"resistance has been most effective—indeed, it may only have been effective—where faculty members have taken independent action." A new @aaup.org report on the Trump administration's "extorted compliance" of higher ed.

Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance

Published July 2026.This report was prepared by a joint subcommittee of the Association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom andTenure and the Committee on College and University Governance and was appro...

aaup.org

This law is a real nightmare, creates a legal grounding for the state's assimilationist colonial campaigns

Can China target critics abroad with its new 'ethnic unity' law?

Rights groups fear the new law gives Beijing legal authority to go after people beyond its borders.

bbc.co.uk

Once again, the Cornell Daily Sun shows a better understanding of the work of a university than Cornell’s president and trustees do. www.cornellsun.com/article/2026...

EDITORIAL | One Month Since: An Investigation in Name Only

The Editorial Board argues that Cornell's investigation into President Kotlikoff's actions on April 30 lacked transparency and independence, criticizing the University for releasing only a brief state...

cornellsun.com

“How can we as students trust the results of this investigation without any public reports and only an understanding that Kotlikoff allegedly “recused himself”?” www.cornellsun.com/article/2026...

EDITORIAL | One Month Since: An Investigation in Name Only

The Editorial Board argues that Cornell's investigation into President Kotlikoff's actions on April 30 lacked transparency and independence, criticizing the University for releasing only a brief state...

cornellsun.com

Please consider signing this letter opposing layoffs at the New School docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Sign the Open Letter Concerning Academic Freedom, Tenure, and the Future of the New School

This form is for individuals who wish to add their names to the Open Letter Concerning Academic Freedom, Tenure, and the Future of the New School, occasioned by the firing of Sanjay Reddy amongst othe...

docs.google.com

New on Academe Blog from @hellobrittparis.bsky.social of @ruaaup-aft.bsky.social:

Meeting the Moment: Rutgers AAUP-AFT’s Common Sense Technology Contract Terms

BY BRITT PARIS As AI companies are flailing, financial forecasters warn of an AI bubble. There is an extensive list of harms AI poses to workers, students, communities, the environment, and the soc…

academeblog.org

Surprise, surprise! The Vanderbilt report decrying the state of scholarship in the humanities is itself a terrible work of “scholarship“:

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 2mo ago

Cited Professors Say the Vanderbilt Report Misrepresents Their Work The report on the state of humanities scholarship has generated a lot of debate in academic circles and received backlash from the leading anthropology association. https://bit.ly/4aoW45U #AcademicSky #EDUSky #HigherEd

ICYMI: John Oliver’s hilarious & thorough takedown of the dysfunctional “complete shit show” hostile takeover of New College of Florida that led to the most corrupt, financially inefficient public university in the state. 👀 ➡️ @newcollegeoffl.bsky.social youtu.be/jFMc07F1UUU?...

"I no longer have confidence in the Special Committee’s members, which means I no longer have confidence in the Chair and the three Vice-Chairs of Cornell’s Board of Trustees. They took on a discrete task of great importance to the university, but they utterly failed to understand the assignment."

Surprisingly accurate headline

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 2mo ago

Cornell Graduate Banned After President Hit Him With Car https://bit.ly/4viG6Cj

It's good that universities are making six-figure payouts to people who got fired for their comments about Charlie Kirk, but now the universities need to do some new firing, of administrators who carried out those illegal actions. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/u...

Fired for Criticizing Charlie Kirk, They’re Now Getting Big Payouts

nytimes.com

This new @yaleaaup.bsky.social report on academic freedom at Yale is horrifying if not surprising. One number that jumped out: "21.5% reported that they had been asked by a “department chair, Deans, or others in university leadership” to make changes to their courses, research or website".

The State of Academic Freedom at Yale

A Report from the Yale Chapter of the AAUP — SPRING 2026 This report presents findings from a survey of the Yale faculty on the state of academic freedom at the University. The survey was conducted…

aaupyale.org

If you're a member of the Cornell community (broadly construed) and you're outraged by President Kotlikoff's actions and the sham investigation thereof, please sign this petition demanding a truly independent investigation: c.org/sB6PfN9gxt

This campaign needs you now

Cornell Deserves an Independent Investigation of President Kotlikoff's Actions

c.org

Brian Phillips@brianphillips.lol · 3mo ago

The president of Cornell hit two students with his car, lied about what happened, and got away with it. The story illustrates an under-reported crisis in higher education: administrators and the trustees they answer to are increasingly hostile to the idea of college itself. I wrote about it here:

“you know how sophisticated sports analysts love to say, “The commissioner doesn’t work for the fans, he works for the owners”? Well, college presidents, deans, and administrators don’t work for students, parents, or faculty members. They work for the trustees.”

“Anyway, while I applaud Cornell’s commitment to its shared mission to discover, preserve, and disseminate knowledge, you know what I think would also do wonders for the health of the institution? A SHARED MISSION TO KEEP THE PRESIDENT FROM HITTING STUDENTS WITH HIS FUCKING CAR.”

Who’s to Blame When an Ivy League President Drives Into His Students?

“Ah! He just ran over my fucking foot!”

theringer.com

Cornell Courage is among the groups that also signed onto this statement issued by @cornellaaup.bsky.social AAUP. Please have a read of the statement--or at least of the summary posted here by Cornell AAUP....⬇️ aaup-cornell.org/2026/05/20/i...

Inter-organization statement on April 30/May 1 incident

The undersigned issue this joint statement to express our outrage about the conduct of the Board of Trustees and President Kotlikoff in response to the April 30/May 1 incident involving President K…

aaup-cornell.org

Cornell AAUP@cornellaaup.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Cornell AAUP, along with other Cornell community organizations, has issued a statement concerning the recent incident involving President Kotlikoff hitting a student and an alum with his car and the subsequent Board of Trustees investigation exonerating the President and condemning the students.

... The Trump administration likewise invokes the machinery of the law and co-opts law enforcement to create lawlessness. What the trustees have done is not on the same scale, but it sings from the same hymn book, and for that, they should be ashamed." - Joe Margulies

"Ham-handedly creating the appearance of a legitimate process — one that everyone can immediately see is a sham, but that no one can challenge — discredits the institution and diminishes faith in its operation. Fundamentally, it is precisely what plays out in the world around us.

GUEST ROOM | The Potemkin Process

Professor Joseph Margulies ’82, professor of the practice of government, contends that the Board of Trustees' investigation into President Kotlikoff was not the independent inquiry they claimed it to ...

cornellsun.com

Cornell AAUP, along with other Cornell community organizations, has issued a statement concerning the recent incident involving President Kotlikoff hitting a student and an alum with his car and the subsequent Board of Trustees investigation exonerating the President and condemning the students.

Inter-organization statement on April 30/May 1 incident

The undersigned issue this joint statement to express our outrage about the conduct of the Board of Trustees and President Kotlikoff in response to the April 30/May 1 incident involving President K…

aaup-cornell.org

“The Board of Trustees, who hired President Kotlikoff and pay his salary, and the Cornell University Police Department (CUPD), who report directly to Kotlikoff, cannot “independently” investigate his conduct.”

SDC argues that the Board misstates various facts of the case (including a false allegation that one of those hit refused medical treatment), ignores several concerning lies or omissions by Kotlikoff (including that students banged on his window before he struck) and waves away concerns about bias.

Students for a Democratic Cornell (whose members were the ones that President Kotlikoff hit with his car) have issued the following press release in response to the Board of Trustees “independent investigation” clearing Kotlikoff and blaming the students:

Every time I get asked about trust in higher ed, I will now be obligated to bring this up. Wheen we talk about impunity from consequences, it includes things like this.

Dan Hirschman@asociologist.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Cornell just released this statement from its committee of Trustees investigating the incident where the President ran over a student's foot with his car. The statement extols the President and blames the students.

Cornell just released this statement from its committee of Trustees investigating the incident where the President ran over a student's foot with his car. The statement extols the President and blames the students.

"The Ad Hoc Special Committee of the Board of Trustees, composed of the Chair and Vice Chairs of the Board of Trustees, has completed its review of the events of April 30, 2026, involving Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff and a group of individuals..." statements.cornell.edu/2026/2026051...

Anyway, I'm thinking about Claudine Gay again this morning.

@cantb.bsky.social identifies three trends for public research universities: more partisan divisions, more sports & amenities, less research. A grim but compelling picture. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

Opinion | The Future of the Public Research University

Over the next decade, three trends will shape the sector.

chronicle.com

This video (from students at my alma mater) is crucial. Cornell has adopted the authoritarian playbook. It has done it to protect its "research enterprise" which is increasingly industry funded and moving away from public welfare, just like many other US universities. @cornelluniversity.bsky.social

Cornell AAUP@cornellaaup.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Students (including the one whose foot the President ran over!) made this short video criticizing Cornell's repression of student protests and linking it to Cornell's funding ties to defense contracts, weapons manufacturers and surveillance tech firms. www.instagram.com/p/DYNaDYPp_GV/

Students (including the one whose foot the President ran over!) made this short video criticizing Cornell's repression of student protests and linking it to Cornell's funding ties to defense contracts, weapons manufacturers and surveillance tech firms. www.instagram.com/p/DYNaDYPp_GV/

More Perfect University on Instagram: "Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff ran over a student’s foot — but that’s not even the wildest part of the story. Cornell has been suspending student protesto...

14K likes, 326 comments - moreperfectuniversity on May 11, 2026: "Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff ran over a student’s foot — but that’s not even the wildest part of the story. Cornell has been ...

instagram.com

“No educator would require students to smoke cigarettes to learn about nicotine’s ill effects on their health…If the medium is the message, then using generative AI in a course on climate change or sustainability might end up teaching the wrong lesson.” —Debra J. Rosenthal

Teaching Climate Change in the Age of ChatGPT

Should generative AI be used in courses on the climate crisis?

aaup.org

Academe@academemagazine.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New in #Academe: "Teaching Climate Change in the Age of ChatGPT" by Debra J. Rosenthal www.aaup.org/issue/spring...