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

For the first time in five years of teaching this intensive, week-long higher education policy course, I managed to get through all the planned content and activities for the first day. Just dreaming about all the things I won’t have to rush through during the next four days.

I’ve worked Bill Withers, Miss Frizzle, India.Arie, and Frieren all into my talk on Monday and I’m feeling accomplished as a result

Taking a break from family reunion prep to share a new article I co-authored on how state and national politics are shaping LGBTQ+ college students’ well-being. scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jqtsie/vol3/...

Cool cool cool. www.npr.org/2026/06/16/n...

Trump further guts Education Dept. by shifting oversight of special ed, civil rights

The moves to the federal departments of Health and Human Services and Justice, respectively, would further dismantle an agency that President Donald Trump has vowed to close.

npr.org

“I’ve never seen such intrusion” into curriculum, said John Thelin, an emeritus professor of higher ed at the University of Kentucky. He said he’s also surprised at how effective the intrusion has been. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

How GOP State Lawmakers Are Reshaping General Education

Legislators are increasingly determining colleges’ core classes, underscoring how higher ed has become a political lightning rod.

insidehighered.com

They are here and they are real (even as it all still feels surreal). Finally got my copies of our new book, _College Student Development Theory in Action_. Grateful to my co-authors + the team alongside us who made it happen.

Praise be to PhD student me who saved and meticulously put notes in all my .do files

Alex C. Lange@itsalexcl.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Re-downloaded Stata and re-teaching myself OLS regressions this summer because I am a nerddd

"Compliance ceases to be a fixed legal threshold and becomes an ever-narrowing set of assumptions about political risk," write @jackiepedota.bsky.social (@umassboston.bsky.social), @garceslm.bsky.social (@alliancehighered.bsky.social), and Eliza Epstein in @insidehighered.com:

How Universities Expand the Reach of Anti-DEI Laws (opinion)

Colleges and universities amplify the impacts of anti-DEI laws through the processes they use to (over-)comply with them.

insidehighered.com

Re-downloaded Stata and re-teaching myself OLS regressions this summer because I am a nerddd

Once again, I appreciate the clarity of @bakerdphd.bsky.social’s writing and the grounded nature of her arguments. Another must read.

Dominique Baker@bakerdphd.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Wrote a little about the work the U.S. put into helping academics escape fascism during WWII and why we can't rely on that for our future www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

In its first semester, the University of Iowa’s civics center had less than 20 students taking their courses. By 2028, every student at the university will be required to take two courses there. https://chroni.cl/4vs80Me

A Flagship’s Civics Center Saw Low Enrollment. Now Students Will Be Required to Take Classes There.

A provision in the Iowa state budget will require all students at the University of Iowa to complete two classes at the Center for Intellectual Freedom to get their degree.

chronicle.com

Love education data? The Strategic Data Project is looking for data fellows for placements in Texas, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, Trenton, and NOVA/DC. Position description and requirements: docs.google.com/document/d/1... Application Deadline: 11:59pm ET on 6/21

[Job Posting] Strategic Data Project Fellow Cohort 18

The Cohort 18 application will open on Monday, September 29, 2025. Position: Strategic Data Project Fellow Location: Multiple US Locations (see below) Duration: Summer/Fall 2026 through Summer 2028 ...

docs.google.com

For the first time, I have PhD advisees (4) doing data collection of their own: wow an underrated fun part of this advising thing is getting some of the most nerdy, fun messages about the process!

Getting steps in during this writing retreat on campus

Do I think this development is incidental to efforts that both seek to drive down trust in higher ed and to assert political control over colleges and universities? I do not. www.chronicle.com/article/nonw...

Nonwhite Students Now Represent the Largest Share of U.S. College Enrollment

New IPEDS data reflect long-running demographic shifts in higher education.

chronicle.com

I want to talk to mid-career faculty at institutions and in states that have adopted post-tenure review or other policies that may make tenure seem a less stable prospect. How do those policies influence your thinking about going up for tenure - or maintaining it? DM or email me!

The National Science Foundation is terminating and suspending grants again, and at Grant Witness we need you to help to track them! 🧪 We can only identify research being suppressed by under-the-radar suspensions directly from researchers. Please report! grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF

New Grant Disruptions at NSF - We Need Your Help to Report! – Grant Witness

grant-witness.us

I shared some thoughts about the Texas governor's letter reminding the state's public colleges and universities to freeze tuition for the fourth straight year.

Texas tuition freeze to continue as Abbott orders colleges to keep rates flat

Gov. Greg Abbott reminded all public universities and colleges that tuition must remain flat as Texas enters the third year of his ordered tuition freeze.

statesman.com

"'The fragility of academic freedom is the distance between our soaring rhetoric and the harsh realities of trying to put them into practice,' said panelist Dominique Baker, associate professor of education and public policy." I gotta transcribe my portion of this talk www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/...

Shining a light on academic freedom | UDaily

Constitutional scholar and UD experts discuss principles, protections and responsibilities

udel.edu

The Smith College investigation marks the first time the Trump administration is considering whether trans students should gain admission to certain schools. theconversation.com/federal-inve...

Federal investigation into Smith College probes whether transgender students can attend women’s schools – challenging the evolving mission of women’s education

The Smith College investigation marks the first time the Trump administration is considering whether trans students should gain admission to certain schools.

theconversation.com

Justttt as I was drafting an email to get ahead of it, we get this alert like we do for weather related or campus closure alerts

Speaking individually as a college access and financial aid expert, I’ll use a technical term to describe this headline: complete bullshit.

Grateful to @us.theconversation.com for inviting me to write about the federal investigation into Smith College and what it means for women’s colleges, transgender students, and the evolving mission of women’s education. theconversation.com/federal-inve...

Federal investigation into Smith College probes whether transgender students can attend women’s schools – challenging the evolving mission of women’s education

The Smith College investigation marks the first time the Trump administration is considering whether trans students should gain admission to certain schools.

theconversation.com

Taught what will probably be my last in-person masters class of my career this afternoon. As our residential student affairs program comes to an end, I thought I felt all the things to feel. Nuh-uh said the universe!

Having @mollyhm.bsky.social as both a friend and colleague has so many benefits, one being she’ll do a budget simulation that helps students synthesize their learning across the semester (and makes them feisty 🤣).

Dr. MHM@mollyhm.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I got to visit @itsalexcl.bsky.social 's higher ed finance class last night, and a time was had. I do a budget priority simulation and for only the 2nd time in all the times I've done that simulation since 2019, Maintenance and Repair won. It's not the sexiest priority, but it's important

What a story. What a blessing she was to the fight. "At that first meeting, Dr. Long realized that the activists needed a guide who was fluent in science to help them expedite the approval of drugs to treat AIDS & the H.I.V. virus that causes it. “She was their scientific North Star." #GiftLink 🎁

Elizabeth Boyle@thecelticist.bsky.social · 4mo ago

"She tutored the activists on immunology and virology and schooled them in the intricacies of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process and pharmaceutical research protocols." [Gift article] www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/h...

Registered! ✅

Alliance For Higher Education@alliancehighered.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Join us and @newamerica.org on 4/21 for a conversation about the role of higher ed as the fifth pillar of democracy and how building a durable defense for the sector requires embedding that principle in law, institutional culture, and the public imagination. Learn more and register: bit.ly/4tawBV9

Quite excited for this event. Will really have to hold myself back from asking about Lee's thoughts on original rhony. There's a livestream in case you can't attend in person but want to watch!

Alliance For Higher Education@alliancehighered.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Join us and @newamerica.org on 4/21 for a conversation about the role of higher ed as the fifth pillar of democracy and how building a durable defense for the sector requires embedding that principle in law, institutional culture, and the public imagination. Learn more and register: bit.ly/4tawBV9