Daily Briefing

Good morning, and welcome to Friday, June 27. Camila Gomez wrote the top of today’s Briefing. Scott Carlson wrote the Footnote. Julia Piper compiled Transitions. Brock Read wrote the rest. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

Juneteenth put universities at a crossroads

Amid federal and state crackdowns on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, colleges found themselves in a dilemma last week on Juneteenth.

On college campuses and elsewhere, there’s fresh unease about cultural celebrations. Even honoring a federal holiday like Juneteenth might be interpreted as a DEI initiative and spark blowback, experts told the Daily Briefing.

Juneteenth refers to June 19, 1865, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. While it’s been an African American holiday for generations, Congress voted to make it a federal holiday in 2021.

• Quotable: “Anything that sounds like it has to do with diversity, equity, and inclusion will pretty much be placed on the backburner. And that is true for Juneteenth celebrations,” said Keisha N. Blain, a professor of history and Africana Studies at Brown University.

Since January 2024, at least 350 colleges have dismantled offices and programs focused on promoting diversity or supporting particular identity groups, according to The Chronicle’s tracker.

Michigan State University canceled a Lunar New Year event in February, the same week President Trump signed two anti-DEI executive orders.

• Trump’s orders “have prompted feelings of uncertainty and hesitation about gathering for events that highlight cultural traditions and communities,” a Michigan State dean wrote in an email explaining the decision.
• University officials later apologized and said that the cancellation had been an “overreaction.”
• Michigan lawmakers have not banned DEI efforts, but the state’s colleges are feeling broader anti-DEI pressures: The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor recently ended its vast diversity-focused bureaucracy.

Many colleges hosted Juneteenth events as usual, including Michigan State. The university held its fifth such celebration, which is designed to “recognize the federal holiday and enhance educational opportunities to engage in U.S. history,” a spokesperson said.

Kent State University, in Ohio, also held its fifth annual Juneteenth Jubilee. The event was organized by a committee of faculty, staff, and students, according to a university spokesperson.

The Kent State celebration went on despite a state climate that’s hostile to DEI. The university is closing its Women’s Center, LGBTQ+ Center, and E. Timothy Moore Student Multicultural Center at the end of the month to comply with a new law banning DEI efforts.

But at some institutions in red states, Juneteenth celebrations were absent.

• Florida International University held a “Freedom Day Celebration” in 2024. This year, the event is not listed in university calendars and hasn’t been promoted across social media. FIU shuttered its DEI office to comply with state laws passed in 2023.
• Indiana State University’s Charles E. Brown African American Cultural Center hosted a Juneteenth community gathering in 2024. But in May, Republican Gov. Mike Braun signed a new law banning public colleges from having DEI offices. The university then removed “African American” from the center’s name, and its website is offline for “updates.”
• Spokespeople for both universities did not reply to The Chronicle’s requests for comment.

Remember: Trump’s anti-DEI directives are being challenged in court.

• His two executive orders are currently in effect, after an appeals court declined to extend a preliminary injunction back in March.
• But two Education Department documents interpreting those orders — one of which suggested that colleges could not offer any program or activity based on race — remain blocked by a court ruling in late April.

Universities weren’t the only ones pulling away from Juneteenth celebrations. CNN reported that cities also rolled back celebrations, with some organizers saying that safety concerns and resistance to DEI policies had played a role.

With federal and state funding at stake, colleges are scared to step on the wrong toes. David Ponton, the director of the Institute on Black Life at the University of South Florida, said higher-ed leaders fear drawing any “unwanted attention.”

But the retrenchment sends a clear message to Black community members, Ponton said. “It communicates that we are acceptable sacrifices … that our feeling of belonging, that our feeling of being valued, that all of those things are acceptable sacrifices to make,” he said.

The bigger picture: Blain, the Brown professor, said she sees a slippery slope, where canceled Juneteenth celebrations could signal future classroom censorship. “What that translates to,” Blain said, “is that I can’t teach courses on African American history, that I can’t teach courses on African American women’s history.”

A new accreditor aims to enter the fray

What do we know about the Commission for Public Higher Education, the new consortium of six public university systems pledging to create an accrediting agency? Not a heck of a lot, writes our Eric Kelderman. At a press conference announcing the effort Thursday, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis spent more time bemoaning the state of higher education — and the accrediting “juntas” he holds responsible for it — than describing how the new organization might work. A few early details:

• It’s a partnership of Southern institutions: The State University System of Florida is joined in the consortium by the Texas A&M University system, the University System of Georgia, the University of North Carolina system, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Tennessee system.
• Its goals don’t yet sound all that different from any accreditor’s boilerplate: “ensuring institutions provide high-quality, high-value programs, use student data to drive decisions, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process,” said Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the Florida system, in a news release.
• The Trump administration is in the loop. Rodrigues said staffers are conferring with White House officials.
• Still unanswered: Will campuses in the participating university systems even seek accreditation from the new commission?

Keep in mind: It could take years for a new accrediting agency to earn federal recognition. President Trump wants to expedite the approval process, but the administration has yet to follow up an executive order stating that intent with any new rulemaking to change Education Department regulations.

Read Eric’s full story: 6 State University Systems Are Partnering to Create a New Accreditor. Most Details Are TBD.

Federal news

• Trump administration pressures UVa to oust its leader: The Department of Justice has privately demanded that the University of Virginia remove its president, James E. Ryan, as a condition of closing an investigation into the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The department has accused Ryan of not doing enough to shutter DEI programs at UVa, echoing criticisms levied by the Jefferson Council, an alumni-led conservative advocacy group. Gregory W. Brown, a Justice Department lawyer who has called for Ryan’s ouster, is a UVa alumnus with ties to the council. (The New York Times, The Chronicle)
• Feds investigate UC hiring practices: The Department of Justice on Thursday opened an investigation into “potential race- and sex-based discrimination” in hiring practices at institutions across the University of California system. In a letter of notice, department lawyers cited a system strategic-planning document — which said UC “is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty, both underrepresented minorities and female faculty” — as evidence of possible violations of Title VII, the federal law prohibiting employment discrimination. (U.S. Department of Justice)
• Education Dept. ordered to rehire OCR staff: U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction reinstating more than 200 employees of the department’s Office for Civil Rights, which the Trump administration had cut by half. Noting that no new investigations have begun since Trump’s inauguration “and that existing complaints have been paused almost entirely,” Joun concluded that “OCR has abdicated its enforcement duties.” In a message to laid-off workers, who are now on administrative leave, the department said it would appeal the decision. (Higher Ed Dive, The Chronicle)
• Harvard resumes talks with feds: The university’s president, Alan M. Garber, confirmed to a group of donors Monday that Harvard has resumed discussions with the Trump administration. He declined to say whether the university was close to striking a deal to restore some of the roughly $3 billion in federal funding stripped this year by the White House. Professors have shared mixed views of whether Harvard should come back to the negotiating table. (The Harvard Crimson)
• Republican Rep. questions college chiefs on antisemitism: Tim Walberg, of Michigan, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, posted letters he sent Tuesday to the presidents of DePaul University, Haverford College, and California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, quizzing them about their response to incidents of alleged antisemitism. The three leaders were grilled by the committee at a hearing in May, the fourth time in 17 months college presidents had been called to testify about campus antisemitism. Walberg singled out the testimony of Haverford’s president, Wendy Raymond, as “very disappointing.” (House Committee on Education and the Workforce, The Chronicle)

Quick hits

• Cyberattack at Columbia: Widespread digital outages capsized Columbia University on Tuesday and Wednesday, shutting down systems like Zoom, internal email, and online course catalogs. University officials said there was no evidence that sensitive data had been compromised. Meanwhile, an image of a smiling President Trump appeared on some screens across campus, though a Columbia official said those displays could not be conclusively linked with the cyberattack. (The New York Times)
• Cuts coming to U. of Baltimore: The university, part of the public University System of Maryland, is planning an 8-percent budget cut that will include personnel reductions, its chief financial officer said in a message to faculty and staff. Enrollment has dropped by half over the last decade. (The Baltimore Banner)
• Student protesters sue Wayne State: A group of current and former students sued the university Tuesday, arguing that it violated their rights by dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment in May 2024. Citing security concerns, the university shifted briefly to remote learning and arrested 12 students when it shut down the protest. The students say the police used excessive force. A Wayne State spokesperson declined to comment on the suit but said the university supports free expression. (The Detroit News)
• Bid to repeal Ohio’s Senate Bill 1 fails: A petition sought to put a referendum on the November ballot that would have given voters a chance to strike down the bill, which bans diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and faculty strikes at public colleges. But it fell short of the 250,000 signatures needed. The bill becomes law on Friday. (Associated Press)

Weekend Reads

• ‘A Banner Year for Censorship’: More States Are Restricting Classroom Discussions on Race and Gender (The Chronicle)
• Meet Students Where They Are? Maybe Not.(The Chronicle Review)
• The Latest Awful Ed-Tech Buzzword: ‘Learnings’ (The Chronicle Review)
• William F. Buckley Jr. and the Origins of the Battle Against ‘Woke’ (The Chronicle Review)
• How My Reporting on the Columbia Protests Led to My Deportation (The New Yorker)
• A Military Ethics Professor Resigns in Protest (The Atlantic)
• 1.2 Million Fake Students Applied to California Community Colleges Last Year. What’s Being Done? (Los Angeles Times)
• The GOP Megabill Takes Aim at Universities — Except for This Conservative Christian Cocollege (Politico)
• College Students Are Getting New Neighbors on Campus: Their Grandparents (Fast Company)
• What the Class of 2025 Has to Say About the State of Higher Education (NPR)
• Here’s What the University of Utah Found to Shut Down a Fraternity: A Strip-Club Visit, Death Videos, and More Hazing (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Transitions

Manya Whitaker has been named president of Colorado College, after serving as interim president for the past year.

RoSusan D. Bartee, chair and a professor in the department of educational leadership and higher education in the College of Community Innovation and Education at the University of Central Florida, has been named dean of the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education at Prairie View A&M University.

Steven Schreiner, provost and vice president for academic affairs and a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Manhattan University, has been named the inaugural dean of the School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematics at the College of Charleston.

Jennifer Glowienka, senior vice president for academic affairs at Carroll College, in Montana, and Bishop Austin Vetter, bishop of the Diocese of Helena, have been named co-interim presidents of the college.

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

Footnote

Tenure has a way of keeping professors around, but George K. Schweitzer now holds a record of service that may be tough to top: Schweitzer, a professor of chemistry, spent 76 years and 106 days at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, which Guinness World Records this week declared to be the longest career as a professor.

Schweitzer, who died last September at 99, taught tens of thousands of students during his career, by his estimate. “What keeps me going is my love of investigation and my insatiable desire to learn and to know things and to discover new things — and to have the joy of communicating them to students,” he once said. “It’s just as rewarding as you can imagine.”

Schweitzer embodied the ideal of the lifelong learner, his colleagues said. He not only had bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees in chemistry, but also advanced degrees in religion and history. The university has an extensive dedication to the late professor on its site.

Schweitzer’s recognition marks the latest turn in what is apparently something of a world-record arms race between UT and the University of California at Berkeley.

In March 2017, UT organized an effort to make “the world’s largest human letter,” gathering more than 4,000 students, faculty and staff members, and alumni to create the Tennessee “Power T” on the field of Neyland Stadium. (The stunt cost nearly $60,000, but the university said it was worth the expenditure.) By mid-August, Berkeley had broken the record, gathering more than 7,000 people to make a giant “C” in California Memorial Stadium.

Last year, the Knoxville News Sentinel suggested UT could win back a record by dethroning Joel Hildebrand, a Berkeley chemistry professor who retired in 1954 and held the record for longest career at 68 years. “It’s a record that can’t be broken as quickly as a human letter.”

Only time will tell.