Daily Briefing

Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday, April 29. Rick Seltzer wrote today’s Briefing. Julia Piper compiled Transitions. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

Mutual defense

President Trump is set to mark the first 100 days of his second term tonight with a speech at Macomb Community College, in Michigan. Let’s check the state of his clashes with higher education.

About 10 private colleges formed a collective to stand against the Trump administration, its attempts to cut research funding, and its efforts to erode academic independence, according to The Wall Street Journal. Members are Ivy League colleges and other top research universities, mostly in states controlled by Democrats.

• Talks picked up after the government made sweeping demands of Harvard University earlier this month.
• Members have discussed how to respond to different demands and red lines members shouldn’t cross, such as giving up academic independence.
• The goal is for each college to avoid creating an unwelcome precedent that others would feel pressure to follow.
• Trump’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism has warned at least one college not to collude with others in defense against its demands. The administration worries it could become harder to negotiate with institutions that are united.
• International education has emerged as a point of weakness during colleges’ scenario planning. Institutions don’t feel ready to respond if the government tries to cut off their ability to enroll international students or hire faculty members from abroad.
• The group’s ranks could grow. One member said the current roster is a “ground zero of resistance.”

Colleges quietly supported students whose visas were thrown into limbo when the administration deleted records from a key federal database. College advisers told affected students to hire lawyers and keep going to class while trying to protect their visa statuses in court, Reuters reported.

• Dirty data alert: When the Trump administration on Friday said it was restoring the visa registrations, it acknowledged that it started terminating records after linking the federal student-visa database with FBI files that list encounters of varying significance with law-enforcement officers, according to Politico.

Faculty pushback keeps gaining traction. Faculty-governance groups at Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota voted last week to support a mutual-defense compact to respond to attacks from the government, WCMH and KSTP reported. Faculty groups at more than half of the Big Ten’s 18 members now back the idea, our Megan Zahneis reports. It would still need support from boards and administrators, but Michigan State University’s president has told its student newspaper he expects leaders to consider it.

And, of course, some college leaders have found their voice, despite the perceived threat of retribution. More than 400 have signed a statement against government overreach from the American Association of Colleges & Universities. Though many of the signatories are in Democratic powerhouses, some leaders in Republican-led states have added their John Hancocks.

• “I’m concerned about what we’ve seen and what we’re experiencing,” Brian Sandoval, president of the University of Nevada at Reno and a former Republican governor, told The New York Times about signing on.

The Trump administration has started to show a softer stance on rare occasions. One official told Politico that the University of California at Berkeley would receive “a handshake” if it responds in good faith to a government investigation into foreign-funding disclosures.

But it’s pushing the limits in many cases. On Monday, the blitz against Ivy League institutions continued:

• The University of Pennsylvania: The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found that Penn violated Title IX’s prohibitions on sex-based discrimination by allowing trans athletes to participate on women’s teams. A proposed resolution asks the university to state that it will comply with Title IX, restore any records to non-trans athletes that are held by trans athletes, and apologize to female athletes.
• Harvard University: Two federal agencies announced investigations into the university and the Harvard Law Review, alleging they violated civil-rights law by considering race when selecting articles for publication.

Federal officials have been closing investigations at breakneck speed, compressing highly codified processes that used to take much longer, as The Chronicle’s Katherine Mangan and Jasper Smith report. The Penn Title IX investigation was only announced in February. The administration cut off $400 million in grants to Columbia University four days after telling the institution it was conducting a “comprehensive review” as part of an antisemitism investigation.

• Institutions have started suing, accusing the administration of giving short shrift to laws dictating how investigations must be conducted.

The bigger picture: Expect the wealthiest and most prominent institutions to continue to wage the most visible battles. Leaders at many other colleges doubt they’re in position to directly rebuff the federal government. For example, as it faces a federal investigation into allegations it failed to stop antisemitism on campus, George Washington University has signaled that it might have to give in to at least some federal demands to protect its access to federal financial aid, The Washington Post reported.

For more from The Chronicle:

• 📱 Read the full story from Katherine and Jasper: Higher Education Confronts a New Legal Landscape
• 📱 Read Megan’s full story: More and More Faculty Groups Want Their Colleges to Stand Together Against Trump
• 🔎 Stay up on the latest: Tracking Trump’s Higher-Ed Agenda
  

More federal news

• House Republicans detail higher-ed changes: A bill headed for committee markup today would cut the number of federal student-loan repayment options to two new programs and cap borrowing for college at $50,000 for undergraduates, $100,000 for graduate students, and $150,000 for students in professional programs. It would also sharply restrict graduate lending, make short-term programs eligible for Pell Grants, and require students to be enrolled for at least 30 semester hours each year to qualify for Pell, among other changes. The bill comes as Republicans seek to slash billions in spending to offset tax cuts and other priorities. (Committee on Education & the Workforce, Politico)
• Expect student-lending fight: The wonks let loose in anticipation of Republicans trying to reshape student lending. Arnold Ventures called for giving students more information about the expected payoff of graduate education, capping lending, and refusing to lend for programs that don’t provide a return on investment. The Student Borrower Protection Center argued that future students will be pushed to take on risky debts if loan-program eliminations aren’t paired with reforms to make graduate school more affordable. (Arnold Ventures, Student Borrower Protection Center)
• CFPB drops private student-loan case: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved to kill a pending settlement struck late in the Biden administration that would have stopped some debt collections and distributed $2.25 million to some borrowers. The Trump administration told a court it agreed to permanently dismiss a case against the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, which own and collect on billions of dollars in private student-loan debt. The agency had previously alleged the trusts filed false and misleading records, and that they tried to collect on debts later than was allowed. (Politico, CFPB)

Quick hits

• Wellesley strike ends without deal: Non-tenure-track professors called off their work stoppage after nearly a month, returning to classrooms last Friday even though they didn’t secure a new contract or the pay raises, lighter course loads, and job security they sought. A member of the bargaining committee said union members went back to work to keep members from losing health-insurance access and to stem concerns that noncitizen faculty members could lose their visas due to the walkout. The strike turned bitter after administrators asked nonstriking faculty members to open extra seats in their classes, which striking professors saw as an attempt to push their peers to cross picket lines. (Boston.com, The Chronicle)
• Divestment advocates turn to hunger strike: Last week, 10 students at Occidental College started a hunger strike to try to draw attention to demands that the California liberal-arts institution divest from weapons manufacturers with Israeli connections. They’re also demanding that Occidental add protections for international students. A similar hunger strike at nearby Chapman University ended after 10 days in April without administrators making any concessions. (Los Angeles Times)
• Eighteen months, $661,800 in presidential spending: Elizabeth (Betsy) Cantwell ran up the tab in her short stint leading Utah State University by spending on travel, new cars, an apartment in Salt Lake City, and a $750 bidet for her office, according to receipts obtained through a public-records request. Cantwell was continuing to remodel her office shortly before announcing in February that she would leave to become president of Washington State University in April. Utah State’s board chair noted some spending is normal for a new president, added that the board doesn’t approve day-to-day expenditures, and said a policy review is underway. The spending came on top of Cantwell’s $581,585 salary. (The Salt Lake Tribune, Washington State University)

State of the states

• Florida’s governor flexes muscles: The University of Florida called off plans to hire a new dean after Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said candidates were out of step with the state’s stance against diversity, equity, and inclusion work. The governor’s hands-on approach to higher education has upset Eric Silagy, a member of the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s universities. Silagy says he hasn’t been briefed on DeSantis’s Department of Government Efficiency, even though it’s been directed to scrutinize the state universities. (The Chronicle, WUSF)
• Arkansas won’t tax athlete pay-for-play: College athletes won’t owe state income tax on revenue-sharing payments they receive from their institutions or on money made through name, image, and likeness deals after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, signed exemptions into law on Friday. The new law also shields financial information about payments to athletes from the state’s public-records laws. Several other states have weighed similar measures in hopes that doing so could help teams recruit top players. (On3)
• Illinois starts new student-loan program: The state treasurer’s office is touting the “Funding U Illinois No-Cosigner Loan” as a way for residents who don’t have a co-signer to borrow for college, even if their credit histories would not attract traditional lenders. It’s intended for students who need more financial aid after tapping out other loan, grant, and scholarship offerings. The loans come with fixed rates between 7.99 percent and 9.49 percent, which financial-aid experts say can be lower than private student loans. (WBEZ)

Police reports

• Shooting kills one in North Carolina: A 24-year-old man who was not a student was killed shortly after midnight on Sunday at Elizabeth City State University’s Yard Fest celebration. Four people, including three students, sustained gunshot wounds, and two students were injured in “subsequent commotion.” (WRAL, USA Today)
• Classes go on in Illinois after Sunday shooting: Illinois State University closed its student center and canceled Monday events there after a Sunday-night fight and shooting at the building’s entryway. One person who was not a student was shot, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries. (WAND)
• Purdue train crashes, killing one: The Boilermaker Special, a vehicle that looks like a train locomotive and serves as a Purdue University mascot, experienced a “possible tire malfunction” on Thursday, crossed a highway median, and hit a passenger vehicle going the opposite direction, according to a local sheriff’s office. The driver of the passenger vehicle was killed. Two Purdue students were treated at a hospital and released. (ABC News)
• Washington State U. fires two after Trump hat fight: The university yanked teaching responsibilities from a 34-year-old graduate student and terminated a 24-year-old staff member after they were charged with misdemeanor assault following a February fight outside of a popular off-campus bar. Surveillance footage showed the incident started when the graduate student ripped a “Trump 2024 TAKE AMERICA BACK” hat from the head of the president of the university’s College Republicans chapter. (The Seattle Times)

Transitions

• Jim Hess has been named president of Oklahoma State University, after serving as interim president since February.
• Jill V. Hamm, interim dean of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since May 2024, has been named to the post permanently.
• Thomas Smith, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the Catholic University of America, has been named provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Providence College.
• William D. Underwood, president of Mercer University, plans to step down and return to the law school faculty full time.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com. You can also find Transitions online here.

Footnote

You may remember the social-media scourge of bed parties. As the Footnote warned in March, an alarming number of families have somehow been convinced to celebrate the arrival of acceptance letters from so-called dream colleges by posting images from bedrooms lavished by “the types of items pushed by the dormitory-industrial complex.”

Now, left-out high-school seniors who see their peers crowing from their comforters can turn the tables with some comfort food. Try a slice of the rejection cake, which forlorn students adorn with flags from first-choice colleges that have forsaken them.

“If you’re applying to a hard college and you’re seeing all these acceptance videos, it’s going to hurt, because it’s like, ‘Am I the only one rejected? Am I not good enough?’” Ceci Skala, a senior in Needham, Mass., told USA Today. “You don’t see all the videos of everybody else getting rejected.”

Skala and her friends also posted a commitment cake adorned by the institutions they plan to attend this fall. Whether their confectionary commentary was homemade or store-bought, it’s a good bet they spent less than they would have on a bed party. One bed-party brood recently reported spending $32 to stage a room with balloons … and $52 on helium to fill them.

Decide for yourself whether the performative instinct cheapens the process of choosing an education.