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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.
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.
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.