Dr. Jennifer Guiliano

@jenguiliano.bsky.social

studies American history, sports mascots, and digital stuff. Fulbright Scholar. author of Indian Spectacle; Primer for Teaching Digital History; and more.

I have so many feelings about this and as someone who serves on a faculty-governance body related to athletics (and has for almost a decade), this is a threat to all athletes and all schools regardless of whether they have football and basketball programs.

Robert Kelchen@robertkelchen.com · 4mo ago

The White House issued an executive order on college athletics (on a Friday evening during a long weekend for many Americans). I zoomed in on this paragraph given the cuts to research in today's proposed FY27 budget. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Absent a comprehensive national solution, therefore, the escalating financial demands to succeed in football and basketball combined with the significantly loosened rules governing eligibility, transfers, and pay-for-play schemes may force curtailment of women’s and Olympics sports, and may even jeopardize the overall financial well-being of universities with which the Federal Government has important financial relationships.  Universities are important defense research contractors for the Department of War, important medical research contractors for the Department of Health and Human Services, and important scientific research contractors for the National Science Foundation. The health of the university system is integral to the Federal Government’s basic functioning.

wait, are we supposed to be public intellectuals to help save the university and recruit new majors or are we supposed to keep our heads down to avoid being targeted by anti-education politicians and members of the public? I'm confused.