Zach Kessel
National Review
Excerpt: Wednesday, October 25, was a national walk-out day ostensibly in support of the Palestinian cause, promoted by activist groups and even some professors who offered extra credit in exchange for participation in the rallies. Just as I did with horrific student-group statements in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, I’ve asked students on campuses across the country to send me footage of what happened at their universities. I will continue to update this post as I receive more.
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CBS News Miami
Excerpt: Florida is working with university leaders from five other Southern states to form a new higher-education accrediting body, Gov. Ron DeSantis and officials from the other states announced Thursday.
The Commission for Public Higher Education, which will need federal approval, would be an alternative to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, a longtime accrediting agency that has clashed with Florida education leaders in recent years.
Christopher F. Rufo, Ryan Thorpe
City Journal
Excerpt: In recent months, Ivy League universities have changed their tune on “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Under pressure from President Trump, these institutions have renamed DEI departments, scuttled unpopular programs, and assured the administration that they are following the law. As Cornell president Michael Kotlikoff explained in February: “Just as we do not exclude anyone at Cornell for reasons irrelevant to merit, neither do we . . . hire or promote employees, award chairs or tenure, or make any other merit-driven decisions at Cornell based on race, ethnicity, or other attributes.”
Kotlikoff’s statement was unequivocal, but according to a trove of internal documents we have obtained, it was also untrue.
Susan H. Greenberg
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: Public colleges and universities in Texas have been asked to identify which of their students are undocumented so they can be charged out-of-state tuition, The Texas Tribune reported. The move follows a district court ruling earlier this month that prohibits students who are not legal residents from paying in-state tuition.
In a letter to the state's public college presidents last week, Texas Higher Education commissioner Wynn Rosser wrote that “each institution must assess the population of students who have established eligibility for Texas resident tuition … who are not lawfully present and will therefore need to be reclassified as non-residents and charged non-resident tuition.”