From: Larissa Swedell <Larissa.Swedell@qc.cuny.edu> Date: Friday, October 10, 2025 at 7:58 AM Subject: FW: Weekly digest of federal government actions and discussion thereof related to higher education From: UFS and FGL discussion list <UFS-FGL@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> on behalf of John Verzani <John.Verzani@CSI.CUNY.EDU> Dear All, Please find a partial summary of some of the actions taken by the federal government as relates to Higher Education in general and CUNY in specific in the past week. Thanks DM, KB for providing links this week. Mostly all about the "compact" this week. ## How best to describe the times we are in * NYTimes: Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/opinion/trump-miller-kirk-aftermath.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/opinion/trump-miller-kirk-aftermath.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxLyFBqFUU$>

Trump’s assault on the left combines the use of the available tools of violent conflict — the military, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE in particular — with the prosecution of critics (and people he just doesn’t like), cuts of essential funds for liberal institutions, the use of regulation to threaten businesses with bankruptcy, the criminalization of free speech and the blackmailing of corporate America into obedience.

The assault has become increasingly brutal as Trump and his allies intensify their demonization of all things left of center, by which they often seem to mean anything to the left of the hard right.

Trump and his allies seized upon Kirk’s assassination to justify a sharp acceleration of their attacks on the left, which, along with a number of other commentators, I was worried about from the start. Now it’s getting worse.

Theda Skocpol, a professor of government and sociology at Harvard who has been closely tracking movements on both the left and the right, showed no hesitation in declaring that Trump and his allies “are trying to provoke protests and demonstrations that they can call ‘violent’ even if there are fewer destructive elements than after the usual big football victory or loss.”

Everyone I contacted for this column described what Trump is doing as a clear violation of democratic rules and guidelines governing peacetime activities.

“Polarization feels almost quaint relative to the profound stress the Trump administration is imposing on our democracy,” Sean Westwood, a political scientist at Dartmouth, wrote by email.

## Academic freedom * Trump makes colleges an offer they can refuse https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/03/higher-education-compact-federal-contract-trump/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/03/higher-education-compact-federal-contract-trump/__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL1-i-OED$> (Can't quote, too milquetoasty from the WaPo editorial board) * Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President https://president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10/response-compact-academic-excellence-higher-education<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10/response-compact-academic-excellence-higher-education__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL_cd3abc$>

You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.

* AAC&U Statement on the Trump Administration’s “Compact for… | AAC&U https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/aac-u-statement-on-the-trump-administrations-compact-for-academic-excellence-in-higher-education<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/aac-u-statement-on-the-trump-administrations-compact-for-academic-excellence-in-higher-education__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL6Qf3yAB$>

Regrettably, the administration has continued to seek ways to impose its own ideologically driven vision for higher education through unilateral executive action and the coercive use of public funding. On October 1, it invited a first cohort of university leaders to sign a “compact” that would commit their institutions to the vigorous pursuit of the administration’s priorities. The compact is, in effect, an ultimatum: sign and receive “multiple positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” or retain the freedom to “develop models and values other than those” of the administration, and “forgo federal funding.”

This is not constructive engagement.

In renewing the call for constructive engagement, AAC&U also strongly opposes any alternative that would erode or eviscerate essential freedoms and promote instability by making America’s colleges and universities subject not to the law and the principles that have served us so well for centuries, but to the changing priorities of successive administrations.

* Higher Ed Sounds Off on Proposed Compact https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/trustees-regents/2025/10/06/higher-ed-sounds-proposed-compact<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/trustees-regents/2025/10/06/higher-ed-sounds-proposed-compact__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL98pVTEC$> (ACE, AAC&U, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, AAUP, College Presidents, members of Heritage (!), AEI, Cato Institute, ...) * Opinion | The Trump Administration’s ‘Compact’ Is a Trap https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-trump-administrations-compact-is-a-trap<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-trump-administrations-compact-is-a-trap__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL7693h-t$>

This is not a policy framework. It is a political tool meant to reshape governance at these nine institutions and, if successful, to serve as a model for the rest of higher education. It also comes at a time when dozens of universities already are under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice, turning what is labeled “voluntary” into something much closer to coercion.

What is being proposed here is entirely different. It is not a bargain among equals but a one-sided set of conditions imposed by the federal government. Calling it a compact is deliberately misleading.

In truth, this document looks more like a consent decree — the kind of settlement imposed by a court when an institution violates federal law. Consent decrees typically follow litigation, require judicial approval, and are tailored to remedy specific violations. Here, courts have been bypassed entirely. This compact dictates broad rules on admissions, hiring, free speech, international students, and tuition. For the nine universities, signing would be a preemptive surrender clothed as voluntary compliance. It has the binding force of a consent decree but lacks all of the necessary safeguards.

The risks are enormous. The compact requires annual certifications from presidents, provosts, and admissions directors, effectively embedding the Departments of Justice, Education, and Homeland Security in the routine decisions of universities. Even unintentional noncompliance could require repayment of all federal funds received in a year and the return of private gifts if donors demand it. For a research university, a single disputed admissions decision or a protest deemed to violate loosely defined standards of political loyalty or “incitement” could trigger financial catastrophe.

The chilling effect on academic freedom would be significant. The compact authorizes the reorganization or closure of academic units that are considered to privilege certain viewpoints. Vague references to “anti-American values” and “incitement” could easily interfere with protected activities like scholarship, debate, or protest. Combined with the threat of severe financial penalties, this would lead to systemic self-censorship. Tenure would become worthless if entire departments could be shut down for ideological reasons.

Governing boards also must remember that fiduciary duty is not measured by compliance with Washington but by safeguarding institutional mission, integrity, and long-term viability. Signing this agreement would not only be reckless — it could be seen as a breach of the duty of care and loyalty, exposing trustees to challenges from faculty, donors, accreditors, and others.

And to every other institution watching: do not mistake this compact as someone else’s problem. If it succeeds with the nine, you will be next.

* The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal https://balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-art-of-replacing-law-with-deal.html<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-art-of-replacing-law-with-deal.html__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL1gD-jC6$> (This is an excellent analysis of the "compact". Thanks DM)

The effect of the agreement is to hang a sword of Damocles over any compact-signing university that is not there today. The “benefits of this agreement,” quoted above, consist almost entirely of things that the administration does not have the power to arbitrarily withdraw under federal law.

Universities’ only proper response to this “compact”—and to May Mailman’s dangerous invitation to negotiate further, by way of providing “feedback” on the initial draft—is to offer absolutely nothing.

* NYTimes: You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/opinion/trump-universities-compact-civil-society.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/opinion/trump-universities-compact-civil-society.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL7l9nWBG$>

But Mr. Trump will fail in remaking American politics if people and institutions coordinate against him, which is why his administration is targeting businesses, nonprofits and the rest of civil society, proposing corrupting bargains to those who acquiesce and punishing holdouts to terrify the rest into submission.

It wanted to signal strength. Instead, it’s revealing its weakness. The administration’s need to break the academy is forcing it to make a desperately risky gamble.

As political theorists like Russell Hardin have explained, power is a “coordination game,” in which everything depends on what the public believes and does together. Even the most brutal tyrant does not have enough soldiers and police officers to compel everyone to obey at gunpoint. Authoritarian regimes need civil society — the realm of people and organizations outside government control — to acquiesce to their rule. East Germany’s dictatorship collapsed when multitudes began to march and organize against it, collapsing the illusion that everyone accepted tyranny.

The struggle over regime change is about whether the aspiring authoritarians can subdue civil society. Their strategy is to play divide and conquer, rewarding friends and brutally punishing opponents. They win when society cracks, creating a self-enforcing set of expectations, in which everyone shuts up and complies because everyone expects everyone else to shut up and comply, too.

Universities have taken note. Although the Trump administration forced Columbia into humiliating subjection and has won some concessions from other universities, it hasn’t succeeded in creating the general sense of self-reinforcing hopelessness in the academy that it wanted to. Some institutions are negotiating, but few seem on the verge of folding to the same degree.

But that depends on fear of a credible threat. The administration would have played its cards differently if it had a stronger hand. ... That this didn’t happen suggests that the administration’s threats aren’t enough on their own to compel submission.

* Reject the Compact’ petition urges USC not to sign Trump’s contract – Annenberg Media https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/10/06/reject-the-compact-petition-urges-usc-not-to-sign-trumps-contract/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/10/06/reject-the-compact-petition-urges-usc-not-to-sign-trumps-contract/__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL7bWQMIt$>

Following the Trump administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education invitation on Wednesday, the USC American Association of University Professors sent a petition rallying for USC to reject the compact.

The petition currently has over 500 signatures from various faculty, students and alumni. The petition states that academic excellence comes from upholding USC’s current values in changing times.

The petition states, “When an invitation is accompanied by consequences for not accepting it, it is in fact a threat, not an invitation.”

* When Viewpoint Diversity Means Conformity https://www.chronicle.com/article/when-viewpoint-diversity-means-conformity<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.chronicle.com/article/when-viewpoint-diversity-means-conformity__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL8jExkFZ$>

On October 1, the Trump administration sent letters to nine universities asking them to sign a Compact for Academic Excellence with the federal government. This compact contains demands that are a direct attack on university autonomy and academic freedom. Beyond this, it crystallizes a problem with both the administration’s claim that there is insufficient “viewpoint diversity” in the universities and with the steps they demand be taken to address it.

It is worth dwelling on the framing of viewpoint diversity within the document. In general, writing by the Trump administration does not repay close reading. But its inexactness and ambiguity is sometimes part of the point; the scope of what is being demanded is deliberately unclear or directly contradictory.

My point is somewhat different. “Viewpoint diversity” is reifying. It reduces scholars to static ideological viewpoints. It imagines that individuals occupy identifiable political positions aligned with stable and explicit beliefs that do not change over time.

Despite the misleading openness of the term “broad spectrum,” this directive asks the university to categorize its faculty, staff, and students in the manner that a naturalist classifies flora and fauna. It is then expected to publish (presumably anonymized) results, and then actively hire or admit individuals so as to broaden or complete the spectrum.

This investment in the empirical ideological classification of the living members of an academic community is incoherent, even bizarre. The whole point of an academic community is to engage in forms of inquiry that are open and unfolding, mutable and contestable. This is the whole point of being human, too. The idea that an academic has to register their political affiliation, in the manner one might register one’s political party, is anathema to the vocation of learning, teaching, and research.

What can be made to matter at present for academic freedom and for civic life is the conscious and active cultivation of habits that we are particularly well suited to protect and extend: a habit of ongoing inquiry; habits of direct argument and disagreement; habits of noninstrumental questioning and study. And in that context not everything has to be a litmus test about the flashpoints this administration has decided to impose on us. As Hannah Arendt said of thinking itself, cultivating habits of thinking may be decisive in those moments when the chips are down. Our very mode of conduct as academics is counter-authoritarian. Authoritarians want fixity, and they project it onto their opponents, but we remain open to change, self-critique, and revision. This is why we are seen as a problem — and we can take strength from this fact in each moment of our practice.

* Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down | The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/201376/trump-compact-academic-excellence-university-virginia<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://newrepublic.com/article/201376/trump-compact-academic-excellence-university-virginia__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL20OwdaB$>

If the University of Virginia agrees to the terms dictated by a memo sent last Wednesday by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, then this essay you are reading could cost the university all of its federal support—research funds, financial aid, everything.

“Signatories commit themselves to revising governance structures as necessary to create such an environment, including but not limited to transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” states the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”

I am purposefully “belittling” a “conservative idea.” Or maybe I am not. I’m not really sure what the legal threshold of “belittling” is, and while I have a pretty good idea which ideas should be considered “conservative” (I studied American conservatism in graduate school with one of the premier historians of the subject), I am pretty sure McMahon does not.

It’s important to note that this intervention into higher education is unlike the previous mob-like extortion moves on Columbia, Harvard, the University of California, and (again) my own University of Virginia. In those, the Trump administration told these universities they had to make specific changes in how they do their work or who runs the university under the threat of losing substantial research funding—regardless of the public value of that research.

This “compact” is more like an invitation to borrow money from the mob, with substantial control and future penalties assured. If any university agrees to this proposal, it will be under federal control and subject to some unpredictable, arbitrary, extreme penalties.

Now, those who work at the Department of Education should probably know that every major, nonreligious, and state college and university in the United States has had policies protecting academic freedom since the 1950s, when state and federal leaders frequently purged faculties of professors who studied or proclaimed positions that ran counter to the mainstream values of the time. Academic freedom policies came from faculties, not the government. Governments are the enemies of academic freedom, not their protectors. This current administration is the greatest threat to academic freedom and scientific research since the ebb of McCarthyism. And this compact is just more evidence that it wants to dictate what we teach, what we research, what drugs we develop, and how we express ourselves.

* The White House Sent Its Compact to 9 Universities. Here’s What Their Administrators and Faculty Are Saying. https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-white-house-sent-its-compact-to-9-universities-heres-what-their-administrators-and-faculty-are-saying<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-white-house-sent-its-compact-to-9-universities-heres-what-their-administrators-and-faculty-are-saying__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL9hOduVP$> (E.g. for Brown)

What administrators have said: The university has not publicly confirmed receipt of compact. “I won’t say that much about the compact here,” President Christina Paxson said at a faculty meeting, “only to thank people who have already written to me to express their views and concerns.” | Source: The Brown Daily Herald

What faculty have said: A professor at Brown, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional repercussions, said that at multiple faculty meetings, professors “have been expressing significant concern” about the compact. While there are “a lot of different voices,” the professor said, the “overwhelming message” is that faculty are urging leadership to reject it based on “the way it would compromise academic freedom” and the “role of higher education and its independence from politicization.” | Source: Chronicle reporting

* How Trump’s Compact Threatens Higher Ed Funding, Freedom https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/10/08/how-trumps-compact-threatens-higher-ed-funding<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/10/08/how-trumps-compact-threatens-higher-ed-funding__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL6mJXeKA$>

A White House official told Inside Higher Ed in an email that “other schools have affirmatively reached out and may be given the opportunity to be part of the initial tranche.” The New York Times cited May Mailman, a White House adviser, as saying the compact could be extended to all institutions.

(Yeah, right)

“If one by one institutions give in and sign, hoping to mitigate the damage later, it will set a truly problematic precedent,” Connolly said. “Some of the most powerful and wealthy institutions on the planet will have agreed to subject their faculty and research and teaching to state approval, and academia will be visibly divided into an insider group and an outsider group.”

* NYTimes: Rutgers Expert on Antifa Flees to Spain After Death Threats https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/nyregion/rutgers-professor-threats-antifa.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/nyregion/rutgers-professor-threats-antifa.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL5WzZ1um$> (There is a possible similar case at CUNY's GC right now gaining some momentum)

A Rutgers University expert on antifa fled the United States with his family on Thursday night in the wake of death threats that followed President Trump’s push to characterize the left-wing antifascist movement as a domestic terrorist organization.

Dr. Bray, a historian who published the 2017 book “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” had taught courses on anti-fascism and terrorism at Rutgers in New Jersey in relative obscurity until a few weeks ago.

On Wednesday night, the expert, Mark Bray, was turned back from the gate at Newark Liberty International Airport, after getting the family’s boarding passes, checking their bags and going though security and was told his reservation had been canceled. But his flight was rescheduled and took off Thursday evening, he wrote in a post on Bluesky.

## Freedom of expression * Asst. professor sues Clemson over Charlie Kirk post firing | The State https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article312369947.html<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article312369947.html__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL0aYSntH$>

One of the assistant professors who was fired from Clemson University for a post he shared in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination is now suing the school. Joshua Bregy, who was an assistant professor in Clemson’s Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences since January 2023 when he was fired, filed the suit in federal court Friday along with the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina.

* UNC Professor Accused of Advocating Political Violence Reinstated https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/03/unc-professor-accused-advocating-political-violence-reinstated<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/03/unc-professor-accused-advocating-political-violence-reinstated__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxLyVIPbbO$>

“The Carolina Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Team consulted with the UNC System security office and with local law enforcement, undertaking a robust, swift and efficient review of all the evidence. We have found no basis to conclude that he poses a threat to University students, staff, and faculty, or has engaged in conduct that violates University policy,” Stoyer said in a statement. “As a result, the University is reinstating Professor Dixon to his faculty responsibilities, effective immediately.”

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, called for Dixon to be fired in an X post because of these affiliations.

* Opinion | Who Will Clemson Censor Next? https://www.chronicle.com/article/who-will-clemson-censor-next<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.chronicle.com/article/who-will-clemson-censor-next__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL0Dt8xFM$> https://www.chronicle.com/article/who-will-clemson-censor-next<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.chronicle.com/article/who-will-clemson-censor-next__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL0Dt8xFM$>

The result of this shifting, amorphous justification for the terminations has been devastating to Clemson’s academic environment. Faculty, staff, and students no longer know what types of speech will be tolerated or punished. The larger upshot is a classic chilling effect — when people hold back from speaking because the boundaries of acceptable expression are unclear and the risks of reprisal too high. Reliance on elastic terms like “inappropriate” or “disruptive” leaves the community guessing what might cost them their jobs or their professional reputations. The result is self-censoring and silence.

But it’s not just that our colleagues tell us that they are now much more cautious about what they say in class. They are also surreptitiously recording their lectures — insurance, they tell us, in case they get accused of saying something they didn’t say or their words are taken out of context. “I’m scared and I’m a tenured professor.” It goes the other way too: Faculty have learned that their lectures are being recorded without their permission and, understandably, think that students are “out to get us.”

Across these cases, universities appear less guided by consistent standards than by external outrage. Terms like “disruption,” “misalignment,” or “institutional values” function as catch-alls, invoked only after political actors or social-media campaigns generate pressure. The result is a chilling effect in which speech protections hinge not on content but on who objects and how loudly. This dynamic illustrates the broader breach in the academic social contract, where institutions increasingly forfeit public trust by applying principles inconsistently and privileging short-term reputational management over enduring commitments to truth and civic responsibility.

## Visas * International Student Arrivals Drop 19% https://www.insidehighered.com/news/global/international-students-us/2025/10/07/international-student-arrivals-drop-19<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/global/international-students-us/2025/10/07/international-student-arrivals-drop-19__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL3GF2V2T$> (CUNY reported flat numbers here)

That figure is in line with international enrollment predictions but appears to contradict Department of Homeland Security data released last month.

“If we take the entry data as reliable, then I would say it’s not a surprise to anyone in the field that we saw a reduced number of I-94 entries this August. It very much tracks with what we expected based on the unprecedented and, in the view of many in the field, entirely unnecessary freeze on visa interviews that happened during the peak time for visa interview globally,” said Clay Harmon, executive director of the Association of International Enrollment Management.

* AAUP, Other Unions Sue Trump Admin Over H-1B Fee https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/08/aaup-other-unions-sue-trump-admin-over-h-1b-fee<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/08/aaup-other-unions-sue-trump-admin-over-h-1b-fee__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL3GDOvc8$>

The plaintiffs, which include the American Association of University Professors, UAW International and UAW Local 481, allege in the lawsuit that numerous researchers and academics will lose their jobs as a result of their institutions not being able to afford the new fee. (An H-1B visa previously cost $2,000 to $5,000.) Universities, along with national labs and nonprofit research institutions, were also exempt from the annual cap on the number of new visas, and it’s unclear whether the new fee will apply to higher ed

## Funding cuts ### NIH * Trump slashed funding for universities that helped create these vital drugs https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2025/trump-university-research-medicine/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2025/trump-university-research-medicine/__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL7Xt4xXt$>

Pharmaceutical companies are essential to developing new drugs, but the early chapters of many medicines’ origin stories are based in academia, backed by federal funding. A key reason is the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which allows research institutions to patent inventions made with federal funding, creating an incentive to turn basic research into drugs. Numerous studies show how critical taxpayer-funded research has become.

The story of how any given drug came to be is often a complex and serendipitous tale, pushed forward by a team effort that spans academia and companies over decades. The federal government is now targeting the roots of the system that has helped fill the world’s medicine cabinet with innovative drugs, although some of its efforts have come under court challenge.

The Washington Post examined the history of six important drugs invented over the past few decades. In each case, crucial steps in the development of the medication came from taxpayer-funded research at universities now at risk of losing federal support.

(Keytruda, Lyrica, Viagra, Truvada, Ozempic, Sovaldi) ## Federal Agencies ### DOE/OCR * Trump Officials Reportedly Discussing Selling Off Student Loans https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/08/trump-officials-reportedly-discussing-selling-student-loans<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/08/trump-officials-reportedly-discussing-selling-student-loans__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxLxsUaGpc$>

Politico noted that the law does allow the Education Department to sell the loans [a $1.6 trillion portfolio], “but only if the transaction would not cost taxpayers money.” Selling off the loans raises a number of questions and issues for borrowers, in part because private loans don’t have the same protections or benefits as federal loans. More than 45 million Americans have federal student loans.

### Government shutdown * Federal Government Shutdown: Impact on Psychology and What You Need to Know https://updates.apaservices.org/shutdown<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://updates.apaservices.org/shutdown__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxLy888Ovf$> (Thanks KB)

APA and APA Services, Inc. are monitoring the immediate and cascading effects of the shutdown on psychological science, practice, and workforce development. Our assessment identifies several key areas of concern: ... Disruption to research continuity; Effects on educational and training programs; Operational challenges in practice settings; Behavioral health workforce implications

## Institutional assaults ### Accreditation * Western Accreditor Officially Drops DEI Standards https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/08/western-accreditor-officially-drops-dei-standards<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/08/western-accreditor-officially-drops-dei-standards__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL0mTMOmY$>

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission has formally adopted updated accreditation standards that eliminate all mention of diversity, equity and inclusion.

For instance, the first standard, “Defining Institutional Mission and Acting with Integrity,” used to say an institution “promotes the success of all students and makes explicit its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” In the updated version, it simply “promotes institutional excellence and success for all students.”

Accrediting agencies have been under pressure since Trump issued an executive order in April directing them to end DEI requirements for colleges. Others—including the American Bar Association and the New England Commission of Higher Education—have also suspended or are considering dropping their DEI standards.

### Harvard * NYTimes: Billionaire Trump Ally Emerges as Key Broker in Harvard Fight https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/us/politics/schwarzman-harvard-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/us/politics/schwarzman-harvard-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL24nCFiK$>

During calls with administration officials this week, Mr. Schwarzman [a billionaire Harvard alumnus who is close to President Trump] has been the lead voice for Harvard. One conversation on Wednesday involved Linda McMahon, Mr. Trump’s secretary of education, who led the discussion for the administration, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Schwarzman’s sudden involvement, which came at the request of Harvard and was encouraged by Mr. Trump, is the latest development in the monthslong battle between the university and the Trump administration. It comes amid a growing divide inside the administration between hard-liners, who want concessions from Harvard, and Mr. Trump, who is eager to announce a deal.

The White House has used a whole-of-government approach — including investigations and funding cuts — as a cudgel to try to compel Harvard and other elite colleges to adopt more conservative values, including stricter definitions of gender, deeper government access to student admissions data and more rigorous codes for student conduct.

* NYTimes: A Harvard Professor Is Placed on Leave After Firing a Pellet Gun https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/us/harvard-professor-pellet-gun-synagogue.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/us/harvard-professor-pellet-gun-synagogue.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxLzkNhutw$> (He was trying to shoo away rats...) * NYTimes: The Harvard ‘Die-in’ That Set Off a Debate Over Protest and Punishment https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/us/harvard-palestinian-protest-die-in-lawsuit.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/us/harvard-palestinian-protest-die-in-lawsuit.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL2fZfnnv$>

An Israeli American student said he was assaulted during a protest. Two years later, Republicans continue to raise the episode in their campaign to force schools to punish the student protesters.

Mr. Tettey-Tamaklo said he inadvertently touched Mr. Segev’s backpack, but insisted he committed no crime. “There was no assault that happened here. I saw the headlines, and I couldn’t believe they were talking about me,” he said.

* NYTimes: Harvard Seeks Assurances as Talks Restart in Washington https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/us/politics/harvard-trump-research-money.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/us/politics/harvard-trump-research-money.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL3dtNEZA$> (Another article by the trio of Bender, Schmidt, and Blinder hinting at things to come once again)

Harvard officials have since discussed internally the possibility of seeking additional assurances from the administration that the university will not be subject to further demands once an agreement has been signed, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Administration officials have said the letters to campuses were attempts to solicit feedback, not ultimatums. Still, the requests concerned Harvard leaders because three of the schools had either agreed to deals with the administration or were in negotiations.

Why spend the extraordinary amount of time, money and political capital required for an agreement with Mr. Trump, some have asked, if his administration will return months later seeking more?

“There are some people you don’t want to write a contract with, and I think businesses know that very well,” Oliver Hart, an economics professor at Harvard who won a Nobel Prize for his work on contract theory,

### UVA * Democratic Lawmakers Amplify Pressure on UVA https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/trustees-regents/2025/10/10/democratic-lawmakers-amplify-pressure-uva<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/trustees-regents/2025/10/10/democratic-lawmakers-amplify-pressure-uva__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxLzKSlQrc$>

Months after Jim Ryan stepped down as University of Virginia president, state Sen. Creigh Deeds is still waiting for answers on whether political interference and external pressure played a role.

But so far, university lawyers have largely refused to answer the state lawmaker’s questions, citing ongoing investigations. Faculty members have also said they can’t get straight answers from the university or face time with the board.

Jeri Seidman, UVA Faculty Senate chair, said the board has declined to answer faculty questions about Ryan’s resignation and DOJ investigations. She added that the board has been less responsive since the Faculty Senate voted no confidence in the Board of Visitors in July.

Recent Faculty Senate resolutions include demands for an explanation on Ryan’s resignation, the no-confidence vote and calls for UVA leadership and the board to reject the proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

Virginia Democrats have also opposed the compact and threatened to restrict funding to the university if it signs on. That threat comes as lawmakers are ratcheting up pressure on UVA and waging a legal battle to block Republican governor Glenn Youngkin’s board appointments.

Surovell warned that “the General Assembly will not stand by while the University surrenders its independence through this compact” and that there would be “significant consequences in future Virginia budget cycles” for UVA should the Board of Visitors agree to the arrangement.

## Blowback * College Degree Aspirations on the Decline https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/10/college-degree-aspirations-decline<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/10/college-degree-aspirations-decline__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL2J7Kvw8$>

Between 2002 and 2022, the percentage of students surveyed who said they expected to earn a bachelor’s degree or higher fell from 72 percent to 44 percent, according to a research brief the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Education published Tuesday.

“The decline in college aspirations among first-generation students is deeply concerning,” Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, which oversees the Pell Institute, said in a news release. “These students have long faced systemic barriers to higher education, and this data underscores the urgent need for renewed investment in outreach, support, and affordability—including through programs like TRIO and the Pell Grant.”

But in his quest to shrink the size of the federal government, President Donald Trump has proposed cutting funding for TRIO—a set of federally funded programs that support low-income, first-generation college students and students with disabilities as they navigate academic life.

## And just because it is fun * Teaching Climate Justice and Solutions https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/life-after-college/2025/10/07/teaching-climate-justice-and-solutions<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/life-after-college/2025/10/07/teaching-climate-justice-and-solutions__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxLwI6CHjE$>

Faculty from the City University of New York system discuss ways to empower and educate students on climate, sustainability and green careers.

Hands-on work: CUNY has a variety of experiential learning partnerships in New York City that help translate climate research into insights for students and community members and make them aware of the issues impacting their city.

One example is the New York City Climate Justice Hub, which invites community members to set research agendas that would best serve their neighborhoods, such as investigating urban heat or improving sustainable transportation options, said Michael Menser, an associate professor of philosophy and urban sustainability at Brooklyn College.

The system also offers training for community members to engage in climate action themselves. Kingsborough Community College conducts free training programs in renewable energy and sustainable technology for environmental justice and disadvantaged communities, said Robert Zandi, associate director of renewable energy programs at KCC. Students enrolled in these programs receive wraparound supports, career navigation support and Metro cards to boost their success, Zandi said.

---- Again, some links are behind paywalls. The shortened wapo links are gift articles; the Chronicle links should be available through a CUNY library. I have online access to the WSJ articles through CUNY. These digests are now archived at https://cunytracker.github.io/CUNYTracker/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cunytracker.github.io/CUNYTracker/__;!!PxiZbSOawA!LcKuCt1s4H-Q4kTnRNJVLePo81f2kq6FPABCMR6d9-B6Ssu4z_fN1NV_EI3fJoxBbFXy5RNqttUlrjlyN01WpEJ_BpNxL6wFj0rD$> *********************************************