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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 2h

MIT rejects Trump administration deal for priority federal funding

MIT is one of nine schools that were asked to agree to adopt conservative priorities and policies in exchange for funding perks.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 3h

I found the war on Christianity

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 5h

Federal agents aren’t trying to keep the peace. They want violence to escalate so that Trump can declare martial law.

They shot a reverend in the head with pepper balls while he was praying in front of an ICE facility. If that doesn’t tell you where we are as a country, nothing will.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 8h

I wish UVa were the first to respond in this way! But I’d still be super happy if our interim president followed Sally Kornbluth’s lead. This is an excellent response.

orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 8h

“Yudkowsky said in a statement ‘my understanding is that authorities from multiple Christian denominations have stated that Thiel’s views, identifying the Antichrist with proposals to regulate the AI industry, are not deemed by them to be compatible with conventional Christian belief.’”

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 8h

On the importance of Religious Studies departments:

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Kathryn @kathrynlaughon.bsky.social · 11h

🔥🔥Student councils from 7 affected universities denounce the bogus federal compact 🔥🔥

Joint Statement on the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education
Signed by Student Government Representatives of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Virginia, University of Arizona, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, and Vanderbilt University

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The undersigned are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Student Body President, Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students, University of Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Assembly Executive Board, Dartmouth College Student Body Vice President,
University of Virginia Student Council President, Vanderbilt University Student Government, and University of Arizona Student Body President.
On October 1st, 2025, the White House sent the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education to our seven universities, outlining expectations universities must meet to continue receiving federal benefits.
Although the compact's full implications remain unclear, the document outlines unprecedented expectations universities must meet to receive federal benefits. This could systemically alter the mission of higher education and erode the independence that has long defined our universities. We must not allow these attempts to control what can be taught, studied, or spoken on our campuses.
Our universities represent the full spectrum of American higher education, from liberal arts colleges to leading research institutions. As students, this directly impacts us, and thus, our voices must be heard. We know firsthand that institutional autonomy is instrumental to the perpetuation of innovation and progress. As the Compact itself acknowledges, "American higher education is the envy of the world and represents a key strategic benefit for our Nation," yet the document undermines the very principles that make this statement true. Our administrations have been presented with a false choice between their commitments to knowledge and education and our access to the resources that sustain them. To preserve our status as world leaders in education, we must remain true to the foundation of academic freedom that has propelled us forward
As student representatives, we stand in united opposition to the outlined conditions. We call on our community of students, faculty, alumni, and leadersh…

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 12h

www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

Democratic Lawmakers Amplify Pressure on UVA

Democrats are demanding answers over the University of Virginia president’s resignation and warning the board against signing a proposed federal compact.

www.insidehighered.com

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Kathryn @kathrynlaughon.bsky.social · 1d

Today the UVA School of Nursing passed, with overwhelming support, a resolution demanding that the rector and interim president reject the compact. bit.ly/3KPRMKV

SON resolution against the compact

The University of Virginia School of Nursing places the ethical principles of our profession at the center of its work. The American Nurses Association's Nursing Code of Ethics affirms nurses' obligat...

bit.ly

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 3d

Charlottesville, we can have this

Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social · 3d

Rode the new and still in-progress Court Street protected bike lane and it’s already a thing of beauty. Makes such a difference on what used to be a very dangerous street for cycling.

Cyclist on bike lane. Black asphalt and white lines.

Two cyclists on city bike lane with yellow school bus on right side

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 2d

“next month“ 😱😱😱

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Lizzie O'Leary @lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 3d

This picture is from 1992 in LA and using it in this post and story shows terrible news judgment.

CNN @cnn.com · 3d

"President Donald Trump and his top aides are using the word 'insurrection' more frequently to describe anti-ICE protests in places like Portland," writes Zachary B. Wolf. https://cnn.it/4pWYmzr

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 3d

„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.“

ACLS Statement Regarding White House “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”

ACLS stands firmly against this latest White House effort to divide faculties by giving special privileges to students in “hard science programs” and its demand that institutions abolish “units that p...

www.acls.org

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 3d

I wrote about the “compact” for higher education

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

2/2 refuse to discuss joining the compact offered by the federal government. Contents … include matters of best practices in higher education with which we are always engaged. But the very existence of this compact is a threat to the values of academic freedom to which we are all committed.“

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

1/2 „The College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has always put basic principles of academic freedom at the center of its work. This value was underscored in the A&S Statement on Academic Freedom of April 2025. Therefore, we ask that the interim
president, the rector, and board of visitors

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

At an emergency all-school meeting of UVa’s College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the following statement (drafted by the school‘s Committee on Academic Freedom) was approved with 97% in favor:

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

I’ve also heard instances of this at UVa: well-qualified faculty members who want to teach topics of great current interest and importance are being discouraged from doing so because it feels risky.
It’s truly a shame.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 5d

I was told not to teach a class on the intellectual histories of Zionism and Anti-Zionism next year - not because they doubted I could teach it fairly, but because it would attract too many politicians scrutinizing the syllabus.

A society where that is a valid fear is no longer fully democratic.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

A statement by 211 concerned faculty on the presidential and provost search committees

As members of the faculty, we remind the Board that, at the end of the day, an academic community is an exercise in shared governance for the good of the whole.

www.cavalierdaily.com

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

For anyone at UVa who hasn’t seen this yet! “Universities’ only proper response to this “compact”…is to offer absolutely nothing. There is no revised version of this compact…compatible with the independence of universities and their continuing vitality as venues for free speech and free inquiry.”

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 6d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Daniel P. Moriarity @dpmoriarity.bsky.social · 6d

Dartmouth response to the Trump Administration Compact

president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...

Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President

president.dartmouth.edu

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

Yes, yes, yes.

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 7d

News coverage of the Trump administration's proposed "compact" with universities has been, so far, shockingly bad.

I hate to pick on NPR reporter Elissa Nadworny, who's usually a solid reporter, but almost every important thing I heard her say this morning about the proposed "compact" was false.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

Student sign: UVA CANNOT BE BOUGHT.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

And the University of Virginia faculty senate passes a resolution opposing the “Compact” sent to our interim president by the Department of Education. Lots of students in the room with signs opposing the compact (like “protect free speech”). 60 in favor; 2 opposed.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

University of Virginia faculty senate passes a resolution to delay the search for Provost until the tenth President of the University is in place. 59 in favor; 6 opposed. Tons of students in the room.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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