University of California is holding its annual survey of undergraduates. It surveys on several subjects, including "campus climate for diversity and inclusiveness". This is especially important for disabled undergrads to weigh in on, IMO. If there are freeform comment fields, make sure to fill them with anything you want them to know that they're NOT asking you about.
Fellow academic colleagues: please get involved in shared governance at your institution. I know, that kind of service takes up your time and is often thankless, but it is crucially important. And it is on the verge of extinction at many places. The rug is being pulled out from under us while we go about our teaching and research.
If we value our work in #HigherEd we have to do the work to make the institution a place that is fair, equitable, and just.
This excerpt from a DEI survey shows the attitude: In their view, it's not up to the university or the department to do the work to be as accessible as they can be by default (highest common denominator accessibility). It's up to the disabled person to take on the labor of fighting for our rights and they'll "accommodate" us if we take it up the chain (they don't).
Even the word "accommodation" betrays that they like inaccessibility to be the norm, from which they may occasionally deviate if you do the work, fill out the forms, and beg.
At Columbia University and elsewhere, law enforcement is displaying a growing militarization when it's sent in against protesters, according to a criminal justice historian
The president of #Barnard College lost a faculty-wide vote of no confidence on Tuesday, as criticism mounts over the school’s response to a pro- #Palestine 🇵🇸 encampment
It is the first no confidence vote against a president in the college’s history.
What will change for academic institutions as the climate crisis is increasingly not some far-off future, but happening now? And are we preparing our students for these uncomfortable conversations?
"With calls for divestment only growing louder, we asked students nationwide to share how their schools have responded to protests calling for a ceasefire and in support of #Palestine"
#Marquette University's administration is falsely blaming budget cuts on unavoidable headwinds (inflation; enrollment cliffs), when instead the money has been irresponsibly spent on underfunded initiatives, buildings and more buildings, and just plain mismanagement, above all a focus on shiny things rather than the core university mission.
Boards of Trustees have been fundamentally failing in their oversight responsibilities.
The documentary "Berkeley in the Sixties" is a must-watch for how student activism revulsed the rich white supremacists in this country, making them slash education funding.
Open letter from North American academics condemning scholasticide in #Gaza
If that's you, please consider signing
"“[T]hree university presidents have been killed in the Israeli attacks, along with more than 95 university deans and professors [...] Meanwhile, 88,000 students have been deprived of receiving their university education"
Statement by #USCAAUP on the #USC administration's decision to cancel 2024 valedictorian Tabassum's commencement speech:
"By casting aside the achievements and USC’s own recognition of such an acclaimed student, the USC administration does not merely create a chilling effect on the academic freedom of the entire USC community. It actively strangles it."
Yet another project we cannot prioritize highly enough with our limited spoons:
Track the % of times newspapers cover University and HS sports vs the % of times they cover actual important education issues at the same institutions and with the same level of long-term interest and detail.