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Adrienne Wood

@adriennewood.bsky.social

1.3K followers 390 following 120 posts

Social Psychology. Emotion, interpersonal behavior, conversation, social networks. I'm a dabbler, so if you love poorly-made arts and crafts or amateur improv, I'm your gal! https://emotionbehavior.com (Opinions are my own, not my employer's)

emotionbehavior.com

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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 20h

New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social

Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.

Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.

www.msnbc.com

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 21h

This student journalist for the Cav Daily nails it. www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

If it seems that this Compact is merely a formal declaration of the culture war the Trump administration has waged for the past year, or even the terms of peace, do not be deceived. By putting all of the administration’s demands into writing, and very subjective writing at that, the Trump administration has grounds to revoke federal funding whenever they view the University in violation of the Compact. This is not a legally binding document — there is no protection for the University if the issuer fails to hold up their side of the bargain. Federal funding is not guaranteed here, as it is reliant on an extremely movable goalpost. Giving in now will be held over the University for years to come, and likely over whomever the new University president is.

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 1d

We do have a union @ucwva.bsky.social but I don't think we yet have legalized collective bargaining in VA

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 1d

bsky.app/profile/adri...

Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 1d

Oops compact for Academic *excellence, which clearly violates academic freedom 🫠

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 1d

Over 400 faculty and staff from the #uva College of Arts and Sciences convened for an emergency vote. 97% of eligible voters endorsed a resolution demanding President Mahoney refuse to consider the Trump admin's Compact for Academic Freedom!!

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Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 1d

Texas proudly invading Illinois.

It’s hard to describe the level of potential constitutional crisis here.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 3d

Resolution of the University of Virginia Faculty Senate (thus not institutional policy and entirely non-binding, but still inspirational):

Resolution Opposing the
"Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education"
WHEREAS the United States Secretary of Education has requested that the University of Virginia enter into a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education", and WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions antithetical to the mission and traditions of the University, and
WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions which endanger the independence and integrity of the University, and
WHEREAS the compact likely violates state and federal law, and infringes upon the constitutional rights of members of the University community, and WHEREAS the University of Virginia exemplifies American academic values of the highest standard, including universal right to free speech and the cultivation of academic freedom; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia firmly opposes this Compact as written and calls upon Interim President Mahoney and the Board of Visitors to also reject this Compact outright as well as any similar proposal compromising the mission, values, and independence of the University.
Feature Date:
Friday, October 3, 2025

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🎃 public HELLth guy 🎃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 6d

dear university presidents and boards: it won’t

tobias from arrested development telling lindsey “but it might work for us”

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Plenary Popehat Power @kenwhite.bsky.social · 3d

They are not, you know, actually sincerely against showing contempt for America or its values or its peoples. That’s the essence of their movement. What does MAGA mean other than America is no longer great? No, the demand for obeisance is only directed at certain people.

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 3d

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

Tweet from the VP:
Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been
overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most.
Yet she oozes with contempt.
My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much
happier person if you showed a little gratitude

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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 5d

As if irony isn’t already dead, the Hatch Act violation on the DOJ website, which blames Democrats for the shutdown, appears on the page advising DOJ employees they are subject to the Hatch Act. joycevance.substack.com/p/a-note-abo...

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

Shared with our faculty senate. I'll email it to you

Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

The evaluation of whether we're adherent will be done via a vibes-based poll of faculty, staff, and students.

The leadership of an academic institution is directly responsible for its strategy, success, and adherence to legal and governmental requirements. On an annual basis the university’s President, Provost, and Head of Admissions shall be required to certify the University’s adherence to the principles contained herein.
The university annually shall conduct, or hire an external party to conduct, an independent, good faith, empirically rigorous, and anonymous poll of its faculty, students, and staff, providing them the opportunity to evaluate the university’s performance against this compact. The results of such surveys shall be made public and available on the university’s website.
Adherence to this agreement shall be subject to review by the Department of Justice. Universities found to have willfully or negligently violated this agreement shall lose access to the benefits of this agreement for a period of no less than 1 year. Subsequent violations of this agreement shall result in a loss of access to the benefits of this agreement for no less than 2 years. Further, upon determination of any violations, all monies advanced by the U.S. government during the year of any violation shall be returned to the U.S. government. Finally, any private contributions to the university during the year(s) in which such violation occurred shall be returned to the grantor upon the request of the grantor.

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

I'm surprised this one won't be a dealbreaker for well-endowed UVA

Too many young adults have become saddled with life-altering debt that has affected, among other things, their ability to have a family or purchase a home. Universities have a duty to control their costs, including by eliminating unnecessary administrative staff, reducing tuition burdens, engaging in transparent accounting and regular auditing for misuse of funds, and cutting unnecessary costs. Signatories acknowledge that universities that receive federal funds have a duty to reduce administrative costs as far as reasonably possible and streamline or eliminate academic programs that fail to serve students. Towards this end, signatories to this compact commit to freezing the effective tuition rates charged to American students for the next five years.
Further, universities poorly equip students when they fail to inform them about likely life earnings for students’ chosen majors or admit students without the skills or support needed to succeed. Universities shall publicly post statistics about average earnings from graduates in each academic program and shall refund tuition to students who drop out during the first academic term of their undergraduate studies.
Signatories shall responsibly deploy their endowments to the public good. Any university with an endowment exceeding $2 million per undergraduate student will not charge tuition for admitted students pursuing hard science programs (with exceptions, as desired, for families of substantial means).

Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

And of course, this wouldn't be complete without an anti-trans statement that lacks both humanity and an understanding of human biology

Students shall be treated as individuals and not on the basis of their immutable characteristics, with due exceptions for sex-based privacy, safety, and fairness. Women’s equality requires single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, and fair competition, such as in sports. Institutions commit to defining and otherwise interpreting “male,” “female,” “woman,” and “man” according to reproductive function and biological processes. Otherwise, immutable characteristics, particularly race, do not permit unequal treatment, including in grading as well as access to buildings, spaces, scholarships, programming, and other university resources.

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

Throw in some anti-grade-inflation text so we have even more cudgels for hitting undesirable departments

Signatories commit to grade integrity and the use of defensible standards for whether students are achieving their goals, with each grade reflecting the quality, breadth, and depth of the student’s achievement. Signatories acknowledge that a grade must not be inflated, or deflated, for any non-academic reason, but only rigorously reflect the demonstrated mastery of a subject that the grade purports to represent. Signatories will use public accountability mechanisms to demonstrate their commitment to grade integrity, such as publishing grade distribution dashboards with multiyear trendlines, public statements that explain student outcomes and any unusual upward trends, and comparisons with peer institutions.

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

Clear destruction of academic freedom (and probably 1A): All university employees will "abstain from actions or speech relating to societal and political events". What are my colleagues in, say, political science supposed to teach??

Signatories shall maintain institutional neutrality at all levels of their administration. This requires policies that all university employees, in their capacity as university representatives, will abstain from actions or speech relating to societal and political events except in cases in which external events have a direct impact upon the university.

Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

Every department must incorporate a "broad spectrum of viewpoints"

Signatories commit to rigorous, good faith, empirical assessment of a broad spectrum of viewpoints among faculty, students, and staff at all levels and to sharing the results of such assessments with the public; and to seek such a broad spectrum of viewpoints not just in the university as a whole, but within every field, department, school, and teaching unit....

Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

Any department that is seen to "belittle" conservative ideas will be abolished

...Truth-seeking is a core function of institutions of higher education. Fulfilling this mission requires maintaining a vibrant marketplace of ideas where different views can be explored, debated, and challenged.
Therefore, signatories to this compact commit themselves to fostering a vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus. A vibrant marketplace of ideas requires an intellectually open campus environment, with a broad spectrum of ideological viewpoints present and no single ideology dominant, both along political and other relevant lines. 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. Given the importance of academic freedom to the marketplace of ideas, signatories shall adopt a policy protecting academic freedom in classrooms, teaching, research, and scholarship. ...

Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 5d

🚨 Some highlights from the "Compact for Academic in Higher Education" UVA is being pressured to sign. This is coming for everyone eventually. Some of it is so vague that it will be easy for them to fabricate violations and punish institutions accordingly. Screenshots below 🧵

Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 6d

UVA is on the list

Exclusive | White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage

An initial round of nine schools is being asked to sign a wide-ranging accord.

www.wsj.com

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 6d

UVA is on the list

Exclusive | White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage

An initial round of nine schools is being asked to sign a wide-ranging accord.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by Adrienne Wood

Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 7d

I wrote about Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein, why swallowing live frogs is a bad idea, and how context and history can release you from bright-kid syndrome, the illusion that you yourself are going to have every answer or fix the world.

You don't have to swallow frogs

Klein and Coates show that if you don't know what your core beliefs are, you're going to get played.

degenerateart.beehiiv.com

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jfmmpdx.bsky.social @jfmmpdx.bsky.social · 10d

Just in case you’re wondering, I have a view of Portland’s “war-ravaged” ICE office from my bedroom window (see large tan building in the middle of first picture; second picture is of the area to the east of ICE). This is both absolutely absurd and terrifying escalation from the administration.

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Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 11d

Heads up that the NSF #GRFP guidelines suddenly changed and now only current first-year grad students are eligible...my second-year student who intentionally waited to maximize her chances is devastated, as countless others will be. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 13d

The richest man on earth owns X.

The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok.

The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.

See the problem here?

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