Welcome to Monday, June 27. Today’s Briefing was written by Sarah Brown, with contributions from Jess Engebretson and Julia Piper. Write to us: sarah.brown@chronicle.com.

The end of “Roe v. Wade.”

Roe v. Wade is no more. On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 precedent that established a woman’s constitutional right to abortion, as had been widely expected since a draft opinion on the Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health case was leaked in May. Half the states are poised, or have already begun, to severely restrict abortion access.

The 6-to-3 ruling on the Mississippi case, which has reverted decisions on abortion’s legality and access back to the states, provoked intense reactions across higher education, as the ramifications for college students, campus health centers, and medical schools became clear. Our Katie Mangan has more.

In a recent essay for the Review, the legal scholar Janet Koven Levit also takes stock of what this sweeping change means for higher education. “What will our colleges look like,” she asks, “when large numbers of our students live with the possibility that local governments will force them to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term, against their will?”

The repercussions of the new laws will extend beyond those seeking abortion care for themselves. In states with so-called bounty laws, like Texas and Oklahoma, citizens have a financial incentive to bring civil suits against anyone who “aids or abets” an illegal abortion. Under such laws, a faculty member who helps a distraught student obtain a banned abortion risks being sued by, well, anyone aware of that assistance. Resident advisers, hall mates, and even roommates may seek to earn $10,000 bounties by bringing civil suits based on a classmate’s private and often excruciating decision.

This new reality, Koven Levit argues, profoundly threatens the culture of trust and free expression for which residential colleges are rightly celebrated. So where do we go from here? Read Janet Koven Levit‘s essay here.

Meanwhile, some states with majority-Democrat legislatures may soon require public colleges to offer abortion pills. Massachusetts is considering such a bill now, following the lead of California, which passed a similar law in 2019.

The takeaway: Colleges in both red and blue states will have to respond to the curtailing of abortion access — given that many women seek abortions when they’re in college, and that many people on campuses have strong feelings about the issue.

Stat of the day.

1 in 4

That’s roughly the share of women who are expected to have an abortion before the end of their childbearing years, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research group. The most common demographic profile of someone receiving an abortion? A woman in her twenties who has attended some college.

Quick hits.

• American University officials are investigating eight law students for allegedly sending “harassing and threatening messages” in a class group chat last month about the Supreme Court’s leaked decision on abortion rights. A student who identified himself as a Republican in the group chat filed the complaint. (The Chronicle)
• A little-known provision in a U.S. Senate bill would require institutions that receive more than $5 million a year in federal research money to collect information on “any gifts from a foreign source” by “faculty, professional staff, and others engaged in research.” The Association of American Universities wrote in a letter to senators this month that the proposal is overly broad and “counterproductive.” (Science)
• The parents of a former Bowling Green State University student have sued the institution, alleging that officials there were aware of illicit hazing activities at fraternities — including at Pi Kappa Alpha, the organization that Stone Foltz was rushing when he died last year. (The Columbus Dispatch)

Graduate-admissions teams are under the gun.

Amid the widespread woe about declining enrollment over the past few years, one bright spot has remained: Graduate enrollment has boomed. But a new analysis suggests that colleges’ growth targets for graduate programs are often unrealistic — and that large numbers of graduate-admissions professionals are considering leaving the field. Our Megan Zahneis has the story.

Comings and goings.

• Lydia Contreras, managing director of diversity in the office of the executive vice president and provost at the University of Texas at Austin, has been named vice provost for faculty diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
• James Annarelli, dean of students, will become interim president of Eckerd College on August 1. He succeeds Damián J. Fernández, who announced his resignation from the presidency on June 10.
• Scott Turpen, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming, has been named acting dean of the college.

Footnote.

Some academics who disagreed with the court’s decision to reverse Roe vowed on Friday not to attend conferences or give talks in states where abortion is banned. On Twitter, one professor put it this way: “I will not bring my research dollars or my expertise to places where I do not have rights.” Another called for academic departments to “support the reproductive rights of their students.”

How are you reacting to the decision? Please write to my colleague Nell Gluckman, who is following how the ruling will affect colleges for The Chronicle: nell.gluckman@chronicle.com.