Mara Tieken's research shows school closures hurt students and communities, and often don't even save money. But research alone doesn't change policy. ➡️ Learn how Tieken, a 2025-26 SSN Media Fellow, has used media to change the conversation on school closures: scholars.org/features/mem...

"Administrators hope that anticipatory obedience will satisfy a Texas Legislature that is often hostile toward education," writes @drajp.bsky.social in this @texasobserver.org op-ed on the University of Houston cutting its gender and sexuality courses from its core curriculum. 🔗 Read the piece:

University of Houston Nixed Its Gender and Sexuality Classes. That Won’t Stop Texas' Crusade Against Higher Ed.

College administrators wrongly hope that anticipatory obedience will satisfy a GOP-run Texas Legislature that is increasingly hostile toward education.

texasobserver.org

In this policy brief, Saran Stewart, Frank Tuitt, and @kschlabs.bsky.social (@uconn.bsky.social) explain how the wave of anti-CRT legislation creates a chilling effect in higher ed, and call on faculty and institutions to respond through resistance teaching. Read: scholars.org/contribution...

Don't miss my latest. Special thanks to @scholars.org @dominik-d.bsky.social especially @rachelsomerstein.bsky.social for helping with very helpful edits! And thanks to @texasobserver.org and @byjustinmiller.bsky.social for further edits and for publishing it!

Texas Observer@texasobserver.org · yesterday

New from Andrew Joseph Pegoda: In an attempt to overcomply with Texas law, the University of Houston will eliminate over 100 women's studies, gender and sexuality courses from the core curriculum. It won't be enough to appease extremist Republicans.

New in @insidehighered.com: Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci (@uwmadison.bsky.social) draws on her research to argue that internships often teach students to endure workplace injustice in silence, and calls on colleges to help them name and challenge it. 📰 Learn more: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

What Are Students Learning in Their Internships? (opinion)

They may well be absorbing subtle lessons about workplace injustices. They need opportunities to reflect on them.

insidehighered.com

SSN members: Applications are now open for the SSN Media Fellowship! 🗞️ Interested in sharing your research but not sure how to break into the media? Get paired with a mentor and learn about op-eds, pitching, interviewing, and more. 🔗Apply by Sept 21: forms.gle/nVfohZ2jVGRY...

"I don't see what's so beautiful about it," said one Medicaid beneficiary in @povertyscholar.bsky.social's research on the "One Big, Beautiful Bill." In this @syracuse.com op-ed, Michener shares what the largest Medicaid cut in history means for the people who rely on the program. 🔗 Read today:

Historic Medicaid cuts are a body blow to vulnerable Americans (Guest Opinion by Jamila Michener)

Cornell researcher's team interviewed dozens of enrollees. They said H.R. 1 will create impossible burdens and reflect a double standard between how rich and poor are treated.

syracuse.com

"If we want accessible mental health services, we can’t just talk about self-care and complain about waiting lists. We need to talk about labor," writes @isabelmperera.bsky.social in this usatoday.com op-ed on why therapists need collective power to meet the growing demand for mental health care. ⤵️

We need more therapists. They need more power. | Opinion

Americans are seeking treatment for conditions like anxiety, depression and trauma, only to find the mental health workforce isn't keeping up.

usatoday.com

🔎 We're hiring up to three Policy Associates to work on our new Ideas for America initiative and contribute to the success of SSN's overall policy program. These #remote roles fall within the SSN employee union. Learn more and apply today: scholarsstrategynetwork.applytojob.com/apply/PpHisJ...

It's Medicaid's 61st birthday! I wrote a piece lifting up the perspectives of people who rely on it. Here's what they told me: cuts hurt people, paperwork requirements burden families, fraud is a red herring, & elected leaders are out of touch. Read more here: www.syracuse.com/opinion/2026...

Historic Medicaid cuts are a body blow to vulnerable Americans (Guest Opinion by Jamila Michener)

Cornell researcher's team interviewed dozens of enrollees. They said H.R. 1 will create impossible burdens and reflect a double standard between how rich and poor are treated.

syracuse.com

College closures are becoming more common. What happens when a school can't survive on its own? On this No Jargon episode, @marylchurchill.bsky.social (@buwheelock.bsky.social) shares lessons from Wheelock College's merger with Boston University. 🎧 Listen: scholars.org/podcast/when...

Two years out from a presidential election that will reshape American life, research-based policy ideas matter more than ever. That’s why SSN is launching Ideas for America, and we want yours. Details in the slides. → Submit ideas by Sept 1 at scholars.org/ideas

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed overhauling federal grantmaking guidelines to require that political appointees approve federal grants. 15 SSN members submitted public comments to the OMB in response. 🔗 Read them: scholars.org/scholars-com...

Who gets to be an American? In this podcast episode, @unlawfulentries.bsky.social (@brooklyncollege.bsky.social) draws from her new book, "Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship," to separate fact from fiction on immigration and citizenship. ➡️ Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGQt...

No Jargon Episode 303: Who Gets to Be an American?

YouTube video by Scholars Strategy Network

youtube.com

Who gets to be an American? In this podcast episode, @unlawfulentries.bsky.social (@brooklyncollege.bsky.social) draws from her new book, "Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship," to separate fact from fiction on immigration and citizenship. ➡️ Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGQt...

No Jargon Episode 303: Who Gets to Be an American?

YouTube video by Scholars Strategy Network

youtube.com

A report from the Postsecondary Commission proposes replacing traditional accreditation with an outcomes-based framework focused on graduates' earnings. Daniel Davies (@uh.edu) says that approach is ideologically motivated and obscures what public universities actually do. In @dallasnews.com:

College outcomes should not be measured just on lifetime earnings

Liberal arts programs support social mobility, civic education and STEM success. Lifetime earnings is a limited measure of a fulfilling and productive life.

dallasnews.com

"Fifteen scholars from the Scholars Strategy network submitted public comments to the OMB" @scholars.org

Scholars Warn Proposed Rule Threatens Research Independence | Scholars Strategy Network

scholars.org

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed overhauling federal grantmaking guidelines to require that political appointees approve federal grants. 15 SSN members submitted public comments to the OMB in response. 🔗 Read them: scholars.org/scholars-com...

🗞️ In the @thehill.com: Wendy Chavkin (@columbiauniversity.bsky.social) breaks down the structural reasons for America’s declining birthrate, including the absence of paid leave, unaffordable childcare, and abortion restrictions 🔗 Read the piece: thehill.com/opinion/heal...

Why are American women ‘underbabied’?

The U.S. is facing a declining birth rate due to a lack of paid leave, discrimination against pregnant workers, unaffordable childcare, and wage gaps between men and women, as well as severe aborti…

thehill.com

"Like termites in the basement, the damage from these cuts will accumulate over time." @chris-howard.bsky.social (@wm.edu) argues that last year's Republican cuts to Medicaid and the ACA have left Virginia with no good options to cope with the damage. In @richmond.com: richmond.com/opinion/colu...

With healthcare, Virginia has been dealt a bad hand | Guest column

As Virginia braces for soaring uninsured rates, shuttered rural hospitals, and a $500 million scramble to patch Medicaid and ACA cuts, the 61st anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid is a

richmond.com

"Here’s the problem with focusing on affordability: It addresses poor and working-class Americans as consumers rather than as workers," writes Sergio Infante (@yale.edu), who urges Democrats to campaign on "precarity" instead. In @commondreams.org: www.commondreams.org/opinion/affo...

Democrats Rally Around ‘Affordability,’ But ‘Precarity’ Is a Better Slogan | Common Dreams

Americans need something more ambitious and less transitory than relief at the checkout counter.

commondreams.org

In this @fortune.com op-ed, Anthony Hernandez (@uwmadison.bsky.social) argues that Minority-Serving Institutions drive the Latino entrepreneurship keeping U.S. business creation afloat, making the case for their funding amid growing uncertainty. 📈 Learn more: fortune.com/2026/07/05/a...

America's entrepreneurial boom begins long before venture capital | Fortune

Latino-owned businesses added 180,000 net new firms between 2017 and 2023 while white-owned firms declined — and the talent pipeline behind that growth runs through Minority-Serving Institutions now f...

fortune.com

🏛️ In our latest podcast episode, @unlawfulentries.bsky.social (@brooklyncollege.bsky.social) breaks down SCOTUS' decision in Trump v. Barbara, explains what birthright citizenship actually means, and traces the long history of who gets to be an American. 🎧 Listen: scholars.org/podcast/who-...

📺️ In this @msmagazine.com op-ed, @stephherold.bsky.social (@ansirh.bsky.social) draws on her research to argue that television may be the best hope for spreading accurate information about abortion, and one that too often gets it wrong. 🔗 Read: msmagazine.com/2026/06/25/t...

TV Still Has a Lot to Learn About Abortion

Four years after <em>Dobbs</em>, television has become more willing to acknowledge the legal and political barriers to abortion care—but too often, it still reinforces harmful myths. While shows lik...

msmagazine.com

🎧 Our latest No Jargon episode features sociologist @drkatiegaddini.bsky.social (@tcru-ucl.bsky.social) on the power of conservative Christian women. Drawing on her new book, Gaddini explains how they've become a force on the American right + what drives their engagement. 📽️ Watch the full ep:

No Jargon Episode 302: The Christian Women Behind MAGA

YouTube video by Scholars Strategy Network

youtube.com

🎒 In this Greensboro News and Record op-ed, Jeffrey Warren (North Carolina Central University) argues that as budget cuts threaten school counselor layoffs, North Carolina district leaders and school administrators should be investing in these roles, not cutting them. Learn more. ⤵️

Jeffrey M. Warren: North Carolina’s students need school counselors more than ever

Many school districts in North Carolina are facing difficult budget constraints that are leading to tough decisions, including layoffs of school health personnel, such as school counselors. But at a

greensboro.com

📰 In @thefulcrum-us.bsky.social: Brian Adams (San Diego State University) draws on his new book, "Activism, Majority Rule, and Local Democracy," to explore a central question: will activism improve democracy or will it exacerbate existing problems? Learn more: thefulcrum.us/civic-engage...

Is More Local Activism a Solution to Our Political Ills?

Democratic reformers often assert that more citizen activism is the best remedy for local governments that are unresponsive to public wishes and cater to elite preferences. The thinking goes that if o...

thefulcrum.us

Podcast with me talking to @scholars.org about who gets to be an American with NO JARGON, because I hate jargon and it's important for smart lay persons to know what is happening to the republic. Links to some of my recent public writing in the show notes.

Scholars Strategy Network's No Jargon: Episode 303: Who Gets to Be an American?

Birthright citizenship has been part of the U.S. Constitution for more than 150 years, but why has it become the focus of such intense political debate in recent years? Professor breaks down the Supr...

nojargon.libsyn.com

"When universities defended research dollars as a collective public good, they galvanized courts, policymakers, and the public. But when they accepted the federal administration’s framing that equity is risky, they lost the fight," writes Heather McCambly in this @theeduledger.bsky.social op-ed.

Will Universities Pledge Allegiance or Draw a Line?

Universities clearly know how to fight when they decide to, but how institutions frame the fight determines whether resistance can take hold.

theeduledger.com

In this @bostonglobe.com op-ed, @therichbenjamin.bsky.social (@nyihumanities.bsky.social) writes that Trump's Task Force 250 is a syllabus of amnesia, and reflects on three generations of his own family's history to show how they've learned to fight forgetting the past. 🔗 Read the piece:

Trump’s Task Force 250 is a project of collective amnesia - The Boston Globe

The administration would like us to turn a blind eye to much of our history. My family, three generations of Black educators, has learned how to fight forgetting the past.

bostonglobe.com