Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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AAUP chapter @UT Austin @utaustinaaup.bsky.social · 3h

Trump’s H-1B Visa Fee Could Strain Universities and Schools

“It’s not patriotic,” Dr. Botstein said. “It harms the economy and has nothing to do with excellence.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Trump’s H-1B Visa Fee Could Strain Universities and Schools

www.nytimes.com

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AAUP chapter @UT Austin @utaustinaaup.bsky.social · 2h

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“The carrots serve to lure institutions of higher learning into a dark alley where, rather than just waiting with a big stick, the government can put a gun to their heads at any time.”

US universities must reject Trump’s ‘compact’. It is full of traps | Jan-Werner Müller

The administration is trying to make nine universities an offer they seemingly cannot refuse

www.theguardian.com

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United Academics @local6741.bsky.social · 2h

Sign and pass on!

AAUP @aaup.org · 22h

NO LOYALTY OATHS IN HIGHER ED!

Trump's attacks on our universities are an attempt to consolidate power. This loyalty oath directly undermines our right to academic freedom & goes against every democratic principle our country should uphold.

Please click below, sign, & share.

#DefendHigherEd

University Administrations: Reject Trump's "Loyalty Oath" Compacts

The Trump administration is trying to blackmail schools to let him and his unqualified bureaucrats run our schools. They want to dictate what schools teach, who they admit and hire, what researchers s...

actionnetwork.org

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AAUP @aaup.org · 22h

NO LOYALTY OATHS IN HIGHER ED!

Trump's attacks on our universities are an attempt to consolidate power. This loyalty oath directly undermines our right to academic freedom & goes against every democratic principle our country should uphold.

Please click below, sign, & share.

#DefendHigherEd

University Administrations: Reject Trump's "Loyalty Oath" Compacts

The Trump administration is trying to blackmail schools to let him and his unqualified bureaucrats run our schools. They want to dictate what schools teach, who they admit and hire, what researchers s...

actionnetwork.org

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Isaac Kamola @isaackamola.bsky.social · 1d

Great piece @insidehighered.com by Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg about the considerable threats posed by Trump's (extortion) "compact" with 9 universities. @aaup.org

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

A Compact for Control (opinion)

No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write.

www.insidehighered.com

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AFT Connecticut @aftct.bsky.social · 2d

"We are living through a multi-decade moral panic that’s been manufactured against higher education." @aaup.org @isaackamola.bsky.social

Panelists sound alarm about state of academic freedom at Democracy Project event

At Friday’s event, four panelists discussed current threats to academic freedom.

www.browndailyherald.com

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AAUP @aaup.org · 1d

Michel DeGraff, a tenured professor of linguistics at MIT, discusses how his proposal to teach a class on language & decolonization in Haiti, Israel, and Palestine was denied. He faced significant repercussions: he was removed from his department, had a pay raise withheld, and his salary frozen.

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AAUP @aaup.org · 1d

Danny Shaw, formerly a professor at John Jay College, reveals that he was fired after being targeted by the ADL, StopAntiSemitism, and Canary Mission. He explains how these organizations orchestrated a doxxing campaign land attempted to discredit his scholarship due to his advocacy for Palestine.

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Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Ed @sfndhe.bsky.social · 2d

As states like Florida and Texas gut tenure protections for university faculty, many assume the greatest loss is to academic freedom. But tenure is not just about academic freedom. It also is, and has always been, about labor protection.
@aaup.org @afthighered.bsky.social @lawcha.bsky.social

The Real History of Tenure

If academics want to protect the idea of tenure, they need to understand how and why it became the norm.

time.com

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AAUP @aaup.org · 4d

AAUP President Todd Wolfson unpacks the dangerous consequences of the Trump administration’s compact, which aims to exert ideological control over universities and colleges. As Wolfson makes clear, this partisan incursion into higher education affects ALL sectors.

@proftwolf.bsky.social

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AAUP @aaup.org · 4d

“Trump’s restrictions on H-1B visa applications will lead to less lifesaving research, reduced innovation, & diminished competitiveness. This short-sighted policy will hurt every American by slowing research breakthroughs, weakening our economy & putting our global leadership at risk.”
—Todd Wolfson

Groups File Suit Over Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee

www.nytimes.com

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Dan Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 4d

Dwayne has his job back because we organized for it. We fight or we die. Join AAUP today www.aaup.org/join

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AAUP @aaup.org · 4d

✊🏼✊🏾✊🏻✊🏿

When we fight, WE WIN!

North Carolina Conference of the AAUP @ncaaup.bsky.social · 4d

UNC Chapel Hill has reinstated Prof. Dwayne Dixon.
Rather than conduct a threat assessment of a faculty member based on spurious accusations, UNC should conduct an assessment of its own administration's threat to First Amendment rights and academic freedom. @aaup.org
www.wral.com/news/local/u...

UNC professor reinstated after investigation into alleged ties with politically motivated group

UNC-Chapel Hill has reinstated a professor who was linked to groups believed to call for politically motivated violence. An investigation found that Dwayne Dixon posed no threat to the campus communit...

www.wral.com

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AAUP @aaup.org · 4d

AAUP President Todd Wolfson and AFT President Randi Weingarten on Trump’s Loyalty Pledge for Colleges and Universities.

Now is the time to unite in defense of democracy and higher education!

Read full statement below 👇

@aft.org
@proftwolf.bsky.social
@rweingarten.bsky.social

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AAUP @aaup.org · 5d

Say NO to Trump’s loyalty oaths and extortion of our universities!

We will NOT throw our students, faculty, and staff under the bus to comply with undemocratic and partisan ideological agendas.

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Todd Wolfson @proftwolf.bsky.social · 5d

Check out me & @chenjerai.bsky.social & Lorena Grundy of @aaup-penn.bsky.social break down the new Trump compact for higher ed…. Otherwise known as loyalty oaths. This is AAUP TV. @aaup.org @aft.org @higheredlabor.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/RB1FLkR...

Breaking Down Trump's New Higher Ed Loyalty Oath Compacts and Why We Must Resist

YouTube video by TheAAUP

www.youtube.com

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United Academics @local6741.bsky.social · 6d

Huge win for us!

It is your support that enables these victories.

Become an @aaup.org member today & help us carry on the fight against the Trump admin's attacks on higher ed.

AAUP @aaup.org · 7d

BREAKING: WE WON!!!
💥 💥 💥

Federal Judge William G. Young ruled today in our lawsuit against the Trump administration that the policy of arresting, detaining, & deporting noncitizen students & faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the 1st Amendment.

Full ruling here:

Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #261 in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-10685) – CourtListener.com

Judge William G. Young: ORDER entered. FINDINGS OF FACT AND RULINGS OF LAW, PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 52(A)(Sonnenberg, Elizabeth) (Additional attachment(s) added on 9/30/2025: # 1 Main Document) (J...

www.courtlistener.com

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United Academics @local6741.bsky.social · 15d

This is really important. Be sure to check it out!

AAUP @aaup.org · 16d

🚨🚨🚨
NEW AAUP Report Analyzes Trump Admin Weaponization of Title VI
to Undermine Civil Rights Protections.

#Academicfreedom
#AcademicSky
#DefendHigherEd

On Title VI, Discrimination, and Academic Freedom

This report considers how Title VI has been used to create an enforcement apparatus that sidesteps long-established AAUP-recommended procedures of shared governance and offers recommendations for facu...

www.aaup.org

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Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD @arghavansallesmd.medsky.social · 7d

I joined AAUP because I saw they were one of the few organizations taking a stand. They also organized the lobbying trip I took to DC a couple of weeks ago. If you’re an academic, supporting them is good use of our money.

AAUP @aaup.org · 7d

BREAKING: WE WON!!!
💥 💥 💥

Federal Judge William G. Young ruled today in our lawsuit against the Trump administration that the policy of arresting, detaining, & deporting noncitizen students & faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the 1st Amendment.

Full ruling here:

Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #261 in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-10685) – CourtListener.com

Judge William G. Young: ORDER entered. FINDINGS OF FACT AND RULINGS OF LAW, PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 52(A)(Sonnenberg, Elizabeth) (Additional attachment(s) added on 9/30/2025: # 1 Main Document) (J...

www.courtlistener.com

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Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 7d

⬇️ NEWS: “This is a historic ruling that should have immediate implications for the Trump administration’s policies. If the First Amendment means anything, it means the government can’t imprison people simply because it disagrees with their political views."
knightcolumbia.org/content/in-l...

In Landmark Ruling, Federal Court Says Trump Administration Violated First Amendment By Deporting Foreign Citizens for Pro-Palestinian Advocacy

knightcolumbia.org

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Phil Rocco @philiprocco.bsky.social · 7d

Goes without saying that it’s a very good day to join @aaup.org. In light of the amazing work our organization does at defending bedrock democratic values and institutions that are under attack, the monthly dues pay for themselves many times over.

Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 7d

WE WON: "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall w/in..this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in US..have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.”"

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AAUP-CSU @aaupcsu.bsky.social · 7d

Again and again over the past six months, the AAUP has shown that the key to fighting back against injustice and executive overreach is ... fighting back!
There has never been a better time to join AAUP and help protect free speech at all US Universities. When we unite and fight, we win.

AAUP @aaup.org · 7d

BREAKING: WE WON!!!
💥 💥 💥

Federal Judge William G. Young ruled today in our lawsuit against the Trump administration that the policy of arresting, detaining, & deporting noncitizen students & faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the 1st Amendment.

Full ruling here:

Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #261 in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-10685) – CourtListener.com

Judge William G. Young: ORDER entered. FINDINGS OF FACT AND RULINGS OF LAW, PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 52(A)(Sonnenberg, Elizabeth) (Additional attachment(s) added on 9/30/2025: # 1 Main Document) (J...

www.courtlistener.com

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Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 7d

WE WON: "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall w/in..this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in US..have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.”"

33 650 2.5K

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Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 7d

If Harvard bows down to this lawless president, it will cover itself in shame and betray its motto “Veritas.”

Don’t pretend to stand for truth if you’re going to surrender to this bully. Appeasement only feeds the beast and puts us all at greater risk.

Trump Says a Deal With Harvard Is Close

www.nytimes.com

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North Carolina Conference of the AAUP @ncaaup.bsky.social · 7d

UNC CH Chapter & NC AAUP statement re Prof. Dwayne Dixon: @aaup.org

AAUP NC and UNC-Chapel Hill AAUP condemn the egregious violation of Professor Dwayne Dixon's First Amendment rights to free speech and free association, his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, and his academic freedom. 1/

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