Systems of education and its discontents

Politics
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https://www.reuters.com/world/us/columbia-universitys-new-campus-patrol-officers-appointed-by-new-york-police-2025-04-04/

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The right’s 60-year war on higher education

Trump’s attacks on elite universities echo the right-wing playbook Ronald Reagan created nearly six decades ago

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/06/the-rights-60-year-on-higher-education/

I’m getting sick and tired of most links not one-boxing anymore.

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Again, I feel like lots of people in the STEM fields could have seen this coming, if they’d paid any attention to what happened to the humanities since 2008 (and before that)…

Nonetheless, science is the only way to generate the foundational knowledge that enables technology, medicine and an understanding of how the world works, that can be applied for the benefit of humanity. The knowledge uncovered by taxpayer-funded science underpins American innovation and exceptionalism.

Are the hard sciences the only means of understanding the world around us? :woman_shrugging: What about studying culture, historical events, etc?

Also…

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They really hate ‘coastal elites’.

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Universities in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thought giving in to government demands would save their independence

As a scholar of comparative and international education, I study how academic institutions respond to authoritarian pressure – across political systems, cultural contexts and historical moments. While some universities may believe that compliance with the administration will protect their funding and independence, a few historical parallels suggest otherwise.

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Yeah, see, who needs history, just a bunch of woke nonsense, right… not like it can offer guidance to us in difficult times or anything like that… better to spend all that money that funds historical education and give to AI companies… /s

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:rage:

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“1) Abolish all ideological litmus tests! 2) Establish new ideological litmus tests that favor us!”

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Hahhahahahah. We must start a DEI program, but this time a good patriotic one!

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First, on the new splashpage, Harvard publicizes how gov’t-funded scientific research benefits the general public. Headlines: “Regained mobility for stroke survivors,” “Lowering prescription drug costs,” “Keeping kids in school.” There’s barely a whisper about the humanities or social sciences here, but in my view, that’s OK–the point is to make the most compelling argument to the general public (not to represent the breadth of Harvard’s value). The FIRST link on the splashpage is labeled “Learn more about Harvard’s research funding.” Click that link, and you’ll access Garber’s letter. That’s followed by a pointed engagement with the federal threats to academic funding: what’s at stake, what Harvard has done to address anti-semitism, and links to news articles about the threatened defunding.

Back to the new splashpage: if you click on the first-level menu in the upper right corner, the first choice is “Academics.” Click there, and this phrase pops up: “Learning at Harvard can happen for every type of learner, at any phase of life.” The page then emphasizes Harvard’s openness and opportunities–including, prominently, online learning and the extension school. This is important because these aspects of Harvard are non-elitist (in some cases open literally to all) and genuinely affordable. The page also emphasizes financial aid. If you click “about” in the first-level menu, you will immediately see a link for “Diversity and Inclusion,” which leads to a robust page headlined “We All Belong Here.”

So to sum it up: the new website prioritizes these claims:

  1. Government-funded research (primarily scientific) serves the public. You–the website reader–benefit from it and would be hurt by its loss.
  2. Harvard is for everyone. You–the website reader–have a place here.
  3. Harvard will not back away from diversity and inclusion.

Check out the new website. Cruise around. It’s brilliant. It’s just what I hoped for.

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Can we at some point START making the case FOR the fucking humanities. :rage:

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Just so we are clear, this is not Chris Mooney’s book from years ago. It’s a rightwing rage fest. On the upside, it does give us a nice list of folks who can safely be ignored.

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5 arrested violently at NC Central University for holding a speak-out about dorm conditions.

Text of FB post

Umm friends if what happened yesterday at NCCU isn’t on your radar, allow me to bring it your attention.

North Carolina Central University is Durham’s HBCU. It is a great school and a great pride of Durham.

Yesterday, 4 students* and 1 faculty member were arrested on their own campus, by campus law enforcement, for holding a speak-out about the conditions in their dorms.

The speak-out and march through campus was student-led.

Its goal was to bring attention to issues with student housing - black mold, roaches, rodents, constantly breaking-down elevators, washers & dryers that don’t work, flooding in basements.

Admin says the speak-out was “unsanctioned.”

I mean … OK. And? So what? Since when do students of a public university need an official permit to express their views on their own campus? Ridiculous.

Admin says they were “outside agitators.” Sure. Watch my eyes roll. That is the oldest trope in the book: discredit a movement by calling folks “outside agitators.” As predictable as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

I was not at the speak-out or march, but I did talk with student organizers when I showed up to provide jail support.

According to the student leaders I spoke with, the arrestees were all affiliated with NCCU. They told me that *one of the people detained was not currently enrolled but was enrolled last semester and is still active with campus activities. They said others were students and a faculty member.

Students and a faculty member.

These are young people speaking out on their own campus about their living conditions on said campus.

Even if you do not believe the students — which you should, I do believe them, I was VERY impressed with them — tell me why a faculty member would be arrested. Make that make sense.

They were taken to the jail to go before the magistrate. After several long hours at the jail, they were released with a promise to appear in court.

None of their supporters were allowed into the [public, taxpayer-funded] waiting room to sit, warm up, or use the restrooms.

The “Durham 5”’s charges include:

— 2nd degree trespassing (ON THEIR OWN CAMPUS)

— resisting a public officer

— failure to disperse

I believe our Durham community, and all people of good will, should stand with these young people. The arrests were completely unwarranted.

All charges should be dropped.

Take a look at some stills from videos that keep getting taken down from social media. You will see that officers held these young people off the ground, pushed them in their faces, slammed them into the cement sidewalks and glass walls. One video apeared to show a particularly egregious action: a very petite (folks said, “tiny, about 100 pounds”) student being punched repeatedly in the head. But that video seems to have completely disappeared.

This was a disproportionate, inappropriate, unnecessary use of law enforcement.

All charges should be dropped. And these students deserve acknowledgement of what they were subjected to, and an apology. Likewise, the officers should be held accountable for their actions.

Link to donate for legal fees and other expenses in the comments.

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