Most clicked story of the week:
The University of Chicago will move to cut $100 million from its budget, citing “profound federal policy changes" and multi-year deficits. Paul Alivisatos, president of the private institution, said that goal would require staff reductions.
The latest in the Trump administration’s battle with higher ed:
- A federal judge Wednesday ruled in favor of Harvard University in its lawsuit against the Trump administration, concluding the federal government failed to follow proper procedures and acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it froze $2.2 billion of the university’s federal funding in April. The move also violated Harvard's First Amendment rights, the judge ruled.
- George Mason University’s governing board announced it would negotiate with the Trump administration in hopes of resolving federal allegations that the public institution illegally used race and other protected characteristics in hiring and employee promotions. George Mason's president summarily rebuked the accusation.
- The University of California will need at least $4 billion to $5 billion to staunch the budgetary bleeding if it loses its federal funding, the system's president told state lawmakers. The Trump administration has set its sights on the system — particularly University of California, Los Angeles, which recently had $584 million of its grants suspended.
Federal agencies complicate life for international and undocumented students:
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement proposed setting a four-year cap on the length of time international students can stay in the U.S. If approved, student visa holders would need to apply for extensions and undergo “regular assessments” to stay beyond that time.
- The U.S. Department of Justice sued Illinois over its laws allowing select undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition rates and receive state-administered scholarships. That makes Illinois the fifth state the DOJ has taken action against over such policies.
Quote of the Week:
“The First Amendment doesn’t set when the sun goes down. University students have expressive freedom whether it’s midnight or midday, and Texas can’t just legislate those constitutional protections out of existence.”
That was JT Morris, senior supervising attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, in a statement Wednesday. FIRE sued the University of Texas system on behalf of students over a new state law that directs public colleges to prohibit “any speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment" on campuses from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
