Wait till he hears who invented the reflecting pool en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian...

Allison Gill@muellershewrote.com · 2mo ago

Trump is trying to blame his reflecting pool nightmare on anyone but himself.

AAUP UT Austin Chapter Pres. Karma Chávez on faculty resistance to the closure of racial, ethnic + gender studies departments at UT: “it has felt like screaming into the void, righteous screams in solidarity with our colleagues around the state.” ✊ open.substack.com/pub/highered...

Pebbles in the Ocean (or Screaming into the Void)

Karma R.

open.substack.com

And here’s a piece I wrote on recent staff purges at my university!

What do Universities Lose When Staff are Fired en Masse?

Julie Avril Minich, AAUP @ UT Secretary

open.substack.com

New Substack offering analysis of the higher ed takeover in Texas - check it out! open.substack.com/pub/highered...

Re-Segregating Higher Ed

We welcome readers to The Higher Ed Advocate Substack by introducing you to the kind of analysis you can expect here.

open.substack.com

it’s shocking to me how urgently needed the AAUP is too many private and public institutions are ready to desecrate their legal, ethical, and professional commitments to academic freedom & excellence academia is far more ancient, enduring, and respected than government du jour — for good reason

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This is a decent story but bad description. The AAUP is absolutely filling a need for faculty to fight back against a government attacking higher education at a time when other institutions are failing to do so.

"Ultimately, those who feel the effects of academic freedom most acutely are not a small group of educators, but the roughly 340 million members of the general public. Because academic freedom benefits us all, it also affects our national economy...our very system of representative democracy."

American Sociological Association@asanews.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"The truth-seeking higher education enables is among democracy’s core pillars," writes ASA member Mark C. Pachucki @umassamherst.bsky.social. "Why doesn’t the general public seem to care?" @sciencepolitics.bsky.social

If I attended Texas Tech right now for my Ph.D., the university would bar me from writing my dissertation about sexuality in the Cold War U.S. Navy. If TTU receives federal dollars, is this not illegal under the First Amendment?

Riki Wilchins@rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 4mo ago

@rikiwilchins.bsky.social [Texas cont] In an additional attempt to suppress LGBTQ+ speech, the policy includes STUDENTS: "no degree-culminating student research within the TTU System will be permitted to center on SOGI topics,” thus extending "Don't Say Gay" to dissertations and theses. 2/2

1. In a draconian new policy, Texas Tech is banning writing about LGBTQ+ topics. The ban is the first don't say gay or trans policy to apply to students themselves. It applies to any thesis/dissertation moving forward. They are using AI to scan everything. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Texas Tech Issues Ban On Students Writing On LGBTQ+ Topics

The ban applies to theses and dissertations, and is expected to begin going into effect on a rolling basis.

erininthemorning.com

Our usual gentle reminder to look at, every time you read, "But if we don't take even more away from people in need, there won't be enough for you!" Who has actually got nearly all the money? Not the group they've asked you to take money off. Think. Check. There's enough for everyone...

Julie Minich, AAUP UT Austin chapter executive committee member: “This timeline is really detrimental for students’ education..[It] effectively means that the primary consideration here is politics and not the education of students." www.kut.org/education/20...

Facing political pressure, UT Austin speeds up ethnic and gender studies consolidation to this fall

In a meeting with faculty, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts said changes needed to be made before the next Texas legislative session, which starts in January 2027.

kut.org

📣 Today the Latinx Studies Association condemned the closure of the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at UTAustin. LSA Pres. David J. Vázquez emphasized the need to protect MALS in the “birthplace of our profession, of our field.” @utaustinaaup.bsky.social @utaustin.bsky.social

The idea that “woke” professors indoctrinate their students is a smoke screen to enable a fascist takeover of the higher education system.

New survey: Most college students say professors encourage them to share their views

A new survey finds up to three-quarters of college students — of all political leanings — say their professors encourage them to share their views; it also found 2% of college students say they feel l...

kjzz.org

My colleague!

UT Head of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Speaks Out • The Austin Chronicle

On Monday, the Chronicle spoke with Lisa Moore, who has served since 2023 as the chair of UT-Austin’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department – a department that is now being collapsed with ...

austinchronicle.com

This one from a UT grad student is especially powerful.

The University of Texas is clipping the wings of students of color | Opinion

Students from different races and ethnicities had to fight to find belonging at the University of Texas. Now they are being asked to shrink themselves, Mateo Vallejo writes.

statesman.com

Friends, I wrote a thing. This is a gift link, but if you are in Austin I hope you will consider subscribing to our local paper. Journalists are necessary for democracy!

This is not how you improve education at the University of Texas | Opinion

The provost’s decision to eliminate key teaching and advising units threatens students, staff and educational quality, Julie Minich writes.

statesman.com

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

www.statesman.com/opinion/colu...

Students can solve controversial problems. UT must trust them to do so | Opinion

A vague proposed policy on “controversial topics” risks narrowing what students can learn at the University of Texas, David Gray Widder writes.

statesman.com

www.kvue.com/article/news...

UT Austin students protest looming consolidation of race, ethnic and gender studies

UT President Jim Davis said the university will merge seven Liberal Arts departments, with no confirmed timeline.

kvue.com

University of Texas is set to curtail teaching of "Controversial Topics", per agenda item added before the holiday weekend for Board of Regent's meeting Thursday. Texas students deserve to learn to think critically about pressing concerns of our day. @aaup.org archive.is/rvbwz

Please read. The sidelining of scholars from our distinguished Department of Mexican-American and Latinx Studies, alongside the rise of billionaire-funded new programs in “civic leadership,” in a state that is 40% Latino, is a shameless assertion of white supremacy. latinopia.com/latino-liter...

thedailytexan.com/2026/02/12/w...

What students lose in the name of ‘efficiency’

The Editorial Board argues UT’s decision to eliminate 4 student services departments will cause students and faculty to lose access to valuable resources.

thedailytexan.com

My friend drew a thing and it’s beautiful!

On Wild Geese

<!-- wp:image {

muthamagazine.com

At least 24 staff members, with a wealth of expertise and institutional memory and whose jobs primarily exist to support the undergraduate teaching mission of the university, have been laid off. Why?

Office of Undergraduate Research, additional programs, to shut down at end of semester

Four student support programs — the Office of Undergraduate Research, Office of Community Engagement, Vick Advising Excellence Center and The Center for Teaching and Learning — will be shut down by th...

thedailytexan.com

Everyone deserves shelter, food, water & healthcare. Even the people you don’t like. Even the people you feel made “bad lifestyle choices” Even the people who you don’t think “contribute enough” Every person should have their basic needs met This shouldn’t be controversial.

Who is on the board right now for the American Studies Association? Doesn’t ASA often use Hilton brands for their conference hotels? Hope they speak up!

Hilton drops Minnesota hotel that banned ICE agents from staying in its rooms

Hilton issued an apology, saying the hotel would be removed from the company’s systems

independent.co.uk

people offended by $600 shoes are going to be in for a surprise when trump eventually reshores US manufacturing

I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.

“The Daily Nebraskan found in the leaked spreadsheet that every program eliminated appeared to be profitable…every program that the chancellor proposed eliminating generated more money from tuition dollars than the department costs to run”

Celeste Labedz@celestelabedz.bsky.social · 8mo ago

It's over. Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut. www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...

The depth of the shame of a country this wealthy and abundant allowing its people to go hungry is impossible to measure. The fact that a handful of people could fix this by paying their fair share of taxes while still remaining obscenely wealthy makes it even worse.

💔This is a heartbreaking story. We support our students, whatever their identities, and we deplore the political environment that is making their experience in Texas public universities so painful—while also harming the learning environment for everyone. www.texastribune.org/2025/10/21/t...

Texas trans students fear identity erasure at college

Once considered a safe haven to explore identity, Texas campuses are invalidating and alienating trans people, students say.

texastribune.org