Jasper Smith
@jasperjsmith.bsky.social
Staff reporter at @chronicle.com covering how race and politics shape college campuses. Reality TV enthusiast, cookbook collector, cat mom. She/her. Reach me jasper.smith@chronicle.com
The debate over Ghent University’s handling of Nathan Cofnas has expanded beyond the merits of his accusations about Arday. It's become a proxy battle about whose viewpoint deserves protection. www.chronicle.com/article/shou...
Should Jason Arday’s Accuser Be Defended? American Scholars Disagree.
More than 200 signed an open letter protesting Ghent University’s suspension of Nathan Cofnas. But Cofnas’s views have left some scholars with misgivings about that campaign.
chronicle.com
This is the best piece I have seen about Howard dropping 500 students from its incoming class due to not making sufficient payments. It's a complicated situation for students and the university alike, and Parent PLUS loan limits are a contributing factor.
Howard U. Disenrolled Hundreds of Students. Was It for Their Own Good?
Newly popular, Black colleges struggle to meet their mission and their bottom line.
chronicle.com
I wrote about Texas A&M's fall course-review process @chronicle.com. Some top-line results: Rhetoric and Film? OK, as long as discussion of critical race theory is removed. Contemporary Sociological Theory? Don't advocate while teaching. LGBTQ Literatures? Not allowed. #HigherEd
What Texas A&M Will — and Won’t — Let You Teach
Newly obtained records reveal that two courses for the fall were canceled outright, while administrators demanded changes to others. Instructors say the deliberative process is a black box.
chronicle.com
@jasperjsmith.bsky.social has the deep dive on the U. of Florida's prospective new president and his track record of supporting DEI at Alabama — which one prominent conservative critic has cast as "aggressive," "illegal," and grounds for disqualification at UF. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
The U. of Florida Rejected a Former DEI Champion. Will Stuart Bell Face the Same Fate?
At the university of Alabama, Bell doubled black enrollment after an aggressive diversity campaign to make the flagship reflect the state’s demographics.
chronicle.com
The University of Wisconsin system president, Jay Rothman, said in letters obtained by The Chronicle that the board would not tell him why they’d lost confidence in his leadership. https://chroni.cl/3O25JY4
A Board Asked Its President to Resign. He Won’t.
The University of Wisconsin system president, Jay Rothman, said in letters obtained by The Chronicle that the board would not tell him why they’d lost confidence in his leadership.
chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/bord... Blockbuster report from @jasperjsmith.bsky.social and @katiemangan.bsky.social on how GMU's Board tried to sink its president
‘Bordering on Insubordinate': How George Mason’s Conservative Board Chair Went After Its President
Text messages obtained by <i>The Chronicle</i> detail a monthslong campaign to get Gregory Washington to dismantle its DEI programs and fall in line with Trump’s demands.
chronicle.com
New: www.chronicle.com/article/a-pa...
‘A Painful Reckoning’: After Bombshell Report, Higher Ed Scrambles to Review Cesar Chavez Tributes
The New York Times reported Wednesday that the labor-rights activist sexually abused and groomed girls for years. Many colleges host programs, statues, and other markers of his legacy.
chronicle.com
The University of Kentucky told the federal government that it has ties with over 1,200 organizations that are alleged to be discriminatory, including the Association for the Study of Higher Education and the Kentucky Maple Syrup Association (!).
Why One Campus Told the Government It Has Ties With 1,200 Groups That ‘May’ Discriminate
Thirty-one colleges agreed to send the Trump administration lists of potentially discriminatory partner groups. The University of Kentucky’s was quite long.
chronicle.com
To determine whether a group might racially discriminate, the University of Kentucky flagged organizations with identity-specific names, diversity statements, or race-specific DEI initiatives for possible membership cancellation. Is your organization on its list? www.chronicle.com/article/why-...
Why One Campus Told the Government It Has Ties With 1,200 Groups That ‘May’ Discriminate
Thirty-one colleges agreed to send the Trump administration lists of potentially discriminatory partner groups. The University of Kentucky’s was quite long.
chronicle.com
Texas A&M is censoring "race and gender ideology" from the classroom. Our podcast w/ @jasperjsmith.bsky.social digs in. pod.link/1766357400/e...
can you teach something at Texas A&M? just follow this flowchart. www.chronicle.com/article/insi... via @jasperjsmith.bsky.social and @mzahneis.bsky.social
The Texas A&M system reviewed 5,400 courses for ideological compliance. Only 6 were officially canceled. But faculty say hundreds more were quietly altered out of fear. https://chroni.cl/4u3Dto5
Inside Texas A&M’s Scramble to Censor Its Curriculum
Documents reveal widespread uncertainty, even among administrators, over what professors could teach.
chroni.cl
Administrators wanted a professor to pin-point when exactly he would talk about sexuality in a public policy class. When he couldn't, and instead said it would be brought up throughout the semester, they canceled his course. www.chronicle.com/article/this...
This Spat Shows Just How Messy Texas A&M’s New Course Reviews Are
Administrators wanted a professor to pin-point when he would talk about sexuality in a public policy class. When he couldn’t, they canceled his course.
chronicle.com
New year, new opportunities with @chronicle.com's reporting fellowship! Two days until our Zoom info session and just over a week until we begin reviewing applications - young journalists, we'd love to read yours.
NEW! The Shakedown: How Trump's DOJ pressured lawyers to 'find' evidence that UCLA had illegally tolerated antisemitism. by me and @KatherineMangan w/ @chronicle.com www.propublica.org/article/ucla...
Trump’s DOJ Pressured Lawyers to “Find” Evidence that UCLA Had Illegally Tolerated Antisemitism
An investigation by ProPublica and The Chronicle of Higher Education reveals how the U.S. government ignored due process to gin up its attack on the University of California.
propublica.org
As the Trump administration seeks to overhaul higher ed, two Virginia universities have landed at the center of its war on diversity efforts I talk with Jack Stripling on this week’s College Matters about why Virginia has become ground zero in that fight www.chronicle.com/podcast/coll...
How Virginia Became Higher Ed’s Battlefield
With one university president felled and another imperiled, fights over DEI in the commonwealth are getting brutal.
chronicle.com
Trump, who said last year that he had “saved” historically Black colleges, has canceled $140 million in grants to them since March. Agencies told HBCUs “to change the language in grant applications that explicitly focus on Black people — or lose federal funding.” www.chronicle.com/article/hbcu...
HBCUs Reel as Trump Cuts Black-Focused Grants: ‘This Is Our Existence’
HBCUs’ mission-driven effort to serve Black communities could now result in severe budget cuts under Trump’s crusade against DEI. It’s all a big misunderstanding, advocates say.
chronicle.com
It’s like telling a cancer institute to stop spending so much on cancer research. Here are a few of the many cuts. Via @jasperjsmith.bsky.social
In Clarksdale, there's limited transportation and no movie theater. The town inspired Sinners, but many can't travel to see it in theaters. They created a petition to invite Ryan Coogler & team to host a public screening and experience the Delta. MY LATEST: capitalbnews.org/clarksdale-r...
‘Sinners’ Is Set in Clarksdale, Where There’s No Theater. Locals Are Asking for a Screening.
The Mississippi Delta town launched a petition in hopes of bringing director Ryan Coogler and his team to the community that helped inspire the hit film.
capitalbnews.org
'This is a vast overstep': Trump's latest executive order limits what can be deemed as race and sex discrimination. Civil-rights lawyers say Trump's executive order will make it more difficult for students and employees to file complaints with OCR over systemic discrimination. chroni.cl/42O6NlX
Trump Just Made It Even More Difficult to Accuse Colleges of Systemic Sexism and Racism
An executive order regarding disparate impact is a “vast overstep” and will likely face legal challenges, civil-rights lawyers say.
chroni.cl
If you're an NSF grantee who receives notice of cancellation per today's announcement, please get in touch here or via Signal mzahneis.09.
The Education Dept. Wants to End DEI. Does It Have the Staff? by @jasperjsmith.bsky.social www.chronicle.com/article/ed-d...
The Education Dept. Wants to End DEI. Does It Have the Staff?
Watchdogs expect longer delays on their complaints.
chronicle.com
New from me: AAUP, Middle East Studies Association Sue Trump Administration Over ‘Ideological Deportations’ www.chronicle.com/article/aaup...
AAUP, Middle East Studies Association Sue Trump Administration Over ‘Ideological Deportations’
Immigration authorities have recently taken into custody several visa holders and legal permanent residents who were involved in pro-Palestinian campus activism.
chronicle.com
In signing an order to close Department of Education, President Trump called for returning authority over education to state and local officials, while punishing colleges for allegedly failing to combat antisemitism and allowing transgender athletes to compete. www.chronicle.com/article/afte...
After Cutting Half Its Staff, Trump Signs an Order Directing the Education Department to Close
But Thursday’s order also calls for continuing most of the department’s core functions, like financial aid and civil-rights enforcement. Congress would have to vote on an actual shutdown.
chronicle.com
I spoke to legal scholars and people in higher ed about a question I've had for the last few days. Why isn't Columbia suing? www.chronicle.com/article/why-...
Why Hasn’t Columbia U. Sued to Protect Itself?
Legal scholars say the university would have a strong case to make if it wanted to use the courts to fight for its funding to be restored.
chronicle.com
(DOE is the Department of Energy, the Department of Education is ED)
Tennessee State is facing a financial shortfall and its interim president recently told lawmakers they would run out of money by May. Now, the HBCU expects to lose at least $14.4 million in federal grant funding. www.tennessean.com/story/news/e...
Tennessee State University to lose $14M federal grant as massive Trump cuts continue
The cut, and more uncertainty over federal grants, come as the historically Black university faces a financial shortfall.
tennessean.com
I had the privilege to produce the photos for @jasperjsmith.bsky.social's recent deep dive into the campus reaction to Dr. Ibram Kendi's new home at Howard University. Here's a few alternate images from the assignment, which included candids of Kendi at an event, and portraits of Dr. Greg Carr.
Jasper Smith@jasperjsmith.bsky.social · 2y agoConservative critics said the antiracism scholar would “no doubt find a receptive audience” at Howard. But some faculty are concerned about the hire. They worry that Kendi is using the HBCU's brand to repair his image: www.chronicle.com/article/can-...
