I have a reason to believe that somebody may have set up an X account using my university email address. I don’t have an active account. Does anyone know if there’s an easy way to check? 

This is a really interesting read paired with that AEJ paper I shared at some point this week. Both show no clear evidence that faculty affect students' partisanship. Again, no priors will be updated. (I'll find my post with the other paper and reply with it below)

Annaliese Paulson@annaliesep.bsky.social · 4h ago

New Working Paper with Micah Baum and Joaquin Endara: Students tend to become more liberal during college. We study whether individual faculty make their students more liberal. We find no evidence that faculty affect student partisanship. Working Paper: edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1538 1/

I am a die-hard for faculty governance (until I realize that means updating program handbook all the time)

I don’t think most people - even knowledgeable people - understand all the ways big and small higher education is becoming less equatable and inclusive.

This just reminded me to look at the Ann Arbor mayoral race

Brendan Cantwell@cantb.bsky.social · 10h ago

College town politics are so odd. Everyone wants Medicare for all, but also the criminalize homelessness while blocking the construction of all apartment buildings

At first glance, it seems like AES did very well in Grand Rapids, college towns, upscale vacation communities … Stevens seems to have done well in places worth lots of a Black folks, and rural mostly white (working class!) counties.

Brendan Cantwell@cantb.bsky.social · 8h ago

I think the national framing about the election in MI is bad AND I don’t think the results suggest some resounding affirmative - conversation over - indication about the electrical success of DSA-style politics in the state.

I think the national framing about the election in MI is bad AND I don’t think the results suggest some resounding affirmative - conversation over - indication about the electrical success of DSA-style politics in the state.

The raw turnout for this race is bananas. It dwarfs previous senate primaries. It’s higher than two of the last three presidential primaries in Michigan, and equal to the third, 2020, with over a dozen candidates on the ballot.

Universities “are increasingly acting like other employers, finding “complicated and sometimes pretextual reasons” to fire employees, even those with tenure. “What we’re seeing at the New School is emblematic of the rising pressures on higher education as a labor market and as an industry”

He Had Tenure. The New School Laid Him Off Anyway.

The professor, a longtime critic of the university, was among 19 educators who lost their positions as the institution navigated financial woes.

nytimes.com

College town politics are so odd. Everyone wants Medicare for all, but also the criminalize homelessness while blocking the construction of all apartment buildings

This proposal won with around 88% of the vote and it’s the only kind of YIMBY you’ll see in this town. I guess I’m one of the few people in East Lansing who think we shouldn’t impose arbitrary rules on where someone lives.

Brendan Cantwell@cantb.bsky.social · 21h ago

I bet you all are wondering what’s gonna happen in the big election in Michigan tonight … … will the people of East Lansing vote to require that the city manager lives within 25 miles of town borders?

I rarely watch cable news. When I put it on I’m mostly shocked by the plastic surgery

Still early but it seems reasonably likely that Will Lawrence will be the MI 7th candidate for the Democrats. It's a good night for the left in MI.

If you are watching the MI results and you wish El-Sayed were not the nominee, I would blame the Democratic Party picking Stevens, rather than the voters. He might have won anyway in this environment but the fact that the "establishment" tried to anoint a bad candidate sowed things up.

I thought they didn't report vote tallies until the central time zone countries in the UP closed?

I bet you all are wondering what’s gonna happen in the big election in Michigan tonight … … will the people of East Lansing vote to require that the city manager lives within 25 miles of town borders?

Both the radio and tv broadcasts are in damage control

Brendan Cantwell@cantb.bsky.social · 22h ago

It was magical, for 3/4 of a season

It was magical, for 3/4 of a season

My hot take: a principal agent framing of higher education governance is always an implicit rejection of shared governance and academic control of the curriculum and research.

I’m annotating the August 3 letter from McMahon … the fact that Yale’s report was quickly weaponized is the most predictable thing on earth. Congratulations everyone.

1/ I have some modest sympathy for universities, because it’s true that they should not be associated with a single political party. And the federal consensus for science funding is the context innwhocj for research universities’s operating model developed. But www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

McMahon Sends Reform ‘Questionnaire’ to Colleges

The Association of American Universities and other university leaders consulted on the call to action, which represents a shift in tactics for the administration.

insidehighered.com

Um. President Trump is a fascist, and a common jerk (and I bet he smells bad too) but he’s not banning anyone from majors and while I’m not into this rule it will not affect a super large number of 4-year programs.

The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d ago

President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v

the obsession with trans women in sports is, apart from the abject bigotry, a symptom of how we take amateur sports participation way too seriously in this country.

There are ~90 million dogs and ~75 million cats, so a combined 165 million dogs and cats in the US. The US has roughly 130 million households, so ~1.26 dogs and cats per household. But of course, dogs and cats, like guns and high-heels, live in bunches, so that average per house will be lower.

Brendan Cantwell@cantb.bsky.social · 2d ago

On average, how many dogs and cats do you think live in the home of an active Bluesky user?

On average, how many dogs and cats do you think live in the home of an active Bluesky user?

A squirrel and a groundhog are both vying for seeds below our backyard bird feeder. The squirrel is absolutely kicking the groundhog’s ass whenever it gets close to the good stuff. Here’s a shot of the groundhog, licking its wounds while the squirrel munch is away. 

Few Orioles thoughts 1. Elias is clearly more interested in spreadsheet wins than real world ones 2. I think it’s pretty clear Adley wasn’t getting excited and the return is actually pretty high 3. I don’t understand what an the team is doing since they are neither tanking nor positioned to win soon

Why should I watch another Orioles game this season?

Me on the AAU "The AAU claims to be comprised of America’s leading research unis...But if the member presidents choose the guise of institutional neutrality as a way to gain political cover, they may now be leading higher ed toward greater authoritarianism." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

How Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares

Powerful organizations during the Red Scares crafted a world where “academic freedom” was conditional on political allegiance.

insidehighered.com

Brown University's president is stepping down after fifteen years in the position. Finding a replacement will be interesting.

President Paxson and Chancellor Moynihan announce presidential transition after 2026-27 academic year

In a pair of letters to the Brown community, the leaders assert that a new strategic planning process should start with a new leader who will steward Brown’s next chapter, to be identified in a nation...

brown.edu