"Inside Pete Hegseth’s Civilian Purge at West Point" By Jasper Craven, Politico (8/28/2025)

"Days after his confirmation, Hegseth blasted out a memo to military school faculty prohibiting instruction that could be in any way construed as promoting 'Critical Race Theory, Gender Ideology, and DEI.' Then he gathered service academy leaders on a teleconference. Beamed into each campus was a clear order: Focus on history, warfighting and engineering, and hobble much of the rest. Department heads moved quickly, requesting faculty review their syllabi for materials potentially in conflict with Hegseth’s dictate.

"... West Point ultimately banned Parsons’ entire list, part of a broader sweep across the service academies that scrubbed hundreds of books from courses and library catalogs, including work by James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, plus a slate of texts interrogating masculinity. West Point also dissolved its sociology major and abolished at least a dozen student diversity clubs, including a chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and the Latin Cultural Club. They also removed history and English courses, including one called 'Power and Difference.' ”

[Read the complete article online]

From the Consortium of Social Science Associations:

Because It Gives Educators and Policymakers the Tools to Improve Education

By Tabbye Chavous, Executive Director, American Educational Research Association

Wearing my hats as a social science scholar and academic leader, I have studied trends in the development of science over the past 150 years. Over that time, scholarly science has focused on the continual advancement of knowledge. As such, the science produced has become more precise—theoretically and empirically—more sophisticated in its methods, more interdisciplinary, and more connected to practice and policy. To the last point, in this century science, including education research, has demonstrated a growing capacity for refining evidence-based approaches to address important issues and concerns in our schools, communities, and broader society.  

Education scholars are deeply committed to making a tangible impact on classrooms and communities across the country. Their work offers not just knowledge, but actionable solutions. It informs classroom practice, shapes district and state policies, and enhances community well-being. It ensures accountability, stimulates and guides innovation, and allows for careful assessment of which interventions truly move the needle for students. And for many years, a strong partnership among the federal government, universities, and philanthropic organizations sustained this work, fostering a national ecosystem in which research could thrive and be applied. 

That partnership is now in grave danger. [Read the complete essay online]

[Update, Aug 25] "GMU President Refuses to Apologize for Diversity Efforts, Lawyer Calls Ed. Dept. Claims ‘Absurd’ The Chronicle of Higher Education [Link to lawyer letter here (PDF)]

[Update, Aug 1] "Despite federal investigations, GMU president will remain in role, receive pay boost" Virginia Mercury

[Update, Jul 30] "DOJ to review staff texts, emails after faculty praise of GMU president" The Washington Post (Jul 29) "...the Justice Department sent a letter to George Mason University saying it planned to review a Faculty Senate resolution that praised the school’s president. ... On Tuesday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and committee member Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) sent a letter to Washington saying they were requesting five years of records and staff communications related to GMU’s DEI policies."

"Alumni, students, faculty, business leaders, and community members who care deeply about Mason" have created a website, "I Stand With Mason," that includes a form to sign a resolution in support of GMU and its president.

"Fairfax court says some Youngkin appointees can’t serve on university boards — for now" WAMU (Jul 29)

[Update, Jul 17] "George Mason Is the Latest University Under Fire From Trump. Its President Fears an 'Orchestrated' Campaign." ProPublica (Jul 10) "When university president Gregory Washington received notice that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into complaints of antisemitism, he was 'perplexed.' But there are signs it may be part of a coordinated campaign to oust him." [Announcement from US Dept. of Education is here.]
"George Mason professors say governing board failed to defend president, university" Virginia Mercury (Jul 23) GMU Board of Visitors meeting notice, August 1.

[Update, Apr. 11] A group of faculty members at universities on the March 10 list have issued a call to action, "We Must Leverage the Strength of Our Institutions and Stand Together." (New URL) It states in part, "These measures are not principally about protecting students and combating discrimination; they are about political control. ... the federal government is using the language of civil rights enforcement as a cover for authoritarian overreach and encroachment, dictating what can be said, studied, and debated in our institutions. These measures represent a direct assault on the mission of the university as a space for independent thought, free speech, and democratic engagement. ... We ask all sixty institutions under government threat to unite in a coordinated, proactive defense." More than 4,500 faculty members at these 60 institutions and others have signed the call to action, which remains open for signature as of this date.

[Original, Mar. 15] The US Department of Education announced March 10 that it "sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus...." (See also the report from Inside Higher Ed on March 11.)

The list includes American University, George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Virginia.

At the same time, the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University released an action-resource guide: Student Speech, Education Policy, and College Campuses Today. (PDF) "This guide provides an accessible introduction to historical and ongoing policy debates on students’ freedom of expression around Palestine, Gaza, Israel, and anti-Zionism. It is intended to inform and empower students, faculty, administrators, and free speech advocates working in this area."

Johns Hopkins University also "is planning for staff layoffs after the Trump administration canceled $800 million in U.S. Agency for International Development grants...."

See additional news and resources related to the actions of the Trump Administration on our "Resources" page.

"Learn about exciting jobs for sociology graduates! The American Sociological Association’s Pathways booklets and brochures offer aspiring sociology students, their families, and advisors valuable information on how a bachelor’s degree in sociology prepares students for rewarding and meaningful careers. Resources include examples of how students can focus their sociology major depending on their interests and goals, and insights from several sociology graduates to help students imagine how they might put their own sociology degree to work."

View resources on the project website

Hope in High Water:
A People’s Recovery Twenty Years After Hurricane Katrina

A documentary from Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning journalist Trymaine Lee, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF).

"Released days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, “Hope in High Water: A People’s Recovery Twenty Years After Hurricane Katrina” highlights the leadership of communities in New Orleans and along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast working to rebuild and reimagine more equitable systems.

"The feature-length documentary marks Trymaine Lee’s return to the region, where he first reported on Katrina as part of The Times-Picayune newsroom in 2005. The film traces the arc of recovery through the voices of those who never left — educators, organizers, farmers and families who have spent two decades not only rebuilding but transforming the systems that failed their communities long before the storm."

Watch the trailer or the entire film via the project website

Special Issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: "The Public's Science–A New Social Contract for American Research Policy"

Editors: Alondra Nelson (Institute for Advanced Study) and Jenny Reardon (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Abstract Deadline: Friday, September 19, 2025

"Seventy-five years after Vannevar Bush's Science—The Endless Frontier established the foundational social contract for publicly funded research in the United States, we face an unprecedented crisis in American research policy. The original arrangement of government funding in exchange for research autonomy, with the expectation of broad societal benefits, has produced remarkable scientific achievements and world-shaping technologies, from life-saving medicines to weapons of mass destruction. Yet this arrangement has consistently lacked robust mechanisms for genuine public accountability, a weakness now exposed as publicly funded institutions face systematic attacks and declining public trust."

Read the complete call here.

"NAFSA: The Association of International Educators is inviting current international students and postdocs to complete a survey on the Trump administration’s new proposal to end duration of status for F, J, and I nonimmigrant visas. On June 27, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security submitted the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget. This new proposed rule would establish a 2- or 4-year timeframe for individuals on F-1 and J-1 visas to stay in the United States. This proposed rule is a departure from the current duration of status policy which allows F-1 and J-1 visa holders to stay in the country for the length of their educational program. For more information, please visit the NAFSA website.

The deadline for the completion of the survey is September 12, 2025. The survey link is here.

"Earlier this summer, a federal court in California issued a major ruling in Bartz v. Anthropic, one of the copyright class action lawsuits involving AI. The court held that a trial should occur over whether Anthropic’s downloading of millions of books from the pirate websites Library Genesis (“LibGen”) and Pirate Library Mirror (“PiLiMi”) infringed the rights of copyright holders. (It also held that Anthropic’s use of books to train AI was fair use, a holding with which the Authors Guild disagrees.) On July 17, the court certified a class comprised of legal and beneficial owners of the rights in copyright-registered books downloaded by Anthropic from these sites.

"It is important to remember that this case is a class action, a special kind of lawsuit allowed under federal law to address the claims of a large group commonly harmed by a defendant’s conduct. Here, the conduct at issue is Anthropic’s mass downloading and retention of books from pirate websites.

"The Authors Guild is helping to coordinate publicity about the class action through various other creators’ groups to make sure that all authors whose books were illegally downloaded by Anthropic are notified. 

"You do not need to do anything to be a member of the class. But to help ensure that you receive notices relating to your participation in the suit (including the opportunity to opt out of it), you should provide your current contact information and book titles to the court-appointed class counsel at the class action website."

"Court Rules for Public Schools and Educators, Rejects Trump-Vance Administration’s Unprecedented Assault on Public Education" Democracy Forward Foundation (Aug 14)

"Baltimore. A U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland has made a sweeping ruling in favor of a coalition of nationwide associations of educators and a public school district, declaring that the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to require school districts throughout the nation to censor lessons, abandon student support programs, and certify their compliance with the administration’s unlawful interpretation of civil rights is unconstitutional."

Update from Democracy Forward [Apr 24]: "Harmful Attacks on Educational Programs Paused by Court in Case Brought By Educators" (Press Release April 24, 2025)

"Federal Court Issues Nationwide Order Pausing Unprecedented Assault on Public Schools, Teachers and Students. Court Blocks 'Dear Colleague Letter' Purporting to Prosecute or Cut Funding Based on Teaching History, Sociology, Or Other Lessons That Reference Race or Racism."

Original item 2/26/25 "ASA Joins Lawsuit against the Department of Education"
From Democracy Forward:

"The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFT-MD, and the American Sociological Association have filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague Letter,” which is a new policy that threatens to withhold federal funding for any education institutions that do not comply by February 28 with its unprecedented weaponization and undermining of civil rights laws. In addition to withholding funds, the letter also threatens educators and schools with potential investigations and prosecutions.

"The suit, filed in federal court in Maryland, is brought by the AFT, AFT-MD, and the American Sociological Association. The complaint challenges a “Dear Colleague Letter” published by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on February 14, 2025, which threatened that federal funding would be withheld from education institutions that teach accurate history and lessons about slavery, diversity and inclusion, among other efforts. The complaint argues that the “Dear Colleague Letter” will do a disservice to students and ultimately the nation by weakening schools as portals to opportunity and incubators for creative, innovative, and critical thinking."

See the press release and full complaint on the Democracy Forward website.

See additional context on the "Dear Colleague" letter on our "Resources for Tracking Trump Administration Actions" page

"Since 1984, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program has provided technical assistance to more than 400 surveys in over 90 countries, advancing global understanding of health and population trends in developing countries. The DHS Program has earned a worldwide reputation for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on fertility, family planning, maternal and child health, gender, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and nutrition. The project is implemented by ICF International, Inc..

"With the ending of USAID support in February 2025, ICF has secured interim funding for continuing selected, but not all, DHS Program services. Several donors and host countries are funding the completion of selected surveys. ICF also received a 3-year grant for Emergency Support to Stabilize the DHS Program from the Gates Foundation in July 2025, with a focus on supporting the maintenance of the dhsprogram.com website; ensuring continued free access to tools and data, including uploading of and access to new datasets; and supporting the completion of some surveys and the implementation of new surveys in selected countries."

"The DHS Program, which manages registration and access for IPUMS DHS, is again reviewing new user applications and requests for expanded access from currently approved users."