Cathy Young
The Bulwark
Excerpt: Last month's annual conference of the Heterodox Academy, a group founded ten years ago by psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt to support intellectual diversity in academia, had to confront a cultural and political landscape drastically changed from previous years. “HxA,” as the group styles itself, is known for taking on threats to academic freedom and intellectual openness from the progressive (or, if you will, “woke”) left. But this is 2025, not 2015. Not only is Donald Trump in the White House again, but his second administration is waging an aggressive attack on the universities in a crusade against academic “wokeness.”
Samuel A. Church and Cam N. Srivastava
Harvard Crimson
Excerpt: At an information session with more than 500 attendees, Harvard staff told international students to expect tight screening at Boston Logan International Airport and keep a careful handle on their internet presence, which could be vetted for pro-Palestine posts.
Grace Little
Cavalier Daily
Excerpt: The Board of Visitors will soon begin the process of selecting an interim president and conducting a national search for a new president in the wake of former University President Jim Ryan’s resignation which came under pressure from the Department of Justice. As the Board searches for a new president, viewpoint diversity is likely to be a topic on their mind.
Ansley Skipper
If you can keep it, Substack
Excerpt: The Trump administration just forced the president of my alma mater to resign as part of a larger campaign to ostensibly enforce “intellectual diversity” and “advance academic freedom, intellectual inquiry, and student learning.”
Michael S. Schmidt and Michael C. Bender
New York Times
Excerpt: The University of Virginia’s president, James E. Ryan, has told the board overseeing the school that he will resign in the face of demands by the Trump administration that he step aside in order to help resolve a Justice Department inquiry into the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to three people briefed on the matter.
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.