ted byfield on Nostr: [2/2] And the NIH thing is just the beginning. Trump still hasn’t gone after the ...
[2/2] And the NIH thing is just the beginning. Trump still hasn’t gone after the Department of Education: that means financial aid like Pell Grants, block grants for specific purposes (like HBCUs and HSIs [Hispanic-Serving Institution]), enough rules and regulations to paralyze even the most powerful schools, and — the killer — accreditation. The tweet below (or whatever) is from last November, about week after the election.
The idea that these hallowed institutions could *fail* may seem inconceivable, but it shouldn’t. Growing numbers of them have been doing exactly that for years now, sometimes covertly (through “mergers”), sometimes through abject collapse. And, more broadly, the process of *failing* has been so thoroughly baked into present-day academia over the last decades that most faculty don’t even recognize it anymore: it’s been couched in other idioms like new degree programs, curricular reorganizations, cross-disciplinary collaborations and synergies, joint appointments, etc, etc.
I’m not saying that schools will fail. I’m saying Trump will make them offers they can’t refuse: knuckle under or fail. I hope you don’t expect “leaders” and administrators to suddenly summon a bravery or honesty you’ve never seen them show.
The idea that these hallowed institutions could *fail* may seem inconceivable, but it shouldn’t. Growing numbers of them have been doing exactly that for years now, sometimes covertly (through “mergers”), sometimes through abject collapse. And, more broadly, the process of *failing* has been so thoroughly baked into present-day academia over the last decades that most faculty don’t even recognize it anymore: it’s been couched in other idioms like new degree programs, curricular reorganizations, cross-disciplinary collaborations and synergies, joint appointments, etc, etc.
I’m not saying that schools will fail. I’m saying Trump will make them offers they can’t refuse: knuckle under or fail. I hope you don’t expect “leaders” and administrators to suddenly summon a bravery or honesty you’ve never seen them show.