Together

From the UCLA Newsroom: The 24 educators from the Middle East arrived at UCLA with two objectives: to share their experience building school communities where students can thrive amid turmoil, and to immerse themselves in the innovative centers of learning that Los Angeles has to offer.

The delegation came from the Amal Educational Network, which enrolls 30,000 students representing Jewish, Muslim, Druze, Christian and Bedouin communities across Israel. The network prioritizes academic excellence in settings that build personal resilience, civic responsibility and democratic values that bridge cultural divides.

“These schools are building peace through education. And so far, the data show it is working, even during war,” said Ron Avi Astor, professor of social welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, who has a joint appointment with the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies (SEIS). Astor organized the May 31–June 7 educational exchange in partnership with Mona Khoury, professor and vice president of strategy and diversity at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Karen Tal, superintendent and CEO of the Amal network.

A long-term research project led by Astor and Khoury is measuring the impact of the network’s 50 middle and high schools, and how its model can be scaled up across the Middle East. These case studies highlight Amal’s holistic curriculum weaving core academic subjects together with the arts, cutting-edge technology and volunteerism. It’s a formula that brings students of different backgrounds together more effectively than one-off cultural events or dialogues, the researchers found.

The visiting principals and professionals came from the Jewish, Muslim and Druze communities, but their schools represent the rich diversity of cultures across Israel. They shared challenges and success stories that held lessons not just for schools in conflict zones but for any campus seeking to create a stable and supportive climate free of violence, bullying and bias.

One case study focused on a remarkable partnership between two schools: Achva Gilboa, which is largely Arab Muslim, and Emek Harod, which serves students from Arab Muslim and Christian communities, secular and Orthodox Jewish traditions, and kibbutzim.

The schools host joint classes that bring students and teachers together on robotics projects, 3D printing and hackathons, and a documentary filmmaking option offers students the opportunity to express feelings of identity and belonging. Problem-solving with the most sophisticated technological tools draws students together, no matter what their backgrounds are, the educators said.

Amal schools also address polarization within cultural groups. Different Palestinian Muslim communities have distinct traditions, for example, and at Achva Gilboa, hundreds of grandmothers have come to campus to speak about their values and rituals. Students are now visiting the villages they learned about through their elders.

Technology and science education are prized at Amal schools, and the delegation’s itinerary included several treks to hubs of innovation including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Getty Center, UCLA Lab School and Milken Community School.

In keeping with UCLA’s commitment to expand its global reach, the exchange invited leaders from schools across Southern California, as well as from groups including Holocaust Museum LA, Jewish Federation Los Angeles and the Holy Land Democracy Project, to join scholars and students in the cross-border dialogue.

Added Amal Falah, an administrator at an Amal school serving the Druze community, “We arrived as visitors and leave as partners in a shared mission: shaping a better future through education.”

“This was a transformative week,” Astor said as the exchange wrapped up. “These educators got to know each other as professionals, friends and partners in using their academic settings to educate the next generation toward peace rather than polarization, demonization and hate.”

The educational exchange grew out of research by Astor and Khoury into the cultural context of school safety — scholarship that has taken them around the world, to Asia, Africa, Europe, the Mideast and the Americas.

The current research project by UCLA, Hebrew University and Amal is powerful, Khoury said. “The principals are doing the hard work. We are highlighting how they got to where they are and where they go in the future, for others to learn from.”

The research is supported by the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, which also sponsored the UCLA educational research exchange along with Gary Jacobs, trustee of the Rose and James Meltzer Trust, UCLA Luskin, UCLA SEIS and an anonymous donor.

Source: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/building-peace-through-education-research-exchange-jewish-muslim-druze. [Photos in original.]

Straws in the Wind - Part 381

From the Dallas Morning Herald: All University of Texas System schools have complied with a 2023 ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices, according to a recent state audit. Many UT schools, including UTD, laid off staff, altered programming and restructured their offices to comply with the law when it first went into effect in 2024. Texas Senate Bill 17 prohibits public universities from having any DEI-related offices, trainings or hiring practices, but explicitly does not touch academic instruction or research. The law requires every school be audited for compliance at least once every four years. If a school is found non-compliant and does not rectify the issue within 180 days of the audit, then it is ineligible for state funding increases and other benefits...

The UT System was the second major university system to be audited for SB 17 compliance. In an audit of the Texas A&M University System last year, the state found the system’s Killeen location violated the law by working with a third party to “perform certain duties” of a DEI office. The university agreed with the finding and implemented a corrective action plan. The DEI ban is also enforced through the Office of the Ombudsman in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, where people can submit complaints about potential violations...

Full story at https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/ut-system-complies-diversity-equity-inclusion-ban-22301897.php.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 173 (Graduation Speech)

Graduation speech: May 2026:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAVp7i2MGE0. Alternate location: 

https://dn600309.us.archive.org/0/items/a-laugh-a-tear-a-mitzvah/%E2%80%9CListen%20Like%20You%20Might%20Be%20Wrong%E2%80%9D%20%20Harvard%20Student%E2%80%99s%20Graduation%20speech%205-2026.mp4.

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Transcript of a Harvard Commencement address at Harvard Yard on 28 May 2026 by Noah Eckstein:

My life begins with something that could be the start of a joke. And it goes like this. A Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew walk into a bar. I know historically the setup is a little bit dicey, but this time this time was a little bit different. This time the Christian married the Muslim and they had a daughter. That daughter grew up Christian until she met the Jew, converted to Judaism, married the Jew, and had a son. 22 years later, that son is standing here with all of you graduating from Harvard University. [applause] [cheering] [applause]

I am a proud Jew. I’m also the proud grandson of a Christian and the proud grandson of a Muslim. But that isn’t a contradiction in any sense of the word. It’s proof of a concept. And that concept is what I want to talk to you all about today. Because my family taught me something I think this world could really use right now, which is that the counter to division isn’t necessarily agreement. It’s understanding.

Our world today all the way from the global stage to right here at Harvard has been split into two sides. There are two sides to every story. Of course, only two sides. Two sides to every conflict, argument, disagreement, good and bad, give and take, right and left, progressive and conservative, capitalist and communist, oppressor and oppress, rich and poor, US and China, US and Russia, Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, Israel and Iran, US and Iran, US and Israel and Iran. All in binaries. At least they’re presented to us in terms of binaries.

Here’s this issue. What do you think? What side are you on? Come on. Where do you stand? Who do you stand with in my family? Well, my family wouldn’t exist with that kind of approach. My grandfather’s one, a Pakistani Muslim who grew up in the middle of the Indo-pakistani war of 1947. The other a Jewish refugee of the Holocaust, met many times over the course of their lives. As you might imagine, they disagreed on a great many things. And yet, one of the main memories I have of them growing up was seeing them sitting together at a coffee table, discussing everything under the sun.

And when they weren’t in close proximity, I remember hearing their voices over the phone as they called my parents, always remembering at the end of each call to ask about the other, how they were doing, what were they up to. Of course, there are many differences that they never resolved. But still, they acknowledged each other. They cared for each other. They stayed in contact and they debated with each other. Their vast disparity in life experience, viewpoints, ideology, faith, and beliefs a point of contention, yes, but not a point of division.

And yet, somewhere in between their generation and ours, something in the conversation shifted. The debates got louder. The noise got louder. The listening stopped. It got harder. On the news, on your timeline, at the dinner table, people speaking without listening. People arguing, having already decided their own allegiances. People debating not to listen, understand, or to learn, but to win, to humiliate, to be right. And somewhere along the way, the person sitting across the table stopped being a person and became an obstacle.

Now, some would say that there are in fact people in this world for whom understanding is neither owed nor even worth the attempt. People whose very irredeemable actions or beliefs place them beyond the reach of dialogue. People who indeed have become nothing more than obstacles to the greater good. And maybe that’s true. Well, my grandfathers survived the atrocities of war and worse. And they knew better than anyone that people can do monstrous things. They also knew the most terrifying fact of all which that the peoples doing those monstrous things, they were human. Not forgivable, not necessarily redeemable, but human. Terrifyingly so. And it’s precisely because of that human capacity that understanding them mattered. Dialogue still mattered. Not necessarily dialogue in the sense of extending grace or providing a platform but again understanding asking how did they get to this point? How did they reach this conclusion? Why do they believe this?

Asking these questions in this context holds a light up to the darkest parts of what it means to be human and as such we have to grapple with them. But such questions, necessary questions, important questions are not only reserved for the darkest parts of human history. If such questions of understanding, why do they believe this? If such questions of understanding matter that much at that extreme of humanity, how much more do they matter for the people sitting around you right now? For that family member at Thanksgiving that you stop bringing certain topics up around. For that person on the internet that says things from a viewpoint that seems kind of unimaginable sometimes. For that student in section that you smiled at once and said interesting point and then went back to your dorm and complained about to your roommate. Or for that one friend that you started to phase out because they said some things once that just didn’t sit quite right with you. Take about 8 billion of those people, put them together and you get our world.

Many of us who come to Harvard have dreams of changing the world, of leaving an impact. But you cannot change a world that you refuse to understand, to talk to. You cannot convince someone of something if you do not understand them first. Peace through understanding can survive conflict, while peace through agreement lasts only as long as everyone keeps agreeing. In most cases, understanding is difficult. Sometimes you have to fight for it. Sometimes you have to fight yourself and your own beliefs first before you can truly achieve it. It takes effort. My grandfathers knew that. But they chose to try anyway.

So, as we all go out into an increasingly troubled world and divided world, I want to leave you all with one simple practice. Whenever you meet someone you disagree with, state your case. Yes. Stand up for what you believe in. Absolutely. But also ask the other person about their beliefs. Ask them how they got there. Place yourself in their shoes and ask why do I believe this? Listen like you might be wrong. That is not a weakness or betrayal of your own ideals. That is the hardest and most important thing you can do in a world that is constantly telling you pick a side.

I told you my life begins like a joke. Well, my Muslim grandfather was buried facing Mecca. My Jewish grandfather was buried in accordance with Jewish law. My Christian grandmother was buried with the cross. In a way, the punchline never really came. There was no resolution to the setup. They were all very stubborn and they held on to their own ideals and traditions until the very end. But still they respected each other. They chose each other and at the end of the day they were proud to be of one family.

Look around you right now. Look at the people around you. The person to your right, the person to your left. You’re sitting now amongst people of every belief and every background. A family that we have built over the years here at Harvard. Do we agree on everything? Ask the section kid. Will we ever agree on everything? Certainly not. The world beyond these walls, it has all the same disagreements, the same differences of opinion, the same divisions that we have. But I urge you, see the people in your class for who they are as people. Fight to understand them and their beliefs just as much as you stand up and fight for your own. And after you walk through the gates of this yard for the first time as Harvard graduates, do the same for the people of our world. Because in a time this complicated and this divided, understanding and a genuine willingness to look a little bit deeper is how those divisions start to heal. Thank you all and congratulations to the class of 26. [applause]

Source: https://etcjournal.com/2026/06/02/transcript-of-noah-ecksteins-may-2026-harvard-commencement-address/.

Closed-Door Regents Meeting Today

TO THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA:

Because the membership of the Advisory Group on Research and Programs Funding Legal Issues (“Advisory Group”) includes five members of the Regents’ Governance Committee, there exists the potential for having present a quorum of a Regents’ Committee when the advisory committee meets.

This notice of meeting is served in order to comply fully with pertinent open meeting laws. On Tuesday, June 23, 2026, there will be a Closed Session, Special Meeting of the Regents’ Governance Committee concurrent with the Advisory Group to discuss Research and Programs Funding Legal Issues (Closed Session Statute Citation: Litigation [Education Code section 92032(b)(5)].)

The meeting will convene at 10:30 a.m. at 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland and adjourn at approximately 11:00 a.m.

(Advisory Group members: Regents Anguiano, Cohen, Hernandez, Matosantos, Milliken, Reilly, Robinson, Sarris, and Sures)

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Source: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/june26/meeting-notice_federal-june-23-2026.pdf.

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You're not invited.  

When is it over?

From Higher Ed Dive: Dozens of higher education institutions may have been hit by another attack from the cybercrime group behind the May hack against Canvas, according to the Google Threat Intelligence Group and cybersecurity firm Mandiant.

From May 27 and June 9, the group ShinyHunters potentially gained access to the systems of over 100 organizations by targeting the Oracle PeopleSoft software suite. A majority of them are based in the U.S., and 68% are within the higher education sector...

ShinyHunters twice gained unauthorized access to Instructure’s Canvas learning management system last month, disrupting final exam season at colleges nationwide...

Colleges are a prime target for cybercriminals, both because they hold vast troves of student and employee data and because their systems typically have a massive number of users that turn over regularly...

Full story at https://www.highereddive.com/news/colleges-hit-in-cyberattack-by-group-behind-canvas-breach-google-says/822831/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 380

From CNYhomepage.com: Syracuse University’s chancellor says the school is facing a budget deficit after falling short of its undergraduate enrollment target for the upcoming academic year. J. Michael Haynie, the university’s chancellor and president, said in an email to faculty and staff Thursday that the institution will not meet its undergraduate enrollment goal for fall 2026, citing several challenges impacting higher education institutions nationwide. “Since the start of this decade, enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities has meaningfully declined,” Haynie wrote in the message. He added that the number of 18-year-old high school graduates peaked last year and is expected to continue declining over the next 15 years.

University leaders say Syracuse is also facing increased competition for students as colleges across the country work to attract a shrinking pool of applicants. The university also reported a decline in international undergraduate and graduate applications, attributing the drop to visa difficulties, geopolitical pressures and disruptions in federal policies. With undergraduate tuition serving as Syracuse University’s primary source of revenue, officials say the enrollment shortfall will result in a budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year — something the university said it has not experienced in years...

Full story at https://www.cnyhomepage.com/news/syracuse-university-facing-budget-deficit-as-enrollment-numbers-fall-short/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 172

From the Harvard Crimson: All Harvard College staff are expected to be required to be in the office five days a week beginning this fall as part of a sweeping staff restructuring in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, according to an FAS staff member familiar with the matter. The staff member said some employees were informally told of the change by managers, but that official communication about the policy has not yet been sent to staff.

The FAS currently employs more than 2,000 staff. It is unclear how many would be affected by the new policy, particularly since some offices support both the College and other FAS schools. College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote in a statement that conversations around hybrid work are ongoing. The change comes as part of a broad staff reorganization that has been in the works for more than a year and that could result in up to a quarter of FAS staff being laid off. The change to College hybrid work is a signal that even staffers who keep their jobs will be affected by the restructuring...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/6/19/college-staff-office-requirement/.