Thread by @JeffreyASachs

I feel like people are finally starting to take the Right's assault on academic freedom. That's very gratifying. If you're a journalist looking to fill some column inches, here are some stories I'd love to see getting more attention:

A North Dakota bill (close now to passage) would prohibit universities that partner with abortion providers from accessing key state grants and would penalize them under a popular funding formula.

insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/0…

The bill is widely understood to be targeting Professor Molly Secor-Turner, a North Dakota State sex ed scholar who uses Planned Parenthood for help distributing her research instruments to members of the community.

Second, the coach of the men's basketball team at East Tennessee State University, resigned last week. You remember this team. It's the one whose players were chastised by the entire state senate GOP for taking a knee during the National Anthem.

wjhl.com/news/local/pro…

Why did the coach resign? Was it just an incredible coincidence, or was he forced out due to political or alumni pressure? ETSU is a public institution, so maybe this is a job for someone who knows how to file a public records request?

Third, a new study of three universities finds widespread dorm segregation, with black and low income students confined to older, more broken down buildings. Some students derisively refer to these buildings as “the trenches, the hood, the ghetto.”

insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/0…

Is this campus identarianism run amok? I'm not sure, but it's certainly the kind of episode that would receive widespread attention, were the racial dynamics somehow reversed. Which says something about the discourse, I think...

Fourth, @EmmaJanePettit has been doing yeoman's work over at @chronicle on the goings-on in Idaho. These two articles are must-reads. Something incredibly dangerous is happening in that state. We should be talking about it.

chronicle.com/article/anti-a…

chronicle.com/article/a-coun…

This is the same state, btw, that forced the suspension last month of 52 university courses because of something (we don't know what) that someone (we don't know who) was offended over (we don't know why). FIFTY-TWO. Seems like a big deal.

thefire.org/cancellation-o…

Oh and they're also doing this.

ktvb.com/article/news/l…

Oh and what the hell, might as well toss this one onto the pile. FSU just spiked a planned course for reasons almost certainly involving conservative outrage. Here's Campus Reform's coverage. They're positively gleeful.

campusreform.org/article?id=171…

Personally, I think these are all important stories. I hope you agree.