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Laura Spitalniak
Higher Ed Dive
Excerpt: About one-quarter of faculty members report feeling pressure to match their political views with those held by administrators and other professors at their institutions, according to a new survey from the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the American Association of University Professors.
The pair, with research support from NORC at the University of Chicago, polled faculty on issues relating to academic freedom and free speech — and the results painted a darkening perception of where they say their rights stand.
Jonathan Feingold
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: Trump is coming for higher education. His congressional allies are already armed with measures like HR 6848, which would ban universities from inviting statements that document a professor’s “past or planned contributions to efforts involving diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Outlawing DEI statements makes sense for a president who loves to vilify America’s universities and discredit their democratic commitments. What might be less obvious is that bills like HR 6848, because they curtail university autonomy and undermine DEI initiatives, threaten one of higher education’s most sacred values: academic freedom.
Liza Libes
Minding the Campus
Excerpt: Ivy League applications are down, and Ivy League schools have begun to panic. Over the past few weeks, America’s most coveted schools welcomed the early decision cohort of the class of 2029. Yet unlike in previous years, which saw a consistent increase in the number of applications and a corresponding decrease in acceptance rates, the data from this year’s admissions pool told a different story.
Greg Lukianoff
The Dispatch
Excerpt: It’s very hard for me not to be pessimistic about the state of free speech in higher education. As president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), I have first-hand knowledge of just how dire things have been and continue to be on campus. Or, it was until a few weeks ago.
Perhaps the most promising development this year has been the shattering of academia’s illusion of invulnerability. For too long, higher education has fancied itself untouchable and irreplaceable, but it’s beginning to recognize that neither of these assumptions are true.
Curtis Bunn
MSNBC
Excerpt: One by one, diversity, equity and inclusion programs at some of the country’s biggest companies fell apart in 2024, with signs that efforts to reverse DEI initiatives will only ramp up in 2025.
This year saw the rise in prominent figures like Elon Musk and Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, among others, who vocally pushed against DEI initiatives. Major companies, including Walmart, Lowe’s, Ford and Toyota, heeded the calls and dialed back their DEI programs, particularly after social media-driven campaigns by influencers like Robby Starbuck.
Rachel A. Cohen
The Harvard Crimson
Excerpt: I graduated from Harvard Law School in 2022. If I was enrolling now, I would learn far less.
Earlier this month, HLS released data showing that this year’s matriculating class — the first since the fall of race-based affirmative action — includes a mere 19 Black students, down from 43 the year before. By enrolling such a homogenous class, Harvard Law is providing a comparatively paltry educational experience to its students.
