Thomas M. Keck
@tmksyracuse.bsky.social
7.5K followers 3.1K following 1.2K posts
Mostly free speech and democratic backsliding. Also Syracuse politics and Baltimore sports.
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tmksyracuse.bsky.social
My kingdom for a chief justice who doesn’t inspire grateful backslapping from convicted felons
Reposted by Thomas M. Keck
stephenturner.us
Lost Science is a new NYT series of accounts from scientists who have lost their jobs or funding. You can send your story to the Times here www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
This Mamdani ad is legit choking me up
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
And third, protests have the potential to expand the base of future protesters. It’s principally for this reason that Oct 18 Syracuse No Kings is scheduled for one of the highest visibility locations in town bsky.app/profile/indi...
indivisibleononcty.bsky.social
No Kings Syracuse is live! Sign up and spread the word. Event is 12-2pm on Oct. 18. mobilize.us/s/HdxZnX
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
For another, protests are sometimes quite visible locally even when ignored by national media. Here in CNY, lots of local electeds show up at protests, so they’re getting a direct message about public sentiment without having to read about it in the NYT
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
For one thing, protests may mobilize the participants to further action. There’s god evidence that 2017-18 protests contributed to 2018 midterm successes
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
Obviously corporate media’s downplaying of the protests is a problem but it seems wrong to say that’s the only vector by which protests have meaningful impact
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
For sure. I’ve been saying all year that decentralized judicial review is one of the few institutional checks we’ve still got going for us. Only question is how long SCOTUS stays at war with them (and who wins)
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
lol
jonseidel.bsky.social
Perry cites the claims of "slashed tires" and "keyed cars."

"Some of this frankly sounds like a Carrie Underwood song."
Reposted by Thomas M. Keck
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
Yes, but read further. First the censorship conference was censored, then it was cancelled altogether, then the replacement teach-in was also censored
Reposted by Thomas M. Keck
jonathanurquhart.bsky.social
"The irony was not lost on the faculty: The university was censoring its own conference about censorship."
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
Weber State administrators told student they couldn't present their research on the state's anti-DEI law at an on-campus conference on censorship(!) unless they removed all mentions of DEI from their slides

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Weber State Censors, Then Cancels, Censorship Conference
University officials said that several planned presentations violated a Utah state law banning diversity, equity and inclusion at public universities.
www.insidehighered.com
Reposted by Thomas M. Keck
carlygoodman.bsky.social
I don’t think having been alive in the 20th century is like Amazing or anything, but I am trying to communicate to young people that the present regimes of surveillance and control haven’t always operated so extensively; privacy and free expression are worth fighting for, if we can imagine them
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
Weber State administrators told student they couldn't present their research on the state's anti-DEI law at an on-campus conference on censorship(!) unless they removed all mentions of DEI from their slides

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Weber State Censors, Then Cancels, Censorship Conference
University officials said that several planned presentations violated a Utah state law banning diversity, equity and inclusion at public universities.
www.insidehighered.com
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
I should note here that the source of the problem is Utah's egregious anti-DEI law, which has left campus administrators with few good options in these circumstances
screenshot of this passage from the article linked in original post:
In a note to conference presenters and volunteers last week, Vice President for Student Access and Success Jessica Oyler explained that Unity Conference programming could not discuss what HB 261 defines as “prohibited discriminatory practice,” including “claiming that sociopolitical structures are inherently power struggles between groups, or suggesting that individuals are inherently privileged, oppressed, racist, sexist, or victims based on personal identity characteristics.”
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
This shit is getting beyond parody. The director of the university's "Basic Needs Center" is vetting individual students' slides in advance of public presentations!?! The event formerly known as the Diversity Conference is now called the "Unity Conference"!?!
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
If Allen’s call falls on deaf ears, maybe all 9 schools tell the administration to eff off. But more likely, I think, is that Texas, Vanderbilt, and maybe others negotiate for themselves alone and then sign the deal. If Allen can persuade them to stick together, that seems like a good thing
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
Agreed. But the administration put them together and asked for feedback, and I’m reading Allen’s piece as an effort to persuade universities to highjack this request by responding collectively. I’m not optimistic, but it seems worth a try
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
Judge Young also finds that the chilling effect was amplified by the gratuitously terrifying ways in which the immigration detentions were conducted. (And yes, I'm still making my way through this opinion from last week)
screenshot of judicial opinion with highlighted text:
"... but also by the manner in which these arrests,
detentions, and revocations have been conducted: by often-masked
agents, without prior notice of visa revocation or altered
status, sometimes on the street or at immigration appointments,
followed by conveyance quickly out of district and across the
country." another screenshot of judicial opinion, featuring this passage:
"Or why, having observed the first arrests that were made under this policy and seen that these arrests by these agents involved an obvious, highly publicized atmosphere of secrecy and fright, the Public Officials responsible for it did not adjust the policy to make the arrests less obviously chilling? Or why the members of the inter-agency advisory council whom the Public Officials will not name, did not adjust the policy to make the arrests less obviously chilling?" third screenshot:
"this Court must draw the most reasonable inference: that the manner and method of their execution was adopted, or at least approved of once the first such arrest had been made, in part intentionally to chill the speech of other would be pro-Palestine and anti-Israel speakers, including Plaintiffs’ noncitizen members."
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
The compact is garbage & I disagree with some of the planks Allen finds to be acceptable starting points. But I still think folks are misreading the main point of her piece, which is to encourage universities to highjack the compact as an opportunity to negotiate collectively w the administration
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
I’m only halfway through but I’m reading Allen’s piece mostly as a call for Texas and Vanderbilt to stay allied with the rest of the sector, rather than going it alone. I’m not optimistic, but if they actually could get the administration to negotiate with a united front, seems maybe worth a try
profmarylewis.bsky.social
Danielle Allen has proposed many good things for Harvard, so I’m puzzled by her reading of the word “compact” here, as if this would be an agreement freely entered into. She rightly says that, as written, this shouldn’t be agreed to. Maybe leave it there? therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...
tmksyracuse.bsky.social
I’m only halfway through but I’m reading Allen’s piece mostly as a call for Texas and Vanderbilt to stay allied with the rest of the sector, rather than going it alone. I’m not optimistic, but if they actually could get the administration to negotiate with a united front, seems maybe worth a try
profmarylewis.bsky.social
Danielle Allen has proposed many good things for Harvard, so I’m puzzled by her reading of the word “compact” here, as if this would be an agreement freely entered into. She rightly says that, as written, this shouldn’t be agreed to. Maybe leave it there? therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...
Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact
Now we have a chance for collective action
therenovator.substack.com
Reposted by Thomas M. Keck
rezekjoe.bsky.social
ACLS statement against White House “compact”: THIS IS SOVIET SHIT
Screenshot from statement “Universities and colleges have one mission: to advance knowledge. Faculty carry out the mission by conducting research and teaching students. The knowledge they produce and circulate is independently assessed by professional peers. Interfering with that process by forcing knowledge to pass through a political filter is a tactic adopted by the Soviet Union and other authoritarian states. The White House is dressing up its compact as a reasonable corrective to what it views as problems in campus culture. Let no one be deceived. This proposal imposes government censorship on academia. It is anti-American, and it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise.”
Reposted by Thomas M. Keck
aupresses.bsky.social
All are invited to the first in Publishing with University Presses Webinar Series, "Turning Your Dissertation into a Book," Oct 9 at 1pm ET. Organized by our Faculty Outreach Committee with the Rutgers Ctr for Minority Serving Institutions.

Register here: https://buff.ly/UiOAr5M
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