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Michael S Roth
@msroth.bsky.social
850 followers 59 following 260 posts

President of Wesleyan University. (grand)father, husband, author, professor. Defender of academic freedom, liberal education and democracy.

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Michael Scott Roth is an American academic and university administrator. He became the 16th president of Wesleyan University in 2007. Formerly, he was the 8th president of the California College of the Arts (2000–2007), associate director of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, and Director of European Studies at Claremont Graduate University. He was also the H.B. Professor of Humanities at Scripps College, where he was the founding director of the Scripps College Humanities Institute. .. more

Psychology 30%
Philosophy 26%
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 8h
“America is now in a dangerous period, in which the president can order investigations and indictments against his enemies. Mr. Trump is criminalizing Americans’ ability to challenge their leaders.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
Opinion | Trump Disgraces American Justice
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 1d
“a shame that by throwing in her lot with the Ellisons, Rowans, Schwarzmans &[those]abetting Trump’s destruction of the American republic, Weiss is betraying the principles of decency &democracy she so..admirably struck a blow for in her resignation letter.” www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
Bari Weiss’s American fairy tale
Having sold The Free Press, CBS New’s new editor-in-chief may find herself in ideological jeopardy
www.newstatesman.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 2d
Henry J Farrell “The best defense… 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 | Where Trump Is Vulnerable and How to Act on It
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 3d
Bryan Stevenson is a national treasure: “We dishonor those who came before us if in this moment of crisis we remain silent...I don’t think it’s just unempathetic. I don’t think it’s just cowardly. I think it’s dishonorable.” @eji.org www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...
Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 4d
woke research by out of touch professors www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...
Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work in Quantum Mechanics
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 4d
"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 govert censorship on academia. It is anti-American, & it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise" @acls1919.bsky.social
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 4d
Looking forward to being back in San Francisco later this month Why Higher Ed Should Stand up to Trump, with Michael Roth www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2025-...
Why Higher Ed Should Stand up to Trump, with Michael Roth
Cutting billions in research grants. Detaining student activists. Threatening to cancel accreditation. President Trump’s attacks on colleges and universities have left them reeling. But rather than sp...
www.commonwealthclub.org
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Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 5d
Sounds like #HigherEd "lawyers who used to uphold the standards of the legal profession are compromising them to adapt to the Trump era" @aaup.org @aceducation.bsky.social @aacu.org @cato.org @chronicle.com @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social @mollyjongfast.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...
‘Bow to the Emperor’:We Asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency
www.nytimes.com
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Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 5d
How authoritarianism works: “But many of them..don’t want to speak on the record. These are people with stature…custodians of the American Bar….But now they’re worried about retribution, for their law firms or their family members, if they draw Trump’s ire” #highered www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...
‘Bow to the Emperor’:We Asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency
www.nytimes.com
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Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 7d
My take on Compact for Collaboration: “Federal funding for universities should never depend on a loyalty oath...The health of our democracy depends on the freedom to work with the federal government without having to follow the ideological dictates of those in power.” www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Nine Colleges in Hot Seat as Trump’s Sweeping ‘Compact’ Sparks Sharp Reactions
Universities weigh whether to sign on to the president’s operating principles in exchange for a funding advantage.
www.wsj.com
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Reposted by Christine Kooi

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 9d
Next phase of authoritarian attack on #HigherEd, loyal oaths in exchange for benefits @aaup.org @chronicle.com @insidehighered.com @thefireorg.bsky.social @aceducation.bsky.social @aacu.org www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 9d
Read @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social “Trump has initiated another era of American regression. He isn’t replacing D.E.I. with merit. He’s replacing it with sycophancy and malice.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
Opinion | Incompetence Isn’t an Upgrade Over D.E.I.
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 11d

Jonathan Biss “if we lose our capacity to focus deeply on music, we lose one of the greatest gifts we are granted as human beings. .. In our splintered, combustible world, this immersion is the path of most resistance, and a gift beyond words.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
Opinion | Too Many Dings and Beeps? Try Beethoven.
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 13d
Big news from @SusanSvrluga: The White House embraces affirmative action (for ideological loyalists) @aceducation.bsky.social @aacu.org @cato.org @aaup.org @thefireorg.bsky.social @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social wapo.st/3KqjcXB
wapo.st
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Reposted by Christine Kooi

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 13d
Marilynne Robinson “I think fear is hallucinogenic. If you allow yourself fear, the possibilities open and open and open because the fact is that in a certain sense, there is no safe place for a human being. It’s just not in the cards.” @nytopinion.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
Opinion | ‘The Idea of the Beautiful Is a Signature of God’: A Q&A With Marilynne Robinson
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 15d
Read @prof-peacock.bsky.social "the solution to our polarized moment is institutional punishment for unpopular speech. Rather, it’s more people — college professors in particular — who are willing to encourage principled engagement across ideological lines."
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/o...
Opinion | What I Learned as a Liberal Faculty Adviser for a Turning Point USA Chapter
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 15d
In #highered we call this ‘neutrality’ “Why are leaders in the media, law and finance failing to stand up more forcefully to what many inside these industries say are abuses of presidential power?

Fear is the most obvious answer.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/b...
Why Corporate America Is Caving to Trump
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 16d
“Civic organizations that engage in public affairs hesitate to get too political for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Universities, churches, NGOs, and law firms mute themselves to stay in the good graces of the state, which has tremendous…power over them” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
America’s Zombie Democracy
Its trappings remain, but authoritarianism and AI are hollowing out our humanity.
www.theatlantic.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 17d
Read @roxanegay.bsky.social “Nonviolence didn’t mean passivity. It was a strategy, intended to reveal the brutal contrast between the tactics of the oppressor and the experiences of the oppressed.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...
Opinion | Civility Is a Fantasy
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 17d
“The United States, created in opposition to monarchy, should never become a country where the president can order the indefinite imprisonment or the unilateral killing of people merely because he has deemed them to be criminals.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...
Opinion | America Is Blowing Up Boats and Asking Questions Later
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 18d
"Too many..Jewish organizations like the AJC & the ADL have cheered the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher ed in the name of “fighting antisemitism”, ignoring the way in which this crackdown is falling heavily on Jews deemed to have the wrong politics." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Judith Butler is being targeted by the US government. We must stand up | Joel Swanson
What is happening to Judith Butler – a Jewish intellectual – in the name of fighting ‘antisemitism’ is outrageous
www.theguardian.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 19d
“Integrity and grace are qualities we might cultivate in this season of peace, forgiveness, and education. The semester is young, and we have much to learn.
Shana tova!” www.wesleyan.edu/about/news/2...
Turning Towards Peace, Conversation and Learning
www.wesleyan.edu
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 19d
Suzanne Nossel “Whether it emanates from social justice warriors or right-wing influencers, the result of outsized consequences for speech is the same: a society deprived of open discourse and ruled by fear” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/o...
Opinion | The Dangers of ‘Consequence Culture’
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 21d
bsky.app/profile/msro...
adamserwer.bsky.social
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 22d
Free speech is when conservatives can say what they want and when you can say what they want. bsky.app/profile/tani...
taniel.bsky.social
Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 22d
So, a university president fired a professor because they taught a course that discussed there being more than two genders, and now the university president is being fired for not having fired the professor quickly enough, is where we're at. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 22d
Leaders of these sectors are practicing appeasement and complicity under the guise of neutrality time.com/7272520/appe...
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Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 22d
When educational leaders offer bromides about learning while ignoring the most serious assault on free speech and academic freedom in 100 years, are they being neutral or complicit? @theatlantic.com @lioneltrolling.bsky.social @aacu.org @aceducation.bsky.social @nytopinion.nytimes.com @chronicle.com
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Reposted by Melissa Johnson, Michael S. Roth, Dan Immergluck

adamserwer.bsky.social
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 22d
Free speech is when conservatives can say what they want and when you can say what they want. bsky.app/profile/tani...
taniel.bsky.social
Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 22d
So, a university president fired a professor because they taught a course that discussed there being more than two genders, and now the university president is being fired for not having fired the professor quickly enough, is where we're at. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...
Texas A&M President to Step Down After Controversy Over ‘Gender Ideology’
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 22d
Robert Corn Revere of @thefireorg.bsky.social "The saddest irony is the exploitation of Kirk, who advocated for free speech and died practicing it, as a pretext for censorship. So, of course, Constitution Day was a fitting occasion for Carr to trash the First Amendment. wapo.st/4gsUn9k
Opinion | The irony of Jimmy Kimmel’s ouster
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s brazen threats to broadcasters have no place in a free society.
wapo.st
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Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 25d
Justin Driver: “it is precisely when universities are most under siege that they must safeguard their core commitments.” The siege is well underway, and one can only hope that university leaders, faculty members and students will consult this worthy book." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/b...
www.nytimes.com
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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 26d
Read @jamellebouie.net We can mourn Kirk. We can send prayers to his friends and family. We can take stock of the gravity of this event. We can — and should — do all of this and more without pretending he was something, as a public figure, that he was not.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...
Opinion | Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.
www.nytimes.com
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