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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Andy Orban @andyorban.bsky.social · 1d

Charlottesville, we can have this

Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social · 1d

Rode the new and still in-progress Court Street protected bike lane and it’s already a thing of beauty. Makes such a difference on what used to be a very dangerous street for cycling.

Cyclist on bike lane. Black asphalt and white lines.

Two cyclists on city bike lane with yellow school bus on right side

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 15h

“next month“ 😱😱😱

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Lizzie O'Leary @lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 1d

This picture is from 1992 in LA and using it in this post and story shows terrible news judgment.

CNN @cnn.com · 1d

"President Donald Trump and his top aides are using the word 'insurrection' more frequently to describe anti-ICE protests in places like Portland," writes Zachary B. Wolf. https://cnn.it/4pWYmzr

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 1d

„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 government censorship on academia. It is anti-American, and it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise.“

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

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote about the “compact” for higher education

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

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 1d

2/2 refuse to discuss joining the compact offered by the federal government. Contents … include matters of best practices in higher education with which we are always engaged. But the very existence of this compact is a threat to the values of academic freedom to which we are all committed.“

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 1d

1/2 „The College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has always put basic principles of academic freedom at the center of its work. This value was underscored in the A&S Statement on Academic Freedom of April 2025. Therefore, we ask that the interim
president, the rector, and board of visitors

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 1d

At an emergency all-school meeting of UVa’s College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the following statement (drafted by the school‘s Committee on Academic Freedom) was approved with 97% in favor:

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 1d

I’ve also heard instances of this at UVa: well-qualified faculty members who want to teach topics of great current interest and importance are being discouraged from doing so because it feels risky.
It’s truly a shame.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 2d

I was told not to teach a class on the intellectual histories of Zionism and Anti-Zionism next year - not because they doubted I could teach it fairly, but because it would attract too many politicians scrutinizing the syllabus.

A society where that is a valid fear is no longer fully democratic.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 2d

www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

A statement by 211 concerned faculty on the presidential and provost search committees

As members of the faculty, we remind the Board that, at the end of the day, an academic community is an exercise in shared governance for the good of the whole.

www.cavalierdaily.com

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 2d

For anyone at UVa who hasn’t seen this yet! “Universities’ only proper response to this “compact”…is to offer absolutely nothing. There is no revised version of this compact…compatible with the independence of universities and their continuing vitality as venues for free speech and free inquiry.”

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 3d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Janet Spittler

Daniel P. Moriarity @dpmoriarity.bsky.social · 4d

Dartmouth response to the Trump Administration Compact

president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...

Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President

president.dartmouth.edu

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

Yes, yes, yes.

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 4d

News coverage of the Trump administration's proposed "compact" with universities has been, so far, shockingly bad.

I hate to pick on NPR reporter Elissa Nadworny, who's usually a solid reporter, but almost every important thing I heard her say this morning about the proposed "compact" was false.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

Student sign: UVA CANNOT BE BOUGHT.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

And the University of Virginia faculty senate passes a resolution opposing the “Compact” sent to our interim president by the Department of Education. Lots of students in the room with signs opposing the compact (like “protect free speech”). 60 in favor; 2 opposed.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 4d

University of Virginia faculty senate passes a resolution to delay the search for Provost until the tenth President of the University is in place. 59 in favor; 6 opposed. Tons of students in the room.