Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1h

Got some coverage of our silliness from higher ed press.

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

1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 18h

You know it is serious when *checks notes* the AG announces a massive undercover operation to the groups that he is supposedly infiltrating. Serious people around here.

Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 19h

Obviously not the main point here, but it's interesting how this is framed as content rather than policy.

"BREAKING" is typically what journalists or influencers say when they have a big story -- not what government officials say when they launch "undercover" operations

1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 23h

Asked to write an oped for one of bigger papers and I always struggle with opeds. I have like one closing line I love and everything else is gibberish.

1

Reposted by Richard Price (they/them)

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

Yay! New publication is up. This is my first substantive output from my queer educational activism side gig. This explores three instances of straight backlash on 1990s college campuses as a means of digging into the idea of backlash and inclusion a bit more.

1 2 8

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 23h

Pretty much the perfect representation of Log Cabin Republicans. "I mean sure they hate me and want to see gay people wiped from the Earth, but I like lower taxes and hate non-white folk too so they get my vote!"

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 1d

I kind of can’t believe this Bari Weiss quote is even real, and yet www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...

“I know that there are some people in this room who don’t believe that my marriage should have been legal … and that’s ok. Because we’re all Americans who want lower taxes.”

2

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 23h

Fucking this! I want to put this on a sandwich board to wear around campus. Not a single one of these students has actually felt unsafe because of their ideology. They just don't like learning things that challenge it.

Audrey Truschke @audreytruschke.bsky.social · 1d

Feeling unsafe on campus.

This is a common claim by right-wing students at present. What they mean is they don't like learning about left-leaning ideas. But college is about being intellectually challenged; that's the point.

Hearing ideas you dislike poses no physical threat.

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 23h

This is Kirk's legacy. Students manufacture supposed fears, based on nothing apparent in the person's teaching just their assumed political views and scholarship, and drum up death threats against them.

Audrey Truschke @audreytruschke.bsky.social · 1d

A Rutgers professor has been forced to flee the country for his safety, after targeting by a far-right student group that was *checks notes* claiming they felt unsafe.

I'm horrified.
I'm angry.

A short 🧵 #AcademicFreedom #Rutgers #violence #antifa

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Rutgers professor moving to Europe after threats over antifa accusations

Mark Bray says threats intensified after a Turning Point USA petition accused him of promoting political violence

www.theguardian.com

6 17

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

I highly recommend having a fluffy belly next to you while grading. The belly rubs don’t make the grading quicker but it eases the annoyance.

1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

Until quite recently I still had my Borders reward card on my keychain.

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

My brain started to slot these two into an interesting narrative of straight students wanting the straight uni back. With some good details from the fee battles of the time, it all sort of fell into place (with wonderful help from the reviewers)

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

It was a fun story to lecture on but didn't provide enough of a hook for a paper. Then about 1 year later an archivist sent me a bunch of college group papers with the weirdest thing: a STRAIGHT group was organized at Penn State in the 1990s.

1 1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

This was fun because it was kind of a series of happy accidents that led to the paper. I first found an interesting legal battle in Alabama in the 1990s with great internal details. But what to do with it?

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

Yay! New publication is up. This is my first substantive output from my queer educational activism side gig. This explores three instances of straight backlash on 1990s college campuses as a means of digging into the idea of backlash and inclusion a bit more.

1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

We are now thanks to this drama at my uni.

1 2

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

Here's the official link, if you need a copy just email me. I'll sneak it onto my site soonish but don't tell the publisher.
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/M5CDN...

The straight college strikes back: 1990s backlash against inclusive campuses

In the literature on social change and rights, the backlash narrative plays an enormous role. Advocates of the backlash theory posit that judicial declaration of rights stimulate a backlash from po...

www.tandfonline.com

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

40 MB and a blazing 1MB of RAM. This machine shreds office work!

Retro Computers @retrocomps.bsky.social · 1d

Buy a portable and get a desktop free.

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 1d

Yay! New publication is up. This is my first substantive output from my queer educational activism side gig. This explores three instances of straight backlash on 1990s college campuses as a means of digging into the idea of backlash and inclusion a bit more.

1 2 8

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 2d

Well two thoughts are key here. First he collapses an ideological spectrum into a dichotomy. Second he ignores the difference between ideology and the government putting it into effect.

Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 3d

If we were living under fascism, none of you would be here daring to post things. You'd be erasing your social media accounts and keeping your head down; you'd know that peacocking your faux-bravery on a network would expose you to being disappeared.
You have no idea what "fascism" really means.

shane @mouthfulofcavities.bsky.social · 3d

the regime is zip tying toddlers and ripping them away from their mothers unclothed... calling it fascism upsets this neo-con.

1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 2d

Yep I received a kind note apologizing.

1 1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 2d

Me seeing your overly self-critical post.

homer simpson is looking out of a window with his mouth open and a carrot in his mouth .

ALT: homer simpson is looking out of a window with his mouth open and a carrot in his mouth .

media.tenor.com

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 2d

"I have to walk two feet out of my way, I am oppressed! Sterilize the poor so I never face this again."

Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 2d

Reading about Democrats who agree with Trump's plan to forcibly commit homeless people

1 2

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 3d

USA Today gave us some press. I could have done without being misgendered but otherwise it’s nice to see.

A university censorship conference gets censored? This is Trump's America. | Opinion

A Weber State University censorship conference was canceled after a state anti-diversity law led to – you guessed it – censorship.

www.usatoday.com

1 5 11

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 4d

A second try at responding to the demand for university censorship. Honestly they are just trying to dodge the real reason for the demand and I can't allow it to go by. adventuresincensorship.com/blog/2025/10...

Digging the Hole Deeper: Censoring the Discussion of Censorship — Adventures in Censorship

So I helped stir up a hornet’s nest with my public release about my university’s demand to censor speakers at a censorship conference. The University is not getting favorable press from the absurdit...

adventuresincensorship.com

1 5 10

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 5d

Fuck. My admin is trying to kill me. Followed up with their defense (and ignoring the most egregious censorship demand originally) of censorship. I have a job people, pulling apart these stupid defense that ignore the real reason - we are afraid of Republican legislators - is exhausting.

1 2

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 5d

I spoke with a satirist who is writing a column and he just laughed and said this may be the death of satire

1

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 5d

And this stupid talking point has been used forever. It's not censorship when we prosecute Ulysses for being obscene because you can just travel to France to read it. Like literally these people have never changed their fucking arguments.

1