025/10...

Most of this laundry list of "overwhelming evidence" is tendentious. Let's go through them. 1) A big driver of high costs at public universities has been a decrease in state appropriations. Many public schools have been forced to act on a public/private model as a result..../1

Apart from the massive invasion of academic freedom that this compact demands, MIT simply does not want a special leg up—it wants "open competition for excellence." "In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences." A stunning rebuke.

A Compact for Control: No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write. @yalelawschool-yls.bsky.social @uchicagolaw.bsky.social www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

@aacu.org has stepped up & called the Trump "compact" for higher ed what it is: "The compact is, in effect, an ultimatum...This is not constructive engagement." Big question is where is @aau.edu? If your university is part of AAU, write to your president & trustees now. www.aacu.org/newsroom/aac...

Friends @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social is doing well— she’s at home, released last night. I’ll let her speak on the ordeal when she’s ready but for now wanted to share this update.

Please call Cook County DA and ask them to drop charges against the group of protesters arrested in Chicago yesterday: (312) 603-1880 This is particularly for Illinois residents, but national calls couldn’t hurt.

Facing censorship challenges? You’re not alone. Join us Oct 7 at noon CT for a free webinar on two ALA resources, Law for Librarians + Library Helplines, designed to help you push back. Learn more and check out other free #BannedBooksWeek events at https://www.ala.org/bbooks/events

This is who @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social is. Brilliant. Fearless. I fucking hate typing this shit out: Free Eman. Amplify amplify amplify please.

🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨

Strategies to Protect Yourself Online in the Current Climate A Guide from the AAUP and Faculty First Responders www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...

The professor has been fired and senior administrators removed from their post. No mention of this in the New York Times, The Free Press, The Atlantic or other outlets who drove the campus speech moral panic.

Before 9/29, comment on a proposed rule that international students will only have a fixed time during which they are permitted to stay in the United States:

If you are a researcher in the LA area, please join the Science Fair for Suspended Research, sponsored by the UCLA Faculty Association and the UCLA Brain Research Institute!

"Faculty understand the stakes of the moment, feel firsthand the hunger of most students for knowledge and understanding, and carry on against heavy headwinds. Intimidation and pressure have not succeeded in silencing faculty or breaking the field."

"This guide is for anyone studying or working in universities, or in research environments within healthcare, local government, NGOs, charities, or other health and social care organisations. It is designed to help you calm, focus, connect in order to prioritise your safety, rights and wellbeing."

Gift link to my op-ed ( @wearehighered.bsky.social ) share.inquirer.com/M8nPzg

Update: we are at 379 signatures in support of Lisa Cook and Fed independence! The letter be open for signatures through Sun. (Link to sign at the top). If you are on X or listservs, please spread the word there! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I have an op-ed at @inquirer.com today. All of us who care about democracy need to decide how we'll respond as we see our institutions, our work, and our communities being attacked. Many of us in academia are standing up for our values and our students. www.inquirer.com/opinion/comm...

🎓 The GOP’s reconciliation bill is a direct hit on higher ed: – $351B in cuts education & workforce programs – eliminating subsidized student loans – Taxes on scholarships & endowments – & more. ACE calls it a “full-out assault” on access to college. Read below ⬇️ www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pa...

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, non-profit institution. No one made them host a speaker who said that DEI "degrade our scientific enterprise." Would be nice to see some Academy members speak out on this (or what's the point) www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...

Great article with lots of perspectives from scientists who are scared to speak out — and other scientists who are scared of what will happen if they don't. Trump & Musk & Kennedy are devastating U.S. research and setting progress back decades www.science.org/content/arti... on @science.org

Me and @andrewleber.bsky.social did it and neither of us has guaranteed lifetime employment! What's holding you back?

NYT: "I Came to Study Aging. Now I’m Trapped in ICE Detention" Kseniia Petrova "is a Russian scientist who works in a lab at Harvard Medical School. She told her story through a Times Opinion editor, Alex Ellerbeck, over multiple calls from an ICE detention center." A 30 y.o. who erred at Customs.

Congratulations, University of Wisconsin faculty!!!! Well-done. #standtogether #highered @maddow.msnbc.com We'll be adding you to the UMass Amherst #MADC tracker. This is a national movement. And this is just the beginning.

Wow! The momentum is really taking off! If your institution isn't pursuing a mutual defense compact, how do we get you started?

Rutgers leads the way! @ruaaup-aft.bsky.social @ruaaup-ptl.bsky.social @aaup.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/n...

AERA folks: I'm in Lobby F of the Colorado Convention Center with @wearehighered.bsky.social stickers now until noon. Across from the Mile High Market. I'll leave some stickers on one of the little tables by the long bench as well.

At least 13 university/college senates have passed Mutual Academic Defense Compact resolutions to unite against the current attacks on higher ed! Let's keep this momentum going. We're keeping track and posting links to the MADCs at wearehighered.org.