Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 23h

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

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

9 180 500

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 23h

Pre-order The Public Scholar here. Pay zero shipping from @bookshop.org.

I tried to write it real good for you!

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

The Public Scholar: A Practical Handbook

A Practical Handbook

bookshop.org

4 17 34

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Mary Anne Franks @maryannefranks.bsky.social · 1d

"Academic freedom policies came from faculties, not the government. Governments are the enemies of academic freedom, not their protectors." Brilliant piece by @sivav.bsky.social about the Trump administrations' latest effort to censor universities 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

1 31 60

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 2d

"No institution that is committed to the free pursuit of knowledge should submit to the degradation of autonomy and academic freedom contained in it." @acls1919.bsky.social statement on the White House "compact" proposed to universities. www.acls.org/news/acls-st...

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

2 38 69

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 4d

@postopinions.bsky.social Ed Board could more accurately state its position on the “contract” w/universities by saying that it partially sympathizes with, or supports, the idea of compelling sweeping changes to university policy for ideological purposes (or that the board is partly pro-censorship).

To start, much of what's in the contract sounds fine: Universities must agree to cut
administrative costs, use objective tests for

1 4 4

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 4d

(And, of course, that’s before we get into the list of specious assumptions in ideological code (e.g., “preferential treatment,” “objective measures”) about why universities allegedly need to be brought to heel.)

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 4d

@postopinions.bsky.social Ed Board could more accurately state its position on the “contract” w/universities by saying that it partially sympathizes with, or supports, the idea of compelling sweeping changes to university policy for ideological purposes (or that the board is partly pro-censorship).

1 4 4

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

A potentially historic example of how manufacturing misinformation about universities is a reliable path to power and influence right now—and why that animus against universities is a symptom of broader threats to vital systems of public information + collective senses of fact, truth, and meaning.

25 69

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

Part of the tragedy here (in an intellectual sense) is this won’t even register as a “free speech” issue for “heterodox” + “viewpoint diversity” groups . . . bc it involves true assaults on 1A rights rather than isolated anecdotes about protests at a statically tiny number of campus speaking events.

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

“…the government assigned a special team to target Ozturk and other pro-Palestinian activists, laying the groundwork for their highly unusual arrests.”

U.S. used a transnational crime unit to secretly target campus protesters

A Tufts University graduate student was among those targeted after the Trump administration created a “tiger team” to investigate pro-Palestinian activists.

www.washingtonpost.com

1 5

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 6d

Honestly the perfect coda to the cancel culture panic is one of its biggest promoters being actually so thoroughly uncanceled/unsilenced that she assumes the helm of a major news network

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 6d

Bari Weiss is set to be named the editor in chief of CBS News, the New York Post reports

Paramount Skydance is poised to name Bari Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News in the coming days — giving the hard-charging journalist unusual clout to revamp the struggling network as it also acquires her scrappy news site the Free Press, The Post has learned.

Weiss — a 41-year-old former New York Times opinion writer who has built the Free Press into a buzzworthy site with a contrarian bent — is expected to be named to the top post in a Monday announcement, although the talks are in flux and the timing could change, a source close to the situation said.

9 83 350

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

Re-upping in light of the censorious, illiberal, unconstitutional “compact” with universities announced today…

#EduSky

www.chronicle.com/article/inst...

Institutional Neutrality Is Censorship by Another Name

Its recent vogue owes much to conservative think tanks.

www.chronicle.com

4 5

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

Re-upping in light of the censorious, illiberal, unconstitutional “compact” with universities announced today…

#EduSky

www.chronicle.com/article/inst...

Institutional Neutrality Is Censorship by Another Name

Its recent vogue owes much to conservative think tanks.

www.chronicle.com

4 5

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 6d

"This is extortion, plain and simple.... The only solution is solidarity and collective action against this effort at federal control over higher education."

A sobering analysis of the illegality of the administration's "compact" and its stakes for higher ed. 🎁🔗

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

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

www.nytimes.com

7 150 340

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

A potentially historic example of how manufacturing misinformation about universities is a reliable path to power and influence right now—and why that animus against universities is a symptom of broader threats to vital systems of public information + collective senses of fact, truth, and meaning.

25 69

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

Part of the tragedy here (in an intellectual sense) is this won’t even register as a “free speech” issue for “heterodox” + “viewpoint diversity” groups . . . bc it involves true assaults on 1A rights rather than isolated anecdotes about protests at a statically tiny number of campus speaking events.

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

“…the government assigned a special team to target Ozturk and other pro-Palestinian activists, laying the groundwork for their highly unusual arrests.”

U.S. used a transnational crime unit to secretly target campus protesters

A Tufts University graduate student was among those targeted after the Trump administration created a “tiger team” to investigate pro-Palestinian activists.

www.washingtonpost.com

1 5

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 6d

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

“…the government assigned a special team to target Ozturk and other pro-Palestinian activists, laying the groundwork for their highly unusual arrests.”

U.S. used a transnational crime unit to secretly target campus protesters

A Tufts University graduate student was among those targeted after the Trump administration created a “tiger team” to investigate pro-Palestinian activists.

www.washingtonpost.com

2 6 7

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 7d

Breaking News: The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

Demands sent to nine top schools included pledging to freeze tuition for five years and to commit to strict definitions of gender.

nyti.ms

160 310 520

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

AAUP @aaup.org · 7d

Introducing “Faculty on the Frontlines,” a new series from the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom that documents the stories of AAUP members!

Over the next 2 weeks, we will spotlight the stories of 10 AAUP members fighting to defend academic freedom.

Check out our teaser 🔥

1 36 51

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 7d

Judge Rules International Student Deportation Campaign Unconstitutional

The ruling chastises two federal departments for their “invidious” efforts to chill pro-Palestinian speech and declares unequivocally that noncitizens in the U.S. are entitled to the full... https://bit.ly/4nXqj8i

Protesters hold signs with Mahmoud Khalil's face on them to protest his arrest

5 5

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 8d

👇👇👇

David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 8d

COVER REVEAL AND PREORDER: The Public Scholar - A Practical Handbook.

"Perry focuses on the practical details of how to approach public scholarship. How do you pitch a piece to an editor? When should you follow or ignore the rules of the genre? And what happens once your piece is out in the world?"

The Public Scholar

A Practical Handbook

www.press.jhu.edu

1 1

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 9d

🙏

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 9d

Let’s all read @bradvivian.bsky.social instead:

Policies which promote equality, diversity & inclusion are GOOD for science; a few well-funded political thinktanks have flipped perceptions of this reality (ably helped by the “War on Science” crowd); facilitating actual state censorship of science

An Open Letter to the George Mason University Board of Visitors

My Request to the Board: Defend Free Speech and Academic Freedom by Rejecting State Censorship and Political Interference

bradfordvivian.substack.com

1 2

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 8d

In 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981. It ordered "that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin." 1/

www.archives.gov/milestone-do...

Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948)

EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. View All Pages in the National Archives Catalog...

www.archives.gov

1 3 6

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 8d

Judge Young: "This case ... squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally 'yes, they do.' 'No law' means 'no law.'"

This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court –- squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.” “No law” means “no law.” The First Amendment does not draw President Trump’s invidious distinction and it is not to be found in our history or jurisprudence. See Section III.A infra. No one’s freedom of speech is unlimited, of course, but these limits are the same for both citizens and non-citizens alike.

18 680 2.3K

Reposted by Bradford Vivian

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 8d

BREAKING: Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, delivers the most scathing legal rebuke of the Trump era, ruling that Trump and his cabinet illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation to "strike fear" into First Amendment protesters. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

61 2.1K 6.4K

Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 8d

The report also relied heavily on testimonials from military personnel that integrated forces not only strengthened military units but also provided models of trust and solidarity around shared values and goals.

1947.
1948.

4/4

1