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Lexi Lona Cochrane
The Hill
Excerpt: President Trump said Tuesday that he will seek to block the federal funding for colleges and universities “that allow illegal protests” on their campuses.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post, though he did not specify an enforcement mechanism.
Kathryn Palmer
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: A $10,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services is allowing a tribal college in northern Michigan to continue offering library services during a building renovation. The IMLS, which is the largest federal funding source for U.S. museums and libraries, also awarded a historically Black university in Virginia $52,000 to digitize an archival collection about the women’s college it absorbed in 1932. And an academic researcher in Florida is counting on a $150,000 grant to help school librarians better support students who are autistic.
But as of last week, those and hundreds of other federally funded programs at museums and libraries—many housed at cash-strapped colleges and universities—are in jeopardy.
Vimal Patel
New York Times
Excerpt: The University of California said on Wednesday that it would stop requiring the use of diversity statements in hiring, a practice praised by some who said it made campuses more inclusive but criticized by others who said it did the opposite.
Nicole Barbaro Simovski, Ph.D.
Free the Inquiry
Excerpt: Diversity statements started to be commonly required for applications for university faculty positions starting in the 2010s. These statements—often one- to two-page essays detailing a candidate's commitment to advancing diversity, enquiry, and inclusion goals in their academic work—have been a fierce topic of debate. On the extremes, one side sees diversity statements as simply asking faculty candidates to demonstrate how they advance the university’s values. The other side sees them as thinly veiled ideological filters in hiring.
Kirby Urner '80
March 07, 2025
Are protests illegal by definition? I’d think no, no?
Scenario: a hypothetical dean of student affairs of college X with federal funding sets aside two days a week for campus rallies. A space is set aside, campus groups book reservations, a calendar is published.
Pro Israel rallies are permitted. Pro Palestine rallies are permitted. The college reserves to revoke permits depending on crowd unruliness.
Say this arrangement goes on for several weeks with no rallies turning violent. A permanent soundstage is installed for both music and oratory. Journalists are invited. Counter-demonstrations are not allowed, but the same people may attend any or all of the rallies.
Protest events outside these scheduled places and times are deemed unauthorized by said college, but off-campus events may nevertheless be legal by county criteria. The college makes sure the permitted rallies are deemed legal by whatever county in question. No federal funding is lost.
Is this scenario unrealistic? It seems to me any college or university would encourage dignified permitted assemblies and free speech exercise, as curriculum-relevant and contributing to the public discourse. I wouldn’t think a college that clamped down on rallies would be very appealing to future applicants.