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1000 results for “AlanF”
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What causes earthquakes in the Eastern US — so far from any fault line? It's one of earth science's great mysteries, and Boston College's retired Prof. Alan Kafka has spent 42 years on the case. Join us at the Westport Observatory for this fascinating in-person lecture, also live on YouTube & Zoom. Don't miss it!
was-ct.org/events/alan-kafka/
#Earthquake #Seismology #EasternUS #Astronomy #Westport #Science #WestportAstronomicalSociety #WestportObservatory -
https://www.europesays.com/uk/428495/ Brian Cox & Alan Cumming in Cox’s Directorial Bow #AlanCumming #AlexandraShipp #BrianCox #Entertainment #Movies #ShirleyHenderson #TIFF #TIFF2025 #Toronto2025 #TorontoFilmFestival #UK #UnitedKingdom
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Brian Cox & Alan Cumming in Cox’s Directorial Bow
One of our very best actors, Brian Cox, makes a somewhat belated directorial debut with the Toronto world…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Movies #AlanCumming #AlexandraShipp #BrianCox #Entertainment #ShirleyHenderson #TIFF #TIFF2025 #Toronto2025 #TorontoFilmFestival
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/160461/ -
Brian Cox & Alan Cumming in Cox’s Directorial Bow
One of our very best actors, Brian Cox, makes a somewhat belated directorial debut with the Toronto world…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Movies #AlanCumming #AlexandraShipp #BrianCox #Entertainment #ShirleyHenderson #TIFF #TIFF2025 #Toronto2025 #TorontoFilmFestival
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/160461/ -
‘Glenrothan’ Review: Brian Cox’s Scotland-Set Directorial Debut Combats Sibling-Drama Clichés With Good Acting
#MovieReviews #Movies #AlanCumming #AlexandraShipp #BrianCox #ShirleyHenderson #TIFF #TIFF2025 #Toronto2025 #TorontoFilmFestival -
‘Glenrothan’ Review: Brian Cox’s Scotland-Set Directorial Debut Combats Sibling-Drama Clichés With Good Acting
#MovieReviews #Movies #AlanCumming #AlexandraShipp #BrianCox #ShirleyHenderson #TIFF #TIFF2025 #Toronto2025 #TorontoFilmFestival -
‘Glenrothan’ Review: Brian Cox’s Scotland-Set Directorial Debut Combats Sibling-Drama Clichés With Good Acting
#MovieReviews #Movies #AlanCumming #AlexandraShipp #BrianCox #ShirleyHenderson #TIFF #TIFF2025 #Toronto2025 #TorontoFilmFestival -
‘Glenrothan’ Review: Brian Cox’s Scotland-Set Directorial Debut Combats Sibling-Drama Clichés With Good Acting
#MovieReviews #Movies #AlanCumming #AlexandraShipp #BrianCox #ShirleyHenderson #TIFF #TIFF2025 #Toronto2025 #TorontoFilmFestival -
Nice coverage of the Whatcom County chapter of FairVote Washington in the local university paper, The Western Front:
"Post-election gathering sparks hope for democracy in Bellingham: FairVote WA provides a space for discussion on ranked-choice voting and electoral reform"
https://www.thefrontonline.com/article/2024/11/drinks-with-democracy-dreamers
#FairVote #FairVoteWA #BellinghamWA #WhatcomCounty #RankedChoiceVoting #WWU
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Another great map of the #SalishSea by #WWU professor Aquila Flower:
#30DayMapChallenge #PNW #Cascadia #maps #cartography #PugetSound #StraitOfGeorgia #StraitOfJuanDeFuca
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Western Washington University student employees vote 98% yes to unionize: https://www.cascadiadaily.com/news/2023/jun/12/wwu-academic-student-employees-unionize/ #WWU #BellinghamWA #WesternWashingtonUniversity
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#BellinghamWA people: please take this survey to help some important #WWU Urban Planning research about housing affordability: https://tinyurl.com/wwuhousingsurvey
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The Passage of Time
The start of this term has been so busy that I forgot that October 1st was the 40th anniversary of the day I officially started as a research student at the University of Sussex (1st October 1985). Reflecting on that event I realized with something approaching horror that 1985 is halfway between 1945 and 2025, so I started my PhD DPhil closer in time to the end of World War 2 than to today. Yikes!
Before travelling to the Sussex to embark on my research degree, I spent a couple of weeks at a summer school for all the new Astronomy PhD students. These are still held annually, although they are now just a week long instead of a fortnight. They are now sponsored by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) but the one I attended was before that came into being, and even before its predecessor, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research PPARC. The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) summer school I went to was held at Durham University; we all stayed in St Mary’s College, just over the road from the Physics Department. I remember it well and indeed still have the notes I took during the lectures there.
Another difference in those days was that we got our stipends paid by cheque – every three months, if I remember correctly – directly from the Research Council. Nowadays STFC gives block grants to universities and other research institutions, who then pay the students.
Anyway, here is the summer school conference picture:
Unfortunately (for such a rare and valuable document) it is slightly damaged on the left -hand side. I leave it up to my readers to identify the people in this group who are still in the business 40 years later. I can see quite a few – Moira Jardine, Alan Fitzsimmons, Melvyn Hoare, Jon Loveday and Alastair Edge, among others! A more complete list can be found here.
I don’t think I’m the only member of this group who is thinking of retiring fairly soon. This post was occasioned by the 40th anniversary of the start of my DPhil; my plan is to retire 40 years after the date of the completion of my thesis. That’s less than three years from now…
"What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. "from Little Gidding V, Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
#DurhamUniversity #PhDStudents #PPARC #SERC #STFC #SussexUniversity
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The Passage of Time
The start of this term has been so busy that I forgot that October 1st was the 40th anniversary of the day I officially started as a research student at the University of Sussex (1st October 1985). Reflecting on that event I realized with something approaching horror that 1985 is halfway between 1945 and 2025, so I started my PhD DPhil closer in time to the end of World War 2 than to today. Yikes!
Before travelling to the Sussex to embark on my research degree, I spent a couple of weeks at a summer school for all the new Astronomy PhD students. These are still held annually, although they are now just a week long instead of a fortnight. They are now sponsored by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) but the one I attended was before that came into being, and even before its predecessor, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research PPARC. The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) summer school I went to was held at Durham University; we all stayed in St Mary’s College, just over the road from the Physics Department. I remember it well and indeed still have the notes I took during the lectures there.
Another difference in those days was that we got our stipends paid by cheque – every three months, if I remember correctly – directly from the Research Council. Nowadays STFC gives block grants to universities and other research institutions, who then pay the students.
Anyway, here is the summer school conference picture:
Unfortunately (for such a rare and valuable document) it is slightly damaged on the left -hand side. I leave it up to my readers to identify the people in this group who are still in the business 40 years later. I can see quite a few – Moira Jardine, Alan Fitzsimmons, Melvyn Hoare, Jon Loveday and Alastair Edge, among others! A more complete list can be found here.
I don’t think I’m the only member of this group who is thinking of retiring fairly soon. This post was occasioned by the 40th anniversary of the start of my DPhil; my plan is to retire 40 years after the date of the completion of my thesis. That’s less than three years from now…
"What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. "from Little Gidding V, Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
#DurhamUniversity #PhDStudents #PPARC #SERC #STFC #SussexUniversity
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Alan Paller, a Mover on Cybersecurity Threat, Is Dead at 76 - He made it his mission to find, recruit and develop the next generation of digital warrio... - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/technology/alan-paller-dead.html #computersandtheinternet #cyberwarfareanddefense #palleralan(1945-2021) #deaths(obituaries) #computersecurity #nationalsecurity #sansinstitute
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#sosiaaliturva #leikkaukset #kansalaisyhteiskunta #fasismi
Minkäköhän tyrannin talutusnuorassa nykyhallituksemme jatkaa leikkaamisiaan kun monelta suunnalta jo paheksutaan sadistista, psykopaattista leikkaamista.Purra on kuin kotiäiti konmarina pelkistämässä omaa huusholliaan mininmalaistiseksi..
Pölvästilauma irrallaan realismista.. Vetääkö ne jotain peukkua kaikki vai mitä?!
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Historiallisen Aikakauskirjan pitkä digisiirto-hanke valmistui vuoden vaihteessa, ensimmäisistä alkaen https://journal.fi/haik/issue/view/12880
Kaikki vuotta vanhemmat HAikit ovat avoimesti luettavissa, ja artikkeleissa on myös pysyvät DOI-tunnisteet.
Hanke rahoitettiin pääosin Suomen tiedekustantajien liiton apurahoilla ja Elektra-palvelun korvauksilla - sekä aktiivisten alan ihmisten työpanoksella. Kiitos kaikille asiaa edistäneille. Lue ja tue!
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Historiallisen Aikakauskirjan pitkä digisiirto-hanke valmistui vuoden vaihteessa, ensimmäisistä alkaen https://journal.fi/haik/issue/view/12880
Kaikki vuotta vanhemmat HAikit ovat avoimesti luettavissa, ja artikkeleissa on myös pysyvät DOI-tunnisteet.
Hanke rahoitettiin pääosin Suomen tiedekustantajien liiton apurahoilla ja Elektra-palvelun korvauksilla - sekä aktiivisten alan ihmisten työpanoksella. Kiitos kaikille asiaa edistäneille. Lue ja tue!
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Kanga said to Roo, “Drink up your milk first, dear, and talk afterwards.” So Roo, who was drinking his milk, tried to say that he could do both at once … and had to be patted on the back and dried for quite a long time afterwards.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 10 “Christopher Robin Gives a Pooh Party” (1926)More info about this quote: wist.info/milne-a-a/2842/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #aamilne #winniethepooh #kanga #roo #milk #drinking #eating, #mouth #overconfidence #mess
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Kanga said to Roo, “Drink up your milk first, dear, and talk afterwards.” So Roo, who was drinking his milk, tried to say that he could do both at once … and had to be patted on the back and dried for quite a long time afterwards.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 10 “Christopher Robin Gives a Pooh Party” (1926)More info about this quote: wist.info/milne-a-a/2842/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #aamilne #winniethepooh #kanga #roo #milk #drinking #eating, #mouth #overconfidence #mess
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Kanga said to Roo, “Drink up your milk first, dear, and talk afterwards.” So Roo, who was drinking his milk, tried to say that he could do both at once … and had to be patted on the back and dried for quite a long time afterwards.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 10 “Christopher Robin Gives a Pooh Party” (1926)More info about this quote: wist.info/milne-a-a/2842/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #aamilne #winniethepooh #kanga #roo #milk #drinking #eating, #mouth #overconfidence #mess
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Kanga said to Roo, “Drink up your milk first, dear, and talk afterwards.” So Roo, who was drinking his milk, tried to say that he could do both at once … and had to be patted on the back and dried for quite a long time afterwards.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 10 “Christopher Robin Gives a Pooh Party” (1926)More info about this quote: wist.info/milne-a-a/2842/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #aamilne #winniethepooh #kanga #roo #milk #drinking #eating, #mouth #overconfidence #mess
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Kanga said to Roo, “Drink up your milk first, dear, and talk afterwards.” So Roo, who was drinking his milk, tried to say that he could do both at once … and had to be patted on the back and dried for quite a long time afterwards.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 10 “Christopher Robin Gives a Pooh Party” (1926)More info about this quote: wist.info/milne-a-a/2842/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #aamilne #winniethepooh #kanga #roo #milk #drinking #eating, #mouth #overconfidence #mess
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Fighting back
Finally, on April 14, something happened:
Harvard decided to resist in far more public fashion.The Trump administration had demanded, as a condition of receiving $9 billion in grants over multiple years,
that Harvard reduce the power of student and faculty leaders,
vet every academic department for undefined "viewpoint diversity,"
run plagiarism checks on all faculty,
share hiring information with the administration,
shut down any program related to diversity or inclusion,
and audit particular departments for antisemitism,
including the Divinity School.(Numerous Jewish groups want nothing to do with the campaign,
writing in an open letter that
"our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all.")If you think this sounds a lot like government control,
giving the Trump administration the power to dictate hiring and teaching practices, you're not alone;Harvard president Alan Garber rejected the demands in a letter, saying,
"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.
Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."The Trump administration immediately responded by cutting billions in Harvard funding,
threatening the university's tax-exempt status,
and claiming it might block international students from attending Harvard.Perhaps Harvard's example will provide cover for other universities to make hard choices.
And these are hard choices.
But Columbia and Harvard have already shown that the only way you have a chance at getting the money back is to sell whatever soul your institution has left.
Given that, why not fight?
If you have to suffer, suffer for your deepest values.
"Resistance" does not mean a refusal to change, a digging in, a doubling down.
No matter what part of the political spectrum you inhabit, universities
—like most human institutions
—are "target-rich environments" for complaints.To see this, one has only to read about recent battles over affirmative action,
the Western canon,
"legacy" admissions,
the rise and fall of "theory" in the humanities,
Gaza/Palestine protests,
the "Varsity Blues" scandal,
critiques of "meritocracy,"
mandatory faculty "diversity statements,"
the staggering rise in tuition costs over the last few decades,
student deplatforming of invited speakers,
or the fact that so many students from elite institutions cannot imagine a higher calling than management consulting.Even top university officials acknowledge there are problems.
Famed Swiss theologian Karl #Barth lost his professorship and was forced to leave Germany in 1935
because he would not bend the knee to Adolf Hitler.He knew something about standing up for one's academic and spiritual values
—and about the importance of not letting any approach to the world ossify into a reactionary, bureaucratic conservatism
that punishes all attempts at change or dissent.The struggle for knowledge, truth, and justice requires forward movement even as the world changes,
as ideas and policies are tested,
and as cultures develop.Barth's phrase for this was
"Ecclesia semper reformanda est"
—the church must always be reformed
—and it applies just as well to the universities where he spent much of his career.As universities today face their own watershed moment of resistance,
they must still find ways to remain intellectually curious and open to the world.They must continue to change, always imperfectly but without fear.
It is important that their resistance not be partisan.
Universities can only benefit from broad-based social support,
and the idea that they are fighting
"against conservatives"
or "for Democrats"
will be deeply unhelpful.(Just as it would be if universities capitulated to government oversight of their faculty hires or gave in to "patriotic education.")
This is difficult when one is under attack,
as the natural reaction is to defend what currently exists.But the assault on the universities is about deeper issues than admissions policies
or the role of elite institutions in American life.It is about the rule of law,
freedom of speech,
scientific research,
and the very independence of the university
—things that should be able to attract broad social and judicial support
if schools do not retreat into ideology. -
Fighting back
Finally, on April 14, something happened:
Harvard decided to resist in far more public fashion.The Trump administration had demanded, as a condition of receiving $9 billion in grants over multiple years,
that Harvard reduce the power of student and faculty leaders,
vet every academic department for undefined "viewpoint diversity,"
run plagiarism checks on all faculty,
share hiring information with the administration,
shut down any program related to diversity or inclusion,
and audit particular departments for antisemitism,
including the Divinity School.(Numerous Jewish groups want nothing to do with the campaign,
writing in an open letter that
"our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all.")If you think this sounds a lot like government control,
giving the Trump administration the power to dictate hiring and teaching practices, you're not alone;Harvard president Alan Garber rejected the demands in a letter, saying,
"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.
Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."The Trump administration immediately responded by cutting billions in Harvard funding,
threatening the university's tax-exempt status,
and claiming it might block international students from attending Harvard.Perhaps Harvard's example will provide cover for other universities to make hard choices.
And these are hard choices.
But Columbia and Harvard have already shown that the only way you have a chance at getting the money back is to sell whatever soul your institution has left.
Given that, why not fight?
If you have to suffer, suffer for your deepest values.
"Resistance" does not mean a refusal to change, a digging in, a doubling down.
No matter what part of the political spectrum you inhabit, universities
—like most human institutions
—are "target-rich environments" for complaints.To see this, one has only to read about recent battles over affirmative action,
the Western canon,
"legacy" admissions,
the rise and fall of "theory" in the humanities,
Gaza/Palestine protests,
the "Varsity Blues" scandal,
critiques of "meritocracy,"
mandatory faculty "diversity statements,"
the staggering rise in tuition costs over the last few decades,
student deplatforming of invited speakers,
or the fact that so many students from elite institutions cannot imagine a higher calling than management consulting.Even top university officials acknowledge there are problems.
Famed Swiss theologian Karl #Barth lost his professorship and was forced to leave Germany in 1935
because he would not bend the knee to Adolf Hitler.He knew something about standing up for one's academic and spiritual values
—and about the importance of not letting any approach to the world ossify into a reactionary, bureaucratic conservatism
that punishes all attempts at change or dissent.The struggle for knowledge, truth, and justice requires forward movement even as the world changes,
as ideas and policies are tested,
and as cultures develop.Barth's phrase for this was
"Ecclesia semper reformanda est"
—the church must always be reformed
—and it applies just as well to the universities where he spent much of his career.As universities today face their own watershed moment of resistance,
they must still find ways to remain intellectually curious and open to the world.They must continue to change, always imperfectly but without fear.
It is important that their resistance not be partisan.
Universities can only benefit from broad-based social support,
and the idea that they are fighting
"against conservatives"
or "for Democrats"
will be deeply unhelpful.(Just as it would be if universities capitulated to government oversight of their faculty hires or gave in to "patriotic education.")
This is difficult when one is under attack,
as the natural reaction is to defend what currently exists.But the assault on the universities is about deeper issues than admissions policies
or the role of elite institutions in American life.It is about the rule of law,
freedom of speech,
scientific research,
and the very independence of the university
—things that should be able to attract broad social and judicial support
if schools do not retreat into ideology. -
Fighting back
Finally, on April 14, something happened:
Harvard decided to resist in far more public fashion.The Trump administration had demanded, as a condition of receiving $9 billion in grants over multiple years,
that Harvard reduce the power of student and faculty leaders,
vet every academic department for undefined "viewpoint diversity,"
run plagiarism checks on all faculty,
share hiring information with the administration,
shut down any program related to diversity or inclusion,
and audit particular departments for antisemitism,
including the Divinity School.(Numerous Jewish groups want nothing to do with the campaign,
writing in an open letter that
"our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all.")If you think this sounds a lot like government control,
giving the Trump administration the power to dictate hiring and teaching practices, you're not alone;Harvard president Alan Garber rejected the demands in a letter, saying,
"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.
Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."The Trump administration immediately responded by cutting billions in Harvard funding,
threatening the university's tax-exempt status,
and claiming it might block international students from attending Harvard.Perhaps Harvard's example will provide cover for other universities to make hard choices.
And these are hard choices.
But Columbia and Harvard have already shown that the only way you have a chance at getting the money back is to sell whatever soul your institution has left.
Given that, why not fight?
If you have to suffer, suffer for your deepest values.
"Resistance" does not mean a refusal to change, a digging in, a doubling down.
No matter what part of the political spectrum you inhabit, universities
—like most human institutions
—are "target-rich environments" for complaints.To see this, one has only to read about recent battles over affirmative action,
the Western canon,
"legacy" admissions,
the rise and fall of "theory" in the humanities,
Gaza/Palestine protests,
the "Varsity Blues" scandal,
critiques of "meritocracy,"
mandatory faculty "diversity statements,"
the staggering rise in tuition costs over the last few decades,
student deplatforming of invited speakers,
or the fact that so many students from elite institutions cannot imagine a higher calling than management consulting.Even top university officials acknowledge there are problems.
Famed Swiss theologian Karl #Barth lost his professorship and was forced to leave Germany in 1935
because he would not bend the knee to Adolf Hitler.He knew something about standing up for one's academic and spiritual values
—and about the importance of not letting any approach to the world ossify into a reactionary, bureaucratic conservatism
that punishes all attempts at change or dissent.The struggle for knowledge, truth, and justice requires forward movement even as the world changes,
as ideas and policies are tested,
and as cultures develop.Barth's phrase for this was
"Ecclesia semper reformanda est"
—the church must always be reformed
—and it applies just as well to the universities where he spent much of his career.As universities today face their own watershed moment of resistance,
they must still find ways to remain intellectually curious and open to the world.They must continue to change, always imperfectly but without fear.
It is important that their resistance not be partisan.
Universities can only benefit from broad-based social support,
and the idea that they are fighting
"against conservatives"
or "for Democrats"
will be deeply unhelpful.(Just as it would be if universities capitulated to government oversight of their faculty hires or gave in to "patriotic education.")
This is difficult when one is under attack,
as the natural reaction is to defend what currently exists.But the assault on the universities is about deeper issues than admissions policies
or the role of elite institutions in American life.It is about the rule of law,
freedom of speech,
scientific research,
and the very independence of the university
—things that should be able to attract broad social and judicial support
if schools do not retreat into ideology. -
Fighting back
Finally, on April 14, something happened:
Harvard decided to resist in far more public fashion.The Trump administration had demanded, as a condition of receiving $9 billion in grants over multiple years,
that Harvard reduce the power of student and faculty leaders,
vet every academic department for undefined "viewpoint diversity,"
run plagiarism checks on all faculty,
share hiring information with the administration,
shut down any program related to diversity or inclusion,
and audit particular departments for antisemitism,
including the Divinity School.(Numerous Jewish groups want nothing to do with the campaign,
writing in an open letter that
"our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all.")If you think this sounds a lot like government control,
giving the Trump administration the power to dictate hiring and teaching practices, you're not alone;Harvard president Alan Garber rejected the demands in a letter, saying,
"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.
Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."The Trump administration immediately responded by cutting billions in Harvard funding,
threatening the university's tax-exempt status,
and claiming it might block international students from attending Harvard.Perhaps Harvard's example will provide cover for other universities to make hard choices.
And these are hard choices.
But Columbia and Harvard have already shown that the only way you have a chance at getting the money back is to sell whatever soul your institution has left.
Given that, why not fight?
If you have to suffer, suffer for your deepest values.
"Resistance" does not mean a refusal to change, a digging in, a doubling down.
No matter what part of the political spectrum you inhabit, universities
—like most human institutions
—are "target-rich environments" for complaints.To see this, one has only to read about recent battles over affirmative action,
the Western canon,
"legacy" admissions,
the rise and fall of "theory" in the humanities,
Gaza/Palestine protests,
the "Varsity Blues" scandal,
critiques of "meritocracy,"
mandatory faculty "diversity statements,"
the staggering rise in tuition costs over the last few decades,
student deplatforming of invited speakers,
or the fact that so many students from elite institutions cannot imagine a higher calling than management consulting.Even top university officials acknowledge there are problems.
Famed Swiss theologian Karl #Barth lost his professorship and was forced to leave Germany in 1935
because he would not bend the knee to Adolf Hitler.He knew something about standing up for one's academic and spiritual values
—and about the importance of not letting any approach to the world ossify into a reactionary, bureaucratic conservatism
that punishes all attempts at change or dissent.The struggle for knowledge, truth, and justice requires forward movement even as the world changes,
as ideas and policies are tested,
and as cultures develop.Barth's phrase for this was
"Ecclesia semper reformanda est"
—the church must always be reformed
—and it applies just as well to the universities where he spent much of his career.As universities today face their own watershed moment of resistance,
they must still find ways to remain intellectually curious and open to the world.They must continue to change, always imperfectly but without fear.
It is important that their resistance not be partisan.
Universities can only benefit from broad-based social support,
and the idea that they are fighting
"against conservatives"
or "for Democrats"
will be deeply unhelpful.(Just as it would be if universities capitulated to government oversight of their faculty hires or gave in to "patriotic education.")
This is difficult when one is under attack,
as the natural reaction is to defend what currently exists.But the assault on the universities is about deeper issues than admissions policies
or the role of elite institutions in American life.It is about the rule of law,
freedom of speech,
scientific research,
and the very independence of the university
—things that should be able to attract broad social and judicial support
if schools do not retreat into ideology. -
Fighting back
Finally, on April 14, something happened:
Harvard decided to resist in far more public fashion.The Trump administration had demanded, as a condition of receiving $9 billion in grants over multiple years,
that Harvard reduce the power of student and faculty leaders,
vet every academic department for undefined "viewpoint diversity,"
run plagiarism checks on all faculty,
share hiring information with the administration,
shut down any program related to diversity or inclusion,
and audit particular departments for antisemitism,
including the Divinity School.(Numerous Jewish groups want nothing to do with the campaign,
writing in an open letter that
"our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all.")If you think this sounds a lot like government control,
giving the Trump administration the power to dictate hiring and teaching practices, you're not alone;Harvard president Alan Garber rejected the demands in a letter, saying,
"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.
Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."The Trump administration immediately responded by cutting billions in Harvard funding,
threatening the university's tax-exempt status,
and claiming it might block international students from attending Harvard.Perhaps Harvard's example will provide cover for other universities to make hard choices.
And these are hard choices.
But Columbia and Harvard have already shown that the only way you have a chance at getting the money back is to sell whatever soul your institution has left.
Given that, why not fight?
If you have to suffer, suffer for your deepest values.
"Resistance" does not mean a refusal to change, a digging in, a doubling down.
No matter what part of the political spectrum you inhabit, universities
—like most human institutions
—are "target-rich environments" for complaints.To see this, one has only to read about recent battles over affirmative action,
the Western canon,
"legacy" admissions,
the rise and fall of "theory" in the humanities,
Gaza/Palestine protests,
the "Varsity Blues" scandal,
critiques of "meritocracy,"
mandatory faculty "diversity statements,"
the staggering rise in tuition costs over the last few decades,
student deplatforming of invited speakers,
or the fact that so many students from elite institutions cannot imagine a higher calling than management consulting.Even top university officials acknowledge there are problems.
Famed Swiss theologian Karl #Barth lost his professorship and was forced to leave Germany in 1935
because he would not bend the knee to Adolf Hitler.He knew something about standing up for one's academic and spiritual values
—and about the importance of not letting any approach to the world ossify into a reactionary, bureaucratic conservatism
that punishes all attempts at change or dissent.The struggle for knowledge, truth, and justice requires forward movement even as the world changes,
as ideas and policies are tested,
and as cultures develop.Barth's phrase for this was
"Ecclesia semper reformanda est"
—the church must always be reformed
—and it applies just as well to the universities where he spent much of his career.As universities today face their own watershed moment of resistance,
they must still find ways to remain intellectually curious and open to the world.They must continue to change, always imperfectly but without fear.
It is important that their resistance not be partisan.
Universities can only benefit from broad-based social support,
and the idea that they are fighting
"against conservatives"
or "for Democrats"
will be deeply unhelpful.(Just as it would be if universities capitulated to government oversight of their faculty hires or gave in to "patriotic education.")
This is difficult when one is under attack,
as the natural reaction is to defend what currently exists.But the assault on the universities is about deeper issues than admissions policies
or the role of elite institutions in American life.It is about the rule of law,
freedom of speech,
scientific research,
and the very independence of the university
—things that should be able to attract broad social and judicial support
if schools do not retreat into ideology. -
On the 2nd day of #12DaysOfComics, @brawl2099 gave to me…
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ‘89 #6 & Alan Moore’s Tom Strong #1
A 2-for-1!
The Reavers! Roughhouse! Roma! And Tom Strong is super fun. -
On the 2nd day of #12DaysOfComics, @brawl2099 gave to me…
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ‘89 #6 & Alan Moore’s Tom Strong #1
A 2-for-1!
The Reavers! Roughhouse! Roma! And Tom Strong is super fun.