Straws in the Wind - Part 417

From Inside Higher Ed: Colorado is the latest state targeted by the Department of Justice for its in-state tuition policies for undocumented students. The DOJ has sued 14 other states for allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, three of which quickly agreed to end those policies. One case was dismissed and another ended in a win for the DOJ in federal court. Colorado passed a law in 2013 establishing that undocumented students could qualify for in-state tuition if they met certain residency requirements or had graduated from a high school in Colorado. In its filing, the DOJ argued that the state’s policy is unlawful because it extends lower tuition rates and state financial aid opportunities to undocumented students that are not available to out-of-state students who are U.S. citizens. It also claims the policy encourages illegal immigration...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/07/28/doj-sues-colorado-over-state-tuition-noncitizens. 

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 183

From Inside Higher Ed: Alan Garber’s lawyer told him he shouldn’t speak at the Economic Club... in the midst of his institution’s protracted legal battle with the Trump administration over federal research funding. The Harvard University president did so anyway, spending almost an hour in a friendly interview with David Rubenstein, a Harvard donor and co-founder of the private equity firm the Carlyle Group. Throughout the interview, Garber argued that Harvard’s legal battle with the federal government—which has sought to cut off $2.2 billion in research funding over allegations that the university mishandled antisemitism on campus—could have far-reaching consequences not only for Harvard and the higher education sector but also the nation.

Though Harvard won the first round in its legal battle last fall when a federal judge determined that the funding freeze was illegal, a Trump administration appeal is still playing out. The Department of Justice also sued Harvard in February, alleging the university was slow-walking responses to an investigation into its admissions processes. (Harvard has denied the claims in the DOJ lawsuit.) ...

Garber added that while research universities and the federal government have long had a strong relationship, the fight threatens to imperil the nation’s standing in science and technology, which raises concerns not just for higher education but also for the national interest. He later noted that while universities are pursuing philanthropy, corporate partnerships and cost reductions to mitigate the impact of the funding cuts, ultimately “nobody can replace the federal government.”

Rubenstein also asked about the exodus of scientists and other researchers to countries such as China, though Garber noted that is not an issue for Harvard. He said he was more concerned about the declining inflow of talent due to restrictions on international students, including the recently proposed effort to limit the amount of time they can study in the U.S. But even as international enrollments slip across the country, Garber said, the numbers have held strong for Harvard, though the university has seen shifts. Some schools on campus have welcomed fewer international students, he said, while others have seen stronger numbers.

Rubenstein also asked him how Harvard has taken the fight to Capitol Hill through lobbying efforts. To date, Garber said, he’s met with an estimated 160 members of Congress. While some have been “hostile,” he said he’s had more good than bad meetings with lawmakers...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2026/07/24/harvard-president-discusses-federal-fight.

Behind Closed Doors, The Regents Are Discussing You-Know-What

On Tuesday, the Regents will meet behind closed doors to discuss UC's conflict with the feds:

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, Compliance and Audit Committee, Finance and Capital Strategies Committee, Health Services Committee, Investments Committee, National Laboratories Committee, and the Public Engagement and Development 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, July 28, 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 4:00 p.m. at 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland and adjourn at approximately 5:00 p.m.

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

Source: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july26/meeting-notice_federal-july-28-2026.pdf.

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Sometimes, these meetings are scheduled for 30 minutes, sometimes for an hour. This one is scheduled for an hour. Does that mean there is more to discuss? Who knows?

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 182

From the Sacramento Bee: California Attorney General Rob Bonta is backing Harvard University in its legal fight over frozen federal research funding, arguing the Trump administration’s actions could ultimately threaten California’s public universities and the state’s research economy. 

Bonta joined a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief Wednesday urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling that blocked the Trump administration’s freeze of more than $2 billion in federal research funding for Harvard.* The coalition argues the case will determine how much control the federal government has over universities through research funding. “We cannot allow the federal government to weaponize grant funding as leverage to force colleges and universities to cave to political demands,” Bonta said in a press release. “California stands with Harvard and in support of academic independence, free speech, and the vital research that supports our communities.”

Full story at https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article316632141.html.

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*https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/2026722-ca1-multistate-amicus-harvard-v-hhs-et-al.pdf.

Straws in the Wind - Part 412

From Inside Higher Ed: The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Maryland... over its law allowing certain undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates. Maryland is the 13th state the DOJ has targeted for such policies. “This Department of Justice is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise that illegal aliens will not obtain taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment over our own citizens,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a DOJ news release.

Undocumented students in Maryland can qualify for in-state tuition if they meet certain criteria, including attending and graduating from a Maryland high school, enrolling in college within six years of high school graduation, and providing proof they or their legal guardians filed state taxes for two years while the student attended high school. They also need to sign an affidavit promising to apply for permanent residency within a month of becoming eligible...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/07/17/doj-sues-maryland-over-state-tuition-noncitizens.

New Regent

Governor Newsom announces appointments 7.22.2026 [Excerpt]

...Scott Galloway, of Gulf Stream, Florida, has been appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Galloway founded Section in 2019 and has served on the faculty of NYU Stern School of Business since 2002. Galloway was the Founder and Chairman at L2 from 2010 to 2019. He was the Founder of Red Envelope, where he held multiple positions from 1997 to 2008, including Chairman and Director. Galloway was the Founder of Prophet Brand Strategy, where he held several positions from 1992 to 2002, including Chairman and CEO. He served as a Member of the Board of Directors for the New York Times Co., a Board Member of Urban Outfitters, a Board Member of Panera Bread, and a Board Member of Berkeley Haas. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from University of California, Los Angeles. This position requires Senate confirmation, and there is no compensation. Galloway is a Democrat...

Source: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/07/22/governor-newsom-announces-appointments-7-22-2026/.

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From Politico: ...Galloway, a Democrat, has written prominently about issues of loneliness and isolation facing young men, which Newsom, a likely presidential contender, has sounded the alarm about. The governor last year signed an executive order aimed at addressing a rise in suicide rates and disconnection among young men and boys in the state. A professor of marketing at NYU, Galloway has founded several companies in the consulting and digital research fields, and served on the board of directors for Urban Outfitters, Panera Bread and The New York Times.

Galloway has been somewhat critical of higher education, arguing on a Chronicle of Higher Education podcast in March that some elite universities are making a “concerted effort to sequester supply” by hiking tuition and artificially keeping enrollment low, suggesting that such schools should lose their tax-exempt status. But he praised the UC as one of the systems “doing God’s work” to expand access by expanding first-year class sizes and summer and night classes.

Galloway, who lives in Florida, received his bachelor’s degree in economics from UCLA and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He has given to both schools — $12 million for students pursuing non-traditional pathways and $4.4 million to UC Berkeley for a fellowship for students from immigrant families.

Full story at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/22/newsom-appoints-podcaster-scott-galloway-uc-board-regents-01008165.

From Wikipedia: Galloway was born in San Diego and grew up in Los Angeles, California. His father was a Scottish immigrant to the United States who worked as a sales executive. His mother, a Jewish immigrant from London, England, worked as a secretary... Galloway teaches brand management and digital marketing to second-year MBA students. Much of his research concerns big tech, including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Apple, which he refers to as "The Four" or "the Four Horsemen". His first book, The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, was released in 2017 and analyzes the big four's peculiar strengths and strategies, novel aspects of their economic models, tactics of expansion, as well as resulting social and individual consequences.

In September 2018, Recode and the Vox Media launched Pivot, a weekly news commentary podcast co-hosted by Kara Swisher and Galloway. In February 2020, Galloway launched The Prof G Show, a weekly podcast answering listener questions on business, money, and technology. On September 28, 2021, CNN announced that Galloway would be a host on its CNN+ streaming platform, but the platform went off the air shortly after launching.

In 2022, Galloway's weekly newsletter No Mercy/No Malice won the Webby Award and Webby's People's Voice Award for best business, news and technology websites and mobile sites...

Full story at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Galloway_(professor).

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Galloway interviewed in The Free Press: ...I think Trump is president because of failing young men. If you look at the three groups that pivoted hardest from blue to red, 2020 to 2024, you start with Latinos and people under the age of 30. And the reality is, for the first time in our nation’s history, a 30-year-old isn’t doing as well as his or her parents were at 30. They’re 24 percent less wealthy than people under the age of 40 were 40 years ago. Meanwhile, my generation is 72 percent wealthier than we were 40 years ago. The majority of our economic policies are nothing but an elegant transfer of wealth from the young to the old. So they’re fed up, and all they know is they’re not doing well, so they just want change.

And then the third group, and the most interesting one, that pivoted hardest from blue to red, was 45- to 64-year-old women. And my thesis is that they’re mothers. A lot of women in the United States will vote for whoever they perceive is best for their husbands and their sons. And when your son is in the basement playing video games and vaping, you don’t give a shit about the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine. You just want change.

Struggling young men are always the fire that moves. People will come along, tell them their economic problems are the fault of immigrants, or that women’s ascent is responsible for their descent. Radical jihad has always leveraged failing young men, right? Fight for us and die, there’s 12 virgins waiting for you. ISIS took sex slaves and gave them to their soldiers as part of their military strategy.

The natural state of being is an unchecked economic system where you don’t redistribute capital. A small number of men are really talented, really fortunate, inherit wealth, and they get to engage in Porsche polygamy and have a disproportionate number of mating partners. And the bottom 90 percent of men have fewer and fewer. That rage or dissatisfaction can be channeled into unproductive means.

The greatest innovation in history wasn’t the iPhone or vaccines; it was the American middle class, and it wasn’t an accident. Seven million men returned from war in uniform. They were fit. We put a bunch of money in their pockets to make them economically viable, which made them more attractive to women. This led to huge household formation, a baby boom, productive, loving households. Then they brought non-whites and women into this prosperity through great social progress, great legislation. We decided to transfer opportunity and money back from the most fortunate into the American middle class, but that is not the natural state of being.

If you don’t figure out policies that create forward-leaning investments in technology and education and give young people a fighting chance, you’re just going to have an unstable society. You’re going to return to the natural order of a small number of people having all of the opportunities, which just creates instability. In some ways, I think we’re returning to what has typically been the natural order of economies for the last several thousand years...

Full interview at https://www.thefp.com/p/scott-galloway-on-the-mating-crisis.

Straws in the Wind - Part 411

From Inside Higher Ed: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security... scrapped a long-standing policy that allowed international students to stay in the U.S. until they finish their program of study. The new rule will limit their stay in the country to just four years unless they receive an extension, as well as restrict students’ ability to change majors and institutions once they’ve arrived. International education leaders and experts have argued that four years is not enough time for a significant number of students to complete their degrees; almost all Ph.D. programs are longer than four years, while the average undergraduate takes more than four years to complete their bachelor’s degree. Additionally, students pursuing optional practical training, the work authorization for F-1 students following their graduation, typically stay in the U.S. more than four years.

But the government has argued that the old policy known as duration of status allowed students to stay in the U.S. indefinitely without having to interact with immigration officials, leading to overstays and national security concerns. According to DHS, 2,100 international students who entered the country on an F-1 visa between 2000 and 2010 are still in the country with F-1 status. DHS officials did recognize in the final rule that students could take longer than four years to complete their programs of study, but they argued the change is “intended as a law enforcement and screening tool to assess whether a student is maintaining normal academic progress and eligibility for F-1 status.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2026/07/16/trump-administration-finalizes-limits-student-visas.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 181

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard has ended its decadeslong relationship with O’Neill Athy and Casey, a boutique Washington, D.C. lobbying firm that had represented the University since at least 1999, according to a disclosure filed Monday... The split ends one of Harvard’s longest-running outside lobbying relationships even as the University has dramatically expanded its broader influence operation in Washington.

Harvard began searching for an additional outside lobbying firm following former University president Claudine Gay’s disastrous December 2023 congressional testimony on campus antisemitism. Her widely criticized appearance fueled attacks against Harvard and underscored the University’s limited relationship within the Republican Party. Days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, Harvard hired Ballard Partners, a firm with deep ties to Trump’s inner circle...

Harvard spent nearly $1 million on federal lobbying in 2025, its highest annual total in more than two decades. Harvard also saw its legal fees skyrocket in fiscal year 2025, reporting $126.6 million in legal fees in a tax filing posted in May. The number marked a 58 percent increase from the previous year, when the University spent roughly $80 million. Before fiscal year 2024, Harvard’s legal expenses had hovered around $20 million... The rising costs of Harvard’s federal advocacy come during a period of broader strain. The University reported a deficit of $113 million in fiscal year 2025, its first since the pandemic.

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/7/21/harvard-ends-oneill-athy-casey-retainer/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 410

From The Aggie: The ASUCD Judicial Council has unanimously decided against impeaching Senator Aaron Heth, a third-year political science major, and removing him from office over alleged misconduct relating to his attendance of a Campus Victory Project (CVP) conference in December 2025. The CVP conference, which was fully funded by the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA (TPUSA), aimed to advise students on winning student government elections across the country.

...The justices wrote that the ASUCD Senate — which voted to start impeachment proceedings against Heth in late April — had failed to demonstrate that the impeachment was not pursued on partisan grounds or provide substantial evidence of Heth’s violations to the degree required by the ASUCD Constitution. “To publicly denounce a fellow senator because of his differently held political viewpoints runs contrary to what the Associated Students of the University of California, Davis proclaims as its core, institutional mission,” the decision [stated]...

Full story at https://theaggie.org/2026/5/28/judicial-council-acquits-aaron-heth.

Scrutiny

From CBS News: Major U.S. universities have received millions of dollars in funding from foreign entities that are on U.S. government watch lists, according to a CBS News review of university funding records submitted to the Department of Education.

...Universities have been required to disclose foreign gifts of $250,000 or more to the Department of Education under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act since 1986. But disclosures sometimes lapsed and there was no government system in place for accountability, according to current and former State and Education Department officials, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and independent analysts who track Section 117 compliance. 

They say no one was cross-referencing the donors against U.S. government watch lists, allowing for institutions directly linked to foreign militaries to fund programs and professorships at R-1 universities. National security and intelligence analysts say the stakes are high, and increased scrutiny on funding from China flowing to programs at top American universities is better late than never...

Among the watch-listed entities putting money into U.S. universities, the majority of which is from China, is Aviation Engine Corporation of China, known as AECC, which develops engines for various Chinese military aircraft, including the J-11 fighter jet and the Z-10 attack helicopter. Given the AECC's direct ties to the People's Liberation Army, the Treasury Department lists it on the Foreign Assets Control List as well as another list of companies tied to the Chinese military-industrial complex. It is considered a "Military End-User Entity" by the Department of Commerce, making it subject to strict export licensing requirements.

AECC's research institutes paid Northwestern University, the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Connecticut a combined $7.8 million, according to the universities' records submitted to the Department of Education. The money was sent in multiple increments over several years. ...UC Irvine received almost $4 million in contracts between 2018 and 2020, according to the records. UC Irvine did not respond to CBS News' requests for comment. 

...UC Berkeley, which manages the Department of Energy's primary high-performance computing facility, has received more than $25 million in contracts dating back to 2016 from China-based entities that are on U.S. government watch lists, according to disclosures to the Department of Education. That includes a grant of $7.6 million from Sun Yat-sen University, host of China's National Supercomputing Center. Sun Yat-sen University also appears on the Department of Defense's "1286 List," a roster of foreign academic and research institutions identified as engaging in "problematic activities," and a Commerce Department list of entities whose legitimacy the U.S. government has been unable to verify. UC Berkeley did not respond to CBS News' request for comment...

Full story at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/universities-foreign-funding-government-watch-lists/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 180

From the LA Times: The Justice Department is investigating whether Harvard University is allowing Chinese donors to create scholarships that exclude American students, adding to the barrage of federal inquiries the Trump administration has opened in its battle against the Ivy League school. Justice Department officials announced the new review Monday, saying Harvard’s foreign funding disclosures “raised concerns” about possible discrimination against U.S. students. The agency did not specify which scholarship programs are being targeted and emphasized it “has not reached any conclusions.” ...

“Schools cannot take federal dollars and then turn around and accept money from foreign sources to give financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens — doing so is illegal, and we will stop it wherever we find it,” said Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the department’s Civil Rights Division. Harvard said it was reviewing the Justice Department notice...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-07-21/trump-administration-opens-investigation-into-harvards-financial-aid-for-international-students.

Straws in the Wind - Part 408

From Inside Higher Ed: Democrats’ confidence in higher education has hit a record low, with just 50 percent expressing confidence, according to the latest Lumina Foundation–Gallup Confidence in Higher Education survey... That’s down from 61 percent last year who said they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher ed, and 68 percent who said the same in 2015, when Gallup first began collecting such data. For Courtney Brown, Lumina’s vice president of impact and planning, Democrats’ declining confidence in higher ed is driven by their concern over college affordability and outcomes. Democrats are asking themselves, “Is somebody going to get a good job?” she said. “If they’re going to invest this amount of money and time, we want to make sure there’s a good job on the other side.”

Still, Republicans have expressed a steeper long-term decline in confidence in higher education, down 33 percentage points since 2015, from 56 percent then to 23 percent in the latest survey. The data was collected during phone interviews with 1,001 adults in the first 15 days of June. All told, 38 percent of American adults said they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher ed, down from 42 percent last year. The survey also revealed that 37 percent of Americans have “some” confidence in higher ed, while 25 percent expressed “very little” or “none.” Last year, 23 percent had very little or no confidence...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/institutions/2026/07/14/democrats-confidence-higher-ed-hits-record-low.

Yale Deal - Part 7 (background)

From the Yale Daily News: After the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that banned race-conscious college admissions, Yale administrators quickly assured the community that the University would comply with federal law while attempting to maintain diversity. Now, the University is under federal investigation for allegedly failing to comply with the ruling. In May, the Department of Justice announced an investigation into the Yale School of Medicine’s admissions practices, alleging the school had discriminated against Asian and white applicants. The investigation’s scope has since expanded to admissions at Yale College and Yale Law School, and University President Maurie McInnis confirmed... that Yale is in the process of seeking a voluntary resolution with the federal government over the probe.

At the center of the investigation is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which bars racial discrimination for programs that receive federal funding — and a 2023 Supreme Court decision, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which outlawed race-based affirmative action. A May letter of findings issued by the Justice Department alleged the School of Medicine’s admissions process violated that law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court decision. Experts told the News that Yale’s alleged violation may depend on whether the University found ways to circumvent the Supreme Court decision — like using a proxy for race — and whether those methods are considered illegal...

[DOJ] pointed to materials and presentations distributed to admissions officers that included guidance on admissions after the Supreme Court decision — including a slide in an internal presentation with the words, “Admissions post-SCOTUS.” “This suggests that admissions personnel are given verbal instructions during this presentation encouraging the use of race/ethnicity in admissions, and such instructions are not put in writing,” the letter reads. “The Department also has evidence that Yale attempted to circumvent the Harvard decision by using racial proxies to indirectly discriminate against applicants based on race.”

The Justice Department has not publicly released letters of findings for its investigations into Yale College or the Law School, nor has it publicly commented on those investigations. The department did not respond to a request for comment...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/yale-admissions-is-under-investigation-could-it-have-broken-the-law.

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Note: If you have been following this Yale sequence and have been wondering about the Hebrew writing on the Yale seal (shown above), see:

https://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/01_03/seal.html.

State Cash Report

The story of fiscal 2025-26, the year that ended last June 30th, was one of underestimating state revenues, as the latest report from the state controller illustrates.*

On the other hand, disbursements were more or less accurately forecast when the state budget for 2025-26 was enacted and overestimated at the time of the May revise.

The state still has a significant reserve of cash in various accounts, so the prospect of the state handing out IOUs anytime soon, as in the Great Recession, is nil. All of this can be seen on the table below:

We don't yet have the budgetary summary numbers from the Dept. of Finance for the current year 2026-27. Xavier Becerra, the de facto incoming governor (since California no longer elects statewide Republicans) will spend his first 6 months under the Newsom-enacted budget. The budget he will present in January 2027 for 2027-28 will largely have been put together by the Newsom team, given the pressures of timing. So, if he has very different priorities from Newsom with regard to UC - and there is no indication that he has - that would be a surprise. Surprises, if they occur for UC, are more likely to occur from changes in economic activity and the stock market than from political turnover in Sacramento.

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*https://www.sco.ca.gov/Files-ARD/CASH/June2026StatementofGeneralFundCashReceiptsandDisbursements.pdf.

Grants' Tomb - Part 3 (official)

It appears that UCLA has taken an official stance against the proposed new federal grant guidelines. From the Daily Bruin: (excerpt)

“UCLA strongly opposes the Proposed Rule,” [a UCLA] spokesperson said in [a] statement.

 “The proposed rule would make federal research funding less predictable, increase agency and recipient burden, weaken the research enterprise, and ultimately diminish the public benefits that federally supported research delivers.”

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/07/11/how-the-trump-administrations-revamp-of-funding-guidelines-could-threaten-research. 

Yale Deal - Part 6

From the Yale Daily News: Yale President Maurie McInnis is arranging to meet with graduate and undergraduate student leaders in a confidential meeting as the University pursues a settlement with the Trump administration. The proposed meeting will include McInnis, Yale College Council President Alex William Chen ’28, YCC Vice President Michelle Jimenez ’28, Graduate and Professional Student Senate President Raekwon Fuller DRA ’27 and Graduate Student Assembly chair Anushka Potdar GRD ’29. According to Fuller, the meeting date has yet to be determined. Undergraduate student leaders have been vocal opponents of any settlement with the Trump administration that would compromise Yale’s independence...

Potdar declined to comment on the future meeting, citing its confidentiality...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/mcinnis-to-meet-with-undergraduate-graduate-student-government-leaders.

Straws in the Wind - Part 404

From Inside Higher Ed: The University of North Texas has paid for journalism professor Tracy Everbach and her colleagues to attend a certain conference every year since she started at the university in 2004. Until this year. In a June 30 memo to Everbach and at least five other journalism professors, university administrators said that funding membership or sponsorship costs for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the organization that hosts the conference she plans to attend and present at next month, violates a Texas law banning diversity, equity and inclusion measures at public institutions.

Scheduled for early August in New Orleans, the AEJMC conference has a Jazz & Jambalaya theme, which showcases the “rich histories” and “diverse contributions” of community members, according to the association’s website. The schedule says it will feature “thought-provoking programming, diverse voices and exciting opportunities to learn and connect.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/academic-freedom/2026/07/09/north-texas-denies-faculty-conference-funding.

Grants' Tomb - Part 2 (follow-up)

From Inside Higher Ed: The White House in late May proposed a rule that would cement its control over essentially all federal grant making, including research funding and Education Department grants. Among other changes, the proposal from the Office of Management and Budget says political appointees, not peer reviewers, would be the primary deciders of who gets grants, and says officials could yank funding even after it’s awarded and research or another project has begun. 

Opponents in and outside higher ed say the politicization could undercut research and all the societal benefits that flow from it, and the possibility of more midgrant cancellations could inject further instability into a sector the Trump administration has already destabilized.

Through social media, video calls, Substacks and petitions, scientists, universities and groups representing them have called for a flood of public comments. They’ve shared resources listing objectionable provisions they’ve identified in the more than 400-page proposal...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2026/07/07/comments-flood-omb-proposal-political-control.

Our earlier post on this matter is at:

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2026/07/grants-tomb.html.

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Note: The deadline for public comments was July 13th.

Yale Deal - Part 5

Message from the president of Yale

Monday, July 13, 2026

Dear Members of the Yale Community,

Many of you have written to me in the past week regarding investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) into the admissions processes of Yale School of Medicine, Yale College, and Yale Law School. At Yale, our standard is to refrain from commenting on ongoing legal matters to protect the integrity of the process for Yale. I am making an exception in this instance because I am seeing speculation and misinformation spreading, and it is causing concern in our community. I recognize that this can happen when there is an absence of information, so I want you to hear the facts directly from me.

On May 14, the DOJ issued findings based on its investigation into the admissions policies and practices of the Yale School of Medicine. The DOJ also has pending investigations into the admissions processes of Yale College and Yale Law School.

These investigations concern university compliance with federal law; specifically, a federal statute, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court required colleges and universities across the country, including Yale, to adhere to new legal standards in admissions in its 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. As a university committed to the rule of law, we take that obligation seriously.

When the DOJ issues findings of an investigation, federal law provides a process for the parties to engage in seeking a voluntary resolution. It is a standard and important practice that lawyers for the involved parties and the government participate in conversation and exchange of information to determine whether they can resolve the matter without further legal action. Yale is currently engaged in this process of talking and listening. It is a required and reasonable step, and we are participating in good faith.  

We are approaching these matters with five fundamental principles. First, we are wholeheartedly committed to safeguarding academic freedom. Our students and faculty have the intellectual freedom to study, teach, and publish according to their scholarly interests in keeping with the standards of their discipline. Second, Yale must maintain the right to decide who we admit and hire in accordance with the law. Third, we hold dear our university’s tradition of protecting free expression on our campus. Fourth, we are determined to continue advancing Yale’s mission of education, research, and scholarship. And fifth, we make all our decisions by prioritizing our responsibilities to our students, faculty, staff, and patients, as well as the university as a whole.

These are the principles that guide us in how we engage in any legal inquiry, but they are not the whole of what we ask of ourselves. We are also guided by the long-time efforts of our faculty, students, staff, and alumni who help us engage in a process of continual self-assessment. The most recent examples of such reflection relevant to admissions culminated this past spring, with the Presidential Council on Yale College Admissions and the Committee on Trust in Higher Education.

Guided by their recommendations, we began refining our admissions processes based on a high standard of candor and on an unambiguous fact: We are proud of our students, who come from across the country and around the world and bring a multitude of talents, experiences, and ideas. For example, we have further clarified on Yale College’s admissions website the magnitude of academic achievement of our current students, so applicants are aware of what they need to accomplish. We now state explicitly that academic strength has long been the predominant criterion in our holistic evaluation of applicants, and the overwhelming majority of admitted students score in the ninety-fifth percentile or higher on the SAT or ACT. Throughout the university, we have bolstered our training so that readers and decision-makers understand the law and federal guidelines for admissions, and our faculty and staff in admissions will keep studying how to continually enhance the admissions process based on our own high standards and the requirements of the law.

I know there are divergent views about admissions policy in general and these investigations in particular. I very much want to hear those views and welcome your reply to this message. And I am so grateful to everyone who has already sent me their thoughtful questions and advice.

I will update you when I have more news to share. In the meantime, I will continue to draw on my experience as a student, professor, and university leader to navigate the present moment. Amid this uncertainty, you can be certain of my promise to the entire Yale community: my decisions will be guided by what I believe is in the best interests of our university.

Sincerely,

Maurie McInnis

President

Professor of the History of Art

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Source: https://president.yale.edu/posts/2026-07-13-message-from-the-president.

Everyone is entitled to the Regents' Opinion

Generally, the Regents do not take political positions. But as an exception, they do advocate for UC on occasion, especially when items directly affecting UC are on the ballot. 

At today's Regents meeting, the board is expected to endorse the housing bond which the legislature has put on the November ballot, and which allocates some money for UC student housing. From Item B4:

On June 25, 2026, the Governor signed Senate Bill 417 (Limón), the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026. The measure placed Proposition 1 on the November 3, 2026 ballot, which asks voters to approve an $11.25 billion statewide housing bond. The bond includes $350 million for the Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program to be divided equally between the University of California and the California State University system. If the bond passes, the University would be eligible for $175 million to develop affordable student housing projects. The President recommends that the Board of Regents endorse Proposition 1, the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026...

Full item at https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july26/b4.pdf.