Straws in the Wind - Part 245

From Inside Higher Ed: Beginning next month, a new test will join the SAT and ACT as an admissions option for prospective students applying to the United States’ elite service academies: the Classic Learning Test, an up-and-coming exam that focuses on passages from the Western canon... For years, it was relatively niche, serving primarily as an academic progress exam for private classical schools, an educational movement that promotes the study of classic Western literature and other liberal arts. Some colleges and universities allowed it as an entrance exam, though many were test optional, meaning a student could submit their CLT score if they felt it bolstered their application... That changed in 2023, when the State University System of Florida’s Board of Governors began accepting the CLT—in addition to the better-known SAT and ACT—as an admissions exam for its public universities, which all require test scores for admission, as well as for its flagship Bright Futures scholarship program.

Now, more than two years later, Arkansas and Oklahoma have followed suit, allowing submission of the CLT for admission to their public institutions, and students in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Wyoming can submit CLT scores for state merit scholarships. In addition, the University of North Carolina System recently began accepting CLT scores for students who meet a GPA threshold. The test has also become a darling of the conservative right, whose members argue that it is more rigorous than its competitors and can “restore merit” in higher education...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2026/01/29/clt-test-beloved-conservatives-continues-growing.

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From Inside Higher Ed: A collection of public school districts and university faculty members are challenging Department of Homeland Security policies that allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to conduct detainment activities on or near public education campuses. The complaint, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, comes in the wake of a surge of ICE presence in Minneapolis and Saint Paul and the killing of two American protesters, Alex Pretti and Renee Good. As the threat of immigration enforcement grows, the plaintiffs argue that ICE action at public K-12 schools and on college campuses is not only a violation of the rights of immigrants but also a disruption to the lives of U.S. citizens. 

Historically, federal regulations deemed public education institutions, churches and other religiously affiliated spaces as “sensitive locations” and therefore they were off limits to immigration enforcement teams, except in rare pre-approved circumstances. But on Jan. 21, 2025, President Trump revoked that policy, opening the flood gates to increased ICE activity in all spaces...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/05/ice-sued-over-policy-allowing-immigration-actions-campus.

Straws in the Wind - Part 148

From Inside Higher Ed: A student and law professor are the latest to face punishment from academic institutions for their public remarks about Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist who was assassinated last month. Earlier this month, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock fired Felicia Branch, who was hired as a law professor there over the summer, Reuters reported. Branch was first suspended in September after posting on Facebook that people should not be criticized for celebrating that “an evil person is no longer on this earth causing immense suffering.” The post sparked outrage from some state lawmakers, and after an investigation, the university fired her in a letter dated Oct. 13. 

“I cannot see a pathway where you could remain in your position at the Bowen Law School without compromising the trust and confidence of your students and colleagues,” Christina Drale, UA Little Rock’s chancellor, wrote in the letter.

Then, [last] week, the Oxford Union Society, a prestigious debating society in London, ousted its incoming president after he posted, “Charlie Kirk got shot loool,” on Instagram, the BBC reported. George Abaraonye, who is a student at University College, had debated Kirk about toxic masculinity at an event in May. After the debating society voted no confidence in Abaraonye’s leadership following his comments about Kirk, Abaraonye disputed the validity of the vote. Since Kirk’s death, numerous higher education employees have been fired for their comments about Kirk. Some have sued for wrongful termination, and at least one has been reinstated.

Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/23/more-higher-ed-ousters-over-charlie-kirk-comments.

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From Inside Higher Ed: While seven of the nine universities originally invited to join the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” have formally rejected the agreement, Valley Forge Military College wants to sign on to the proposal, as first reported by Fox News. President Donald Trump extended the invitation to all colleges after initial rejections from institutions that objected to provisions in the compact that would limit academic freedom.

The compact would require universities to suppress criticism of conservatives on campus, cap international enrollment at 15 percent, freeze tuition, overhaul admissions and hiring practices, and make various other changes in return for preferential treatment on federal research funding.

...It is unclear how Valley Forge, which does not have a research focus, would benefit. The college is also much smaller than the first invitees, enrolling 86 students in fall 2023, according to federal data. Valley Forge is now the third institution to publicly express interest in signing the compact since the invitation was expanded, following Grand Canyon University and New College of Florida.

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/10/31/valley-forge-military-college-wants-sign-compact.

Straws in the Wind - Part 98

From the NY Times: An online group said that it was behind a number of recent hoax emergency calls that drew a heavy law enforcement response to college campuses across the United States and were timed to coincide with the start of the school year. The group, which calls itself Purgatory, highlighted news media coverage of the recent hoaxes in a public-facing channel on Telegram, an encrypted messaging service often used by criminals. The online group is suspected of being connected to several of the episodes, including reports of shootings, according to cybersecurity experts, law enforcement agencies and the group members’ own posts in a social media chat. The group’s claims could not be independently verified...

Twice in the final weeks of August, Villanova University responded to reports of a gunman on campus, which later the authorities determined to be false. On Aug. 25, at least six colleges, including the University of Arkansas, experienced lockdowns for similar threats that turned out to be bogus. And on Wednesday, the false alarms continued at Auburn University in Alabama and Texas Tech University...

Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/us/school-shooting-hoax-universities-purgatory-swatting.html.

From the Daily Cal: UC Berkeley has provided the personal information of roughly 160 students, staff and faculty to the federal government in a directive from the UC Office of the President. In an attempt to comply with an investigation into alleged campus antisemitism by the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, or OCR, UC Berkeley released the names of individuals and their “potential connection” to reports of alleged antisemitism...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/uc-berkeley-turns-over-personal-information-of-more-than-150-students-and-staff-to-federal/article_a4aad3e1-bbba-42cc-92d7-a7964d9641c5.html.

Job Burdens of Professors

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock... regularly inserts the following clause into job ads [for faculty] (including one for a professor of French)...: “Sedentary Work -- Exerting 10 pounds: Occasionally, Kneeling: Occasionally, Climbing (Stairs, Ladders, etc.): Occasionally, Lifting 10-25 lbs.: Occasionally, Carrying 5-10 lbs.: Occasionally, Pushing/pulling 5-10 lbs.: Occasionally, Sitting for long periods of time: Occasionally, Standing for long periods of time: Occasionally, Speaking; Essential, Hearing: Essential, Vision: Ability to distinguish similar colors, depth perception, close vision: Essential, Walking -- Short Distances: Frequently.”...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/02/08/academic-alleges-discriminatory-hiring-practices

Time to quit?