Ariel Kaminer, Sian Beilock, Jennifer L. Mnookin and Michael S. Roth
New York Times
Excerpt: It’s an eventful moment in American higher education: The Trump administration is cracking down, artificial intelligence is ramping up, varsity athletes are getting paid and a college education is losing its status as the presumptive choice of ambitious high school seniors.
To tell us what’s happening now and what might be coming around the corner, three university leaders — Sian Beilock, the president of Dartmouth; Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan; and Jennifer Mnookin, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison — spoke with Ariel Kaminer, an editor at Times Opinion.
Jessica Blake
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: The Education Department is planning to move TRIO and numerous other higher education programs to the Labor Department as part of a broader effort to dismantle the agency and “streamline its bureaucracy.”
Instead of moving whole offices, the department detailed a plan Tuesday to transfer certain programs and responsibilities to other agencies. All in all, the department signed six agreements with four agencies, relocating a wide swath of programs.
Associated Press/NPR
Excerpt: The Trump administration cannot fine the University of California or summarily cut the school system's federal funding over claims it allows antisemitism or other forms of discrimination, a federal judge ruled late Friday in a sharply worded decision.
Jane Johnson
December 08, 2023
The comments from various representatives of the higher ed industry provide useful insights to their reactions. Some sound defensive of the three university presidents whose responses to congressional questioning are less than satisfying, but it is surely too early to predict where this episode will take us. No one really knows for sure where the dividing line is between free speech and hate speech. So right now it looks as if there may be backlash to the recent clamoring for free speech and more teeth-gnashing over hate speech. Where the middle ground may ultimately fall is anyone’s guess at this time. The 1st Amendment is a vital part of our Constitution, and it’s being severely tested at this point in our history.