Good morning, and welcome to Friday, March 21. Rick Seltzer wrote today’s Briefing. Julia Piper compiled Comings and Goings. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

The wait is over

An executive order to abolish the U.S. Department of Education threatened to become the second Trump administration’s infrastructure week — often teased, just as often delayed. Then the order arrived on Thursday, as The Chronicle’s Eric Kelderman reports.

President Trump signed an executive order aimed at closing the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday. Drafts of the order have long been circulating after Trump promised on the campaign trail to dismantle the department.

The order tells Education Secretary Linda McMahon to move toward a shutdown without interrupting services and benefits that people use.

• It also tells the secretary to uphold a “requirement that any program or activity receiving Federal assistance terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.”

McMahon has already taken a key step: layoffs. Just last week, the department announced layoffs and voluntary departures, slashing its work force by about half, or some 1,900 people.

The department has failed in its mission, the White House argues: by not improving test scores, spending money on “progressive social experiments,” and by adding layers of bureaucracy.

Remember: Only Congress can fully close the department. The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday acknowledged that Trump can’t unilaterally disband the agency, saying that a small version of the department will run “critical functions,” The Washington Post reported.

Republicans have been building to this point for days.

• Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “Top-down, one-size-fits-all systems will never meet the needs of every child.” (Fox News)
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: “Through block grants, the states will be better positioned to invest federal dollars in programs that drive student performance without having to meet burdensome reporting requirements.” (The Wall Street Journal)
• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox: “Some critics worry that without national oversight, some states might fall behind. But that’s how federalism works. Our founders expected states to try different approaches and learn from one another. Innovation happens when states are free to lead, not when Washington imposes one-size-fits-all solutions.” (The Washington Examiner)

But critics lined up to blast it:

• Rep. Robert C. (Bobby) Scott, Democrat of Virginia and ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce: “Legality aside, dismantling ED will exacerbate existing disparities, reduce accountability, and put low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, rural students, and English as a Second Language (ESL) students at risk.” (Full statement)
• Abby Shafroth, co-director of advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center: “Tens of millions of students and families rely on the functioning of federal student aid programs to pay for college and job training programs and to manage their federal student loans.” (Full statement)
• Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers: “See you in court.” (Full Statement)

The bigger questions: Executive order or not, the Trump administration faces the same questions it did after it cut the Education Department’s staff last week: Will core services like Federal Student Aid, civil-rights enforcement, and data gathering improve or decline?

📱 Read Eric’s full story here: After Cutting Half Its Staff, Trump Signs an Order Directing the Education Dept. to Close

Federal news dump

• Georgetown U. researcher detained: Immigration officials accused Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow, of “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media.” Suri, a citizen of India who is married to a Palestinian American, was taken into custody on Monday, told his visa was being revoked, and taken to Louisiana. Suri’s lawyer says he was targeted because of his wife’s identity and “constitutionally protected speech.” (Associated Press)
• French scientist denied entry: Immigration officers at an airport searched the electronic devices of a researcher who was traveling to a conference near Houston earlier this month, according to France’s minister of higher education and research. The researcher was denied entry to the United States and expelled, allegedly because the officers found exchanges in which he “expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy.” (The Guardian)
• UC ditches diversity statements: The University of California will no longer require those who apply for faculty positions to submit written plans for supporting racial and other types of diversity, regents said on Wednesday. It was the first time they met since the federal government opened an antidiscrimination investigation into the system over allegations of antisemitism. (Los Angeles Times, U.S. Department of Justice)
• Dartmouth hires prominent Republican: Dartmouth College hired Matthew Raymer as its top lawyer and senior vice president. He will serve on President Sian Leah Beilock’s leadership team and oversee the institution’s Office of Visa and Immigration Services. Raymer is a former top lawyer at the Republican National Committee who backed President Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship in January. A college spokesperson said Raymer’s writing on birthright citizenship was a “scholarly legal argument” that’s separate from his responsibilities at the institution. (Politico, The Federalist)

Stat of the day

3 percent

That’s how much philanthropic contributions to U.S. colleges increased in the fiscal year ending in June 2024, after adjusting for inflation, according to the latest Voluntary Support of Education report from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Total contributions to higher ed grew to $61.5 billion.

Quick hits

• Former football coach indicted: Matt Weiss, 42, was indicted on two-dozen federal charges of unauthorized access to computers and identity theft on Thursday. Between 2015 and early 2023, he accessed athlete databases at more than 100 colleges, downloaded personally identifiable information, and used that information to access online accounts for thousands of athletes, students, and alumni, prosecutors said. He then allegedly downloaded intimate photographs and videos that were meant to be kept private. Weiss was fired as co-offensive coordinator for the University of Michigan’s football team in January 2023. (U.S. Attorney’s Office)
• Kentucky governor vetoes anti-DEI bill: Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said that a Republican-backed bill that would defund public colleges’ diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives “is about hate.” The bill would also bar courses that the state deems indoctrinate students in “discriminatory concepts” and prevent diversity statements from being required. Lawmakers still have time to override the veto. (Lexington Herald Leader)
• Arkansas higher-ed overhaul becomes law: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, on Tuesday signed legislation that bans diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at public colleges, prevents excused absences for students who are attending political protests, and increases some scholarship funding. (KARK)
• Controversial Ohio megabill advances: House Republicans passed a public higher-ed overhaul that would create rules for classroom discussions about “controversial beliefs,” set up post-tenure reviews, bar unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten trustees’ terms, require students to take a civic literacy course covering “the American economic system and capitalism,” ban faculty strikes, and bar diversity, equity, and inclusion measures. The measure now heads back to the Senate, which must decide whether to concur with changes made in the House. (Ohio Capital Journal, The Chronicle)
• Seattle deal to close earlier than expected: Seattle University will close on its acquisition of the financially struggling Cornish College of the Arts in May, rather than next year. All Cornish staff and faculty members, almost 130 people, will be laid off, with some to be rehired by Seattle University and some due severance packages. The deal requires Seattle University to run a “Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University” for at least a decade. (The Seattle Times)

Weekend reads

• Why Hasn’t Columbia U. Sued to Protect Itself? (The Chronicle)
• Yes, the U. of Phoenix Sale Is Still Stalled (The Chronicle)
• How a University Fights an Authoritarian Regime (The Chronicle Review)
• Trump’s Battles With Colleges Could Change American Culture for a Generation (The New York Times)
• How “Race-Neutral” Can Universities Really Be? (NPR)
• Why Are Christian Colleges Fighting Culture Wars? Fear. (Sojourners)
• Utah State’s President Lasted Less Than 2 Years, But She’s Not Alone. Why University Leaders Here Have Much Shorter Tenures. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Want to Go to College? Pay the College Board (Bloomberg)

Comings and goings

• David Douglass, executive vice president and provost at the College of Idaho, has been named president. He will succeed Doug Brigham, who will become chief executive officer.
• April Kaull, executive director of communications at West Virginia University, has been named associate vice president for strategic communications at Carnegie Mellon University.
• Kristin Curry Greenwood, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Mercy University, has been named to the post permanently.
• Marlene Tromp, president of Boise State University, has been named president of the University of Vermont.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote

College basketball’s annual extravaganza is in full swing this weekend, as dozens of teams start competing in the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments. But the prospect of multiple games on television at once may not be enough to satisfy the appetites of the most voracious fans.

At least, that seems to be the theory behind Hutty, the “second screen buddy for college basketball” from none other than Pizza Hut. The restaurant chain, already quick to point out that it’s “the official and only pizza sponsor of college basketball’s biggest tournament,” says wide majorities of fans scroll on their mobile devices while watching the games. Hutty is apparently there to step in when your friends aren’t texting back about the latest blowout or buzzer beater — serving up “real-time reactions” and hot takes.

Of course, Hutty also just happens to promote Pizza Hut offers. Expect discount codes, free side dishes, and the chance to win such desirable prizes as free pizza for a year or Pizza Hut swag. No word yet on offers of tuition discounts.