W. Carson Byrd
@wcbyrdphd.bsky.social
4.1K followers 1.2K following 730 posts
Sociologist of higher ed inequalities & racism @ Michigan Probably staring at data instead of writing, but at least there’s a stack of books & articles beside me. More info: https://wcarsonbyrd.com
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Reposted by W. Carson Byrd
inthesetimes.com
Today would’ve been Fannie Lou Hamer’s birthday. In 1964, she asked a question that still echoes:

“Is this America… where our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings?”

inthesetimes.com/article/i-qu...
Fannie Lou Hamer addressing the Democratic National Convention, Atlantic City, New Jersey, August 1964. (United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division)
Reposted by W. Carson Byrd
victorerikray.bsky.social
The media trots out the "deplorable" comment from a decade ago to castigate the left. Once a week now Trump implies that the military should destroy democrats, and it is just how things are.
atrupar.com
Trump to the Navy: "We have to take care of this little gnat that's on our shoulder called the Democrats."
Reposted by W. Carson Byrd
adamserwer.bsky.social
If you’re white, your accomplishments are your own and you can resent and criticize the country all you like, but if you’re black and successful you should be grateful to white people for allowing you in their presence. bsky.app/profile/jess...
jessicacalarco.com
Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.
Tweet from the VP:
Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been
overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most.
Yet she oozes with contempt.
My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much
happier person if you showed a little gratitude
Reposted by W. Carson Byrd
kidadaewilliams.com
How could a man who never set foot in a library until he was in college create what is considered the most extensive online collection of global Black history?

Maybe it had something to do with the story Dr. Quintard Taylor's father told him when he was a young boy.

m.kuow.org/stories/reme...
Remembering Quintard Taylor: Historian of the Black West and beyond
Dr. Quintard Taylor taught history at the University of Washington and created BlackPast.org, an online collection of global Black history. He died Sept. 21, 2025, at the age of 76.
m.kuow.org
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jeffsharlet.bsky.social
It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.
Office of the President
Dear Dartmouth community,
 
As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” 
 
I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence. 
 
You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves. 
 
Best,
Sian Leah Beilock
President
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dem8z.bsky.social
Although it remains to be seen what effect it will have in the end, I was proud that the faculty senate at UVA voted to pass a “Resolution Opposing the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’.” Many students turned out brandishing signs that read “UVA CANNOT BE BOUGHT.”
Reposted by W. Carson Byrd
jwlockhart.bsky.social
I'm excited to share my new paper with a former student, Tommy Smith. "'This Work Would Not Have Been Possible without...': The Length of Acknowledgments in Sociology Books"

Open Access in @sociusjournal.bsky.social : doi.org/10.1177/2378...
Main figure from the paper. Violin plots showing the length of acknowledgments sections in books by sociologists, broken out by gender, race, sexuality, parents’ education, millennium of author’s PhD, and publisher type.
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chanda.blacksky.app
🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨
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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
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jessicacalarco.com
"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
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brendannyhan.bsky.social
So prestigious to be targeted by authoritarians!
pardoguerra.bsky.social
This is such an absolutely disgusting response to the proposed 'compact'. A board of regents/governors that acts this way is operating against the spirit of higher education.
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aresherman.bsky.social
🚨 New paper: Who climbs the Ivory Tower? 🏛️ Together with Nicolai Borgen and Astrid Sandsør (@astridsandsor.bsky.social), we find that the chances of becoming a professor differ enormously by family background. Here’s what we find 👇

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
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victorerikray.bsky.social
I spoke with @perrybaconjr.bsky.social and @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social about Trump and the emerging post-colorblind racial order. Also, it's my Substack debut, so if you are over there, hit me up.
Race and Racism in Trump 2.0 With Victor Ray and Hakeem Jefferson
Right Now With Perry Bacon
newrepublic.substack.com
Reposted by W. Carson Byrd
perrybaconjr.bsky.social
"This is a very race-conscious administration. It just happens to be the case that its policies, its prescriptions, its advocacy, its project is in service of whiteness. ...Whiteness is a race, too. It's also an ideology," says @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social. newrepublic.substack.com/p/race-and-r...
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cantb.bsky.social
I gave an interview on the impact of Trump’s H1-B policies on higher education. The interviewer identified me as a professor at Michigan State University. Reading the “compact,” I believe one possible interpretation is that I could be disciplined for the speech. www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...
Immigration policy meets higher ed
The Trump administration’s new $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for foreign workers could be a big problem for universities. Also on the show: the president’s latest tariffs.
www.marketplace.org
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anisekstrong.bsky.social
My Dept of History at W. Michigan University in Kalamazoo is hiring an Asst/Associate Prof in African American History. Please come join us! 2-2 load/generous research & travel funding, diverse & culturally lively community/ free college in MI for kids. ?s welcome. www.wmujobs.org/postings/4277
Assistant/Associate Professor - African American History - Tenure Track
Western Michigan University invites applications and nominations for the position of full-time tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor in the field of African American history to start August 20...
www.wmujobs.org
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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.
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mayasen.bsky.social
Incredible that they put this in writing
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tressiemcphd.bsky.social
People think they’re taking down a rich intellectual sinecure but they’re mostly terrorizing committed public servants who make $58,000 a year after 15 years of experience at a school that has to budget creatively so students can access textbooks.
emayfarris.bsky.social
This new column by @tressiemcphd.bsky.social makes me think about when I recently had to talk to the police for yet another safety plan, I tried to “lighten” the mood by saying that we all knew this wasn’t my first rodeo. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...
For at least the past 15 years, my colleagues in academia have grappled with angry letters to university officials for doing their jobs. They have weathered campaigns for their firing. They have contended with an internet army obsessed with doxxing them, their parents, their kids. I’ve been contacted by the F.B.I. more than once in my career. Not because I hold any important state secrets or know a biker gang but because one of my colleagues has lived with so much sustained harassment from right-wing “activists” that it has become a matter of federal concern. Watch lists (one of which was constructed by Kirk’s organization) do not distinguish between public intellectuals at wealthy enclaves and hoi polloi who teach popular classes at cash-strapped schools. In either case, an army of trained provocateurs stands ready to destroy their lives to prove their bona fides as conservative activists.