John Warner
@biblioracle.bsky.social
9.5K followers 1.4K following 3.2K posts
Writer, speaker, consultant. Chicago Tribune columnist, blogging at Inside Higher Ed. Coming soon, More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI. Previously: Why They Can't Write and The Writer's Practice. biblioracle.substack.com
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biblioracle.bsky.social
The Bari Weiss method for "success," explained.
biblioracle.bsky.social
Yes. How do you combat a belief that it's okay to put someone who doesn't know how to do the job in charge? I mean, look at the president. I can't forget a 2016 post-election survey where 20% of the people who said Trump wasn't qualified, voted for him anyway!
biblioracle.bsky.social
Calling The Free Press a "news organization" is itself a bit of a stretch. They publish very little news relative to the reams and reams of opinion and think pieces that they primarily traffic in. When they do attempt news, the impact is negligible.
maxtani.bsky.social
David Ellison’s note to staff on Paramount’s acquisition of the Free Press
biblioracle.bsky.social
The said truth about what's happening at Clemson and elsewhere is that as correct as these appeals to academic freedom and free speech are, the fact is that university boards, leadership and state level politicians do just want to shut faculty (and students) up. www.chronicle.com/article/who-...
Opinion | Who Will Clemson Censor Next?
We no longer know what speech will be tolerated or punished. The result: self-censoring and silence.
www.chronicle.com
biblioracle.bsky.social
I know this isn't the most important thought, but I always wonder how people can step into these jobs knowing they have no idea how to do them, but believing they'll succeed anyway. I think it means they don't think a job is the actual work so much as an appearance of working and they may be right.
Reposted by John Warner
perrybaconjr.bsky.social
Sidelining marginalized groups/causes for electoral purposes is morally bad, as Ta-Nehisi Coates argued so well recently. @anatosaurus.bsky.social is making an important case---that strategy's electoral benefits are often limited or non-existent. A must-read. www.weekendreading.net/p/bringing-a...
Bringing a Survey to a Gun Fight
“Pollingism” Has Failed Democrats and Voters. Here’s Why, and What to Do Instead.
www.weekendreading.net
Reposted by John Warner
jenniferberkshire.bsky.social
The fact that Democrats have a 10 point advantage over the GOP in Virginia on education shows just how wrong the national party/pundit takes on this issue have turned out to be. Virginia, of course, is where the narrative about the electoral power of school culture wars began
Reposted by John Warner
utaustinaaup.bsky.social
✴️When we say What Starts Here Changes The World, this is not what we should mean!
biblioracle.bsky.social
University of Texas leaping to the top of the rankings of higher ed institutions most eager to cozy up to the authoritarian, taking over the top spot from previous leader, Columbia University. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Reposted by John Warner
jamellebouie.net
the usual story. rich guy wants to punish universities for not clamping down on pro-palestinian protests and for doing too much to recruit minorities. at base these guys want the top tier of american universities to become, once more, safe-spaces for their dunderheaded failsons
The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities
www.nytimes.com
biblioracle.bsky.social
Any deal Harvard signs with Trump, no matter how favorable, is the end of considering them an independent entity operating in the traditions of higher education. The fact that Trump's billionaire buddy is the go-between is just an extra gross layer of crap on top. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...
Billionaire Trump Ally Emerges as Key Broker in Harvard Fight
www.nytimes.com
biblioracle.bsky.social
Just say no to digital necromancy. We have something much better from our important leaders from history, their actual speeches and writings, which can be discussed and debated. This is a tragic dumbing down. engagededucation.substack.com/p/just-say-n...
Reposted by John Warner
aaup.org
AAUP @aaup.org · 5d
The Trump admin’s offer to give preferential treatment to institutions that toe the party line reeks of bribery in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological agenda.

This is corruption.

Adherence to ‘loyalty oaths’ would usher in a new era of thought policing in American higher education.
Universities Must Reject Trump Admin 'Loyalty Oath' Compacts
The AAUP and AFT warn that the Trump administration’s offer to give preferential treatment to colleges and universities that court government favor in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological...
www.aaup.org
biblioracle.bsky.social
It does seem part and parcel with the broader program to punish blue states, though I'm not sure this will necessarily result in improvements for red states so much as less damage overall.
biblioracle.bsky.social
Don't sleep on Vanderbilt and Wash U. as contenders for the most favored institution of the regime. They've already clearly signaled a willingness to abandon their own dignity. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Chancellors Playing Footsie With Authoritarianism
But some people seem willing to give it away for a competitive advantage.
www.insidehighered.com
biblioracle.bsky.social
University of Texas leaping to the top of the rankings of higher ed institutions most eager to cozy up to the authoritarian, taking over the top spot from previous leader, Columbia University. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Reposted by John Warner
drannd.bsky.social
I think every academic in Texas has a story. Even if it is not direct censorship, the climate of fear on Texas is so real. The climate rewards staying quiet, speaking out becomes harder, the channels of dissent are narrower.
Reposted by John Warner
ryanenos.bsky.social
Somebody actually sat down and wrote these two sentences, one after another. www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/u...
Reposted by John Warner
benpatrickwill.bsky.social
"Through technological saviourism, the architects and vendors of AI tools will achieve the fortitude of moral conviction.... Their monopolistic grip over higher education will further constrict. And universities ... [will] fold into the arms of AI and its corporate beneficiaries."
Reposted by John Warner
donmoyn.bsky.social
Some schools will be starved of resources. Other schools will be offered bribes. The end goal is the same. To make the universities an extension of the Trump administration. Shame on any of these institutions willing to take the bribes.
Letters on Wednesday were going out to solicit agreement and feedback from Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, according to an administration official.
Reposted by John Warner
pamherd.bsky.social
This is all kinds of crazy. But the enforcement mechanism? Universities would hire an auditor to "conduct anonymous polling among faculty, students and staff to evaluate the university’s performance against the agreement" w/ results made public and reviewed by the Justice Dept.
Exclusive | White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage
An initial round of nine schools, including Dartmouth, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, are being asked to sign a wide-ranging “compact.”
www.wsj.com