Want of a Horse

Faithful blog readers who follow our coverage of Regents meetings, and public comments therein, will know that a brouhaha at Davis has developed over the discontinuation of the equestrian program there. From the Chronicle of Higher Education: 

This academic year, the women’s equestrian team at the University of California at Davis completed a dominant season, winning all five of its conference matches and its third conference championship. But in January, with no warning, the university announced it was cutting equestrian as an intercollegiate sport. The decision came too late for team members to transfer to another program. Some incoming students who’d been recruited as athletes were denied regular admission to UC-Davis, several parents said, leaving them with no college to attend at all.

To justify their decision, university officials used a faulty report, supporters allege, riddled with errors and written by a consulting firm that recently stirred controversy for a similar analysis at another university. What’s more, administrators privately signaled nearly a year ahead of the announcement that they were planning to eliminate equestrian, according to emails obtained by the supporters’ group via a public-records request and shared with The Chronicle. At the same time, athletics officials continued to recruit athletes and solicit donations to support the team until shortly before they announced the team was being cut.

...Advocates are pursuing legal remedies — including a lawsuit in state court alleging that the athletics director and others engaged in fraudulent activity by misleading the recruits and assuring coaches, families, and students that the program was continuing. A parent with close knowledge of the situation told The Chronicle that a detective with the university’s police department was also investigating possible wire fraud, because the university continued to solicit donations for the team after it had effectively chosen to shutter it.

And a lawyer has warned the university that cutting the equestrian team could run afoul of Title IX, which requires gender equity in athletic expenditures and participation. The lawyer, Arthur Bryant, won a landmark settlement in April against San Diego State University for failing to provide as much in athletic scholarships to women as it paid to men. A university spokesperson declined to make anyone available to discuss the equestrian team because of the legal challenges. An earlier university statement said campus leaders believed they followed the proper procedures, but they were conducting a review “to evaluate financial records and reporting practices to determine whether expenses were accurately represented to decision-makers and other appropriate authorities.”

At a time when many colleges are considering cuts in athletics, UC-Davis is a case study in how missteps and poor communication can lead to legal risks and tense conflict with athletes and their parents, who have spent years and small fortunes pursuing dreams of intercollegiate sports...

Full story at https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-university-halts-its-top-ranked-equestrian-team-spurring-an-uproar.

Straws in the Wind - Part 382

From Inside Higher Ed: The state of Minnesota this month launched the SELF Grad Loan program, a new low-interest loan option for grad students that offers fixed rates based not on their credit score but on whether the loan has a co-signer and which repayment term the borrower chooses: 10, 15 or 20 years. Officials created the program in direct response to the federal government’s elimination of Grad PLUS loans and caps on certain other federal loans, which go into effect July 1. 

“The elimination of the Federal Grad PLUS Loan, which offered loans that covered up to the full cost of attendance, and lower caps for all Federal loans indicated a need for a new, low-interest loan option for graduate students,” a spokesperson for Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education wrote in an email. “Our SELF Grad Loan was launched to provide that option to students.” Minnesota is now the second state, after Connecticut, to devise its own loan program to help fill funding gaps for graduate students. As of Tuesday, 35 colleges and universities in Minnesota had joined the state’s program...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/06/17/minnesota-launches-graduate-student-loan-program.

Berkeley Swim Case On Again

Remember that lawsuit about abuse of the women's swim team at Berkeley?* After an earlier ruling that the statute of limitations had run out, a higher court has now reinstated the suit. Big bucks could be involved. A reminder that UCLA athletics provides a significant subsidy to Berkeley athletics, pursuant to a decision of the Regents after UCLA switched athletics conference. From the Daily Cal:

A lawsuit from 18 former Cal swimmers alleging former women’s head coach Teri McKeever verbally and psychologically abused them was granted a second life after a California court of appeal ruled last week that the statute of limitations did not bar their claims. The suit, Touhey v. Regents of the University of California, alleges that the university failed to protect them from McKeever’s abuse despite numerous complaints from swimmers and family members to administration throughout nearly all of McKeever’s 30-year tenure as coach.

“Given how much Coach McKeever was promoted within the swimming community and the constant reminders of Cal’s Olympic heritage, Plaintiffs felt that enduring her abuse was the price they paid to be on an elite team,” the original complaint alleges. “Plaintiffs began to believe that they (were) subjected to degrading treatment because they were not living up to the Cal standards of excellence.”

UC Berkeley filed a demurrer on Touhey v. Regents to claim the two-year statute of limitations expired when the lawsuit was filed in 2023, as the plaintiffs were members of Cal women’s swim and dive at various times between 2000 and 2020. A demurrer is a response in a court proceeding in which the defendant does not dispute the truth of the allegation but claims it is not sufficient grounds to justify legal action.

While originally sustained by the court, it was overturned June 16 on appeal due to the discovery rule, because UC Berkeley administrators allegedly signaled to the swimmers McKeever’s coaching was praiseworthy. The court claims this, along with the coach-athlete power dynamic, led the athletes to think that abuse was standard — albeit challenging — coaching, meaning the swimmers could not reasonably identify her actions as abuse...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/administration/court-revives-former-cal-swimmers-lawsuit-alleging-coach-s-abuse/article_35360890-98e6-4be4-b0d5-5fc4c3d1895c.html.

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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/06/bad-pr.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/12/swimming-in-scandal-part-10.html.

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.