Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jackie Gardina

@jackiegardina.bsky.social

1.9K followers 3.2K following 2.4K posts

Higher ed supporter, podcast host, and a law and politics junkie with a social justice focus. *All opinions are my own

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · Mar 23

I'm starting a thread with the legal profession's response to President Trump's attacks on it. Please feel free to add any that I miss.

I'll start with Perkins Coie's response.They have created an entire website so that we can follow along. 1/
www.perkinscoiefacts.com?gad_source=1...

Perkins Coie’s response to the unlawful Executive Order targeting the firm

The order violates core constitutional protections, including the rights to free speech and due process, and undermines all clients’ right to select counsel of their choice.

www.perkinscoiefacts.com

38 170 430

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 16h

TBF, we don’t need to travel to India to understand the concept.

www.gettyimages.com/detail/video...

Protestors sprayed with water by high powered hoses during the 1963...

Protestors sprayed with water by high powered hoses during the 1963 Birmingham campaign.

www.gettyimages.com

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 21h

If you are a paying subscriber to The Washington Post, this is what you get.

If you are a free subscriber to Democracy Docket, this is what you get.

Support independent, pro-democracy media. Sign up now. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0

290 2.4K 7.6K

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Rep. LaMonica McIver @replamonica.bsky.social · 18h

During a shutdown, people like TSA workers and troops don’t get paid. But do you know who does? The president still gets paid. Members of Congress still get paid. It’s wrong. That’s why, as soon as the Republicans shut down the government, I put my salary on hold.

16 66

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Rebecca Spang @rlspang.bsky.social · 19h

MIT says "NOPE, we stand for peer review, merit, and academic freedom" in reply to the Trump Regime's proposed "compact" with Higher Ed. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

10 40

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 19h

MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit.
Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute
was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.

• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available
to any American with an internet
connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly
10%.
• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.

These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific
funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that tree marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences.
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the
U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people.
We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
CC
Ms. May Mailman
Mr. Vincent Haley

4 130 430

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 1d

From the Supreme Court opinion granting Trump immunity:

"Investigative & prosecutorial decisionmaking is the special province of the Executive ... allegations that the requested investigations were shams or proposed for an improper purpose do not divest the President of [his] exclusive authority"

28 140 440

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 1d

I am connected to @topa-the-bt.bsky.social. He isn't on here much but I will let him know he has pals here. 😀

1 2

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 1d

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

Any university that agrees to this outrageous “compact” is a full participant in Trump’s assault on democracy. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

3 41 130

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 1d

So we’ve moved on from Democrats want to insure undocumented people to repeal and replace again?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Thune: "The president would like to overhaul Obamacare and give people health insurance that is higher quality and more affordable."

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 2d

Cause the algorithms are increasingly shady and I don’t see much promotion, let me Gift Link this:

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told

www.nytimes.com

65 560 1.4K

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 2d

This is important.

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 2d

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

9 300 1.1K

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

RutgersAAUP-AFT @ruaaup-aft.bsky.social · 2d

This week, our colleague Dr. Mark Bray came under attack by Turning Point USA’s Rutgers chapter for his public scholarship. Rutgers AAUP-AFT and the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union condemn this campaign and stand in solidarity with our colleagues. Read our full statement here: https://loom.ly/BDXasRY

7 250 610

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 2d

I just listened to former FBI agent @michaelfeinberg.bsky.social and @nytimes.com reporter Devlin Barrett discuss the politicization of the FBI. Feinberg worked counterintelligence and gave a damning assessment of our current state. @hillcenterdc.bsky.social

I will not sleep tonight.

A picture of reporter Devlin Barrett and former FBI agent Michael Feinberg.

1 1 1

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 2d

That’s the one I was thinking of. As well as Barre (VT). I’ve lived in both states.

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 2d

We met a wonderful group of people across the globe who own Border Terriers called the #btposse. We have even visited them in England, Scotland, Ireland, and parts of the US. It has been a joy.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 3d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

1 12

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 2d

We aren't on the verge of an authoritarian takeover. We are in the middle of it.

But I worry people don't see the whole scheme. They just pay attention to each new daily outrage. So I went to the Senate floor to explain Trump's plan.

Here's a 🧵of the speech. It's important.

160 2K 4.5K

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 2d

I access several papers through the public library website, including the WaPo. It is a good alternative.

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Jeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 2d

“The best defense against this weapon is solidarity among groups who disagree ferociously on many questions, but who agree on the need to keep America democratic and rebuild institutions and social connections to make democracy more robust”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

1 4

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 2d

It's out at the Dispatch:

DHS Says Videotaping ICE Agents Is Illegal. Federal Courts Disagree.

Filming law enforcement serves important goals central to a free republic.

thedispatch.com

8 160 510

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

James E. Clyburn @repjamesclyburn.bsky.social · 3d

Americans across the country enrolled in an ACA plan are already being notified that their monthly premiums will skyrocket beginning next year.

If this has happened to you, please comment what you or your family’s current premium is and what it will rise to next year.

1 15 27

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 3d

You can add the Bluebook to that list.

bsky.app/profile/jack...

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · Aug 19

Only law professors and lawyers can appreciate this. In a “free library” in Washington, DC, someone has offered the Bluebook. #lawsky #appellatesky

Reposted by Jackie Gardina

Josh Pasek @joshpasek.com · 3d

How should university boards prepare?

- Strategize in advance (could happen here)
- Leverage internal expertise (strategize with political scientists, public policy scholars and law faculty)
- Respond collectively and support one another
-Stay true to the mission

This is the real fiduciary duty!

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 3d

@joshpasek.com, @umich.edu, provides boards of trustees a roadmap for responding to external pressue, like the so-called Educational Compact.

@aaup.org @utaustinaaup.bsky.social @aaup-penn.bsky.social

riverside.fm/shared/expor...

One thing boards can d... | Oct 7, 2025 001 - Riverside - HD Podcast & Video Software

riverside.fm

2 14 42

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 3d

You can watch the full webinar on the intersection of academic freedom and board independence. 2/

youtu.be/owQIhVhX8mw?...

The Integral Relationship Between Board Independence and Academic Freedom | Webinar on Demand

YouTube video by AGB

youtu.be

2 1

Jackie Gardina @jackiegardina.bsky.social · 3d

One thing boards can d... | Oct 7, 2025 001 - Riverside - HD Podcast & Video Software

riverside.fm

1 3 5