Despite Judge's Order, ICE Deports Shackled Babson College Freshman, Harasses Her Family in Texas [ Democracy Now! ]

15 Year-Old Just Finished his PhD in Quantum Physics. I had a look at his thesis. [ Sabine Hossenfelder ]

A note submitted by Southern Bubba, Ph.D.

Mom died more than four years ago.  I got drunk every day after that for probably at least a couple of years.  I still feel stunned by the whole thing.  She was so kind.  She and I had ostensibly different theologies.  But she always always always treated me with respect and fairness.  I'm not sure how other people survive without that unconditional love.  I wish I could bring her back.  Her body is a few miles from here under the ground in a cemetery.  She understood dignity before #MeToo, and before she could get a credit card without her husband, and before so many other things.  I want to say, "Mom, I love you.  I hope that you know that and always knew that.  I did the best I could.  I hope you know that."  

I have shared about her many times, and I don't doubt that other people have their own stories about the parents they loved.

What does this have to do with higher education?  I guess it's that we're all on the same pale blue dot, that most of us in this business wish to do the right thing and to help our students and our colleagues.  Perhaps too many of us faculty go overboard with pursuing integrity and truth.  And it's just hard.  I think we try to give students options and always respect them and never abuse their trust.  And it also is about not humiliating subordinates when we are the department chair or other administrator.

I wish I had some wisdom to share, but I've been drinking.

My god, life is really not easy, is it?

Zooze, thank you for keeping the blog going, for acknowledging Cal's birthday every year, for all you do.

I'm sorry this is inelegant.  Cupcake toothpaste posthaste. . . . 

College Students Flock to a New Major: A.I. [ NYTimes ]

The flava:

Artificial intelligence is the hot new college major.

This semester, more than 3,000 students enrolled in a new college of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

At the University of California, San Diego, 150 first-year students signed up for a new A.I. major. And the State University of New York at Buffalo created a stand-alone “department of A.I. and society,” which is offering new interdisciplinary degrees in fields like “A.I. and policy analysis.”

The fast popularization of products like ChatGPT, along with skyrocketing valuations of tech giants like the chip maker Nvidia, is helping to drive the campus A.I. boom. . . .  

The article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/technology/college-computer-science-ai-boom.html

How artificial intelligence is reshaping college for students and professors [ PBS NewsHour ]

Wealthy People Have Always Shaped Universities. This Time Is Different. [ NYTimes ]

The flava:

The ultrawealthy have long lorded their money and might over university presidents, pelting them with ideas and demands, promises and threats.

Now they have an ally in the White House.

President Trump embraced a billionaire’s strategy to try to wring ideological concessions from universities. He blessed another’s role as Harvard University’s emissary for negotiations with the federal government. Yet another billionaire helped steer cuts at the Department of Education — which a different billionaire leads.

Mr. Trump’s approach represents a shift in how wealthy people are shaping higher education. Some of the moneyed voices Mr. Trump has elevated have, in the name of encouraging open debate, sought to expunge progressive orthodoxy from academia and tilt campuses rightward. And since Mr. Trump has taken office, the president and his allies have pursued an aggressive campaign to realize their vision, including reshaping the relationship between the federal government and the nation’s colleges and universities.

The campaign is accelerating. But it has been in the works for years.

The article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/us/billionaires-influence-universities-trump.html

MacKenzie Scott Gives $700 Million to Historically Black Colleges [ NYTimes ]

The flava:

Philander Smith University, a historically Black college in Arkansas, received the largest gift in its 147-year history on Friday, when billionaire MacKenzie Scott gave $19 million.

It was one of 15 donations she gave to historically Black colleges and universities this year, adding up to more than $700 million, according to a list compiled by Marybeth Gasman, a professor at Rutgers and the executive director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions.

“This gift is a resounding vote of confidence in our mission and our momentum,” Dr. Maurice D. Gipson, the president of Philander Smith, said in a statement.

The donations to the schools, some of which have struggled with enrollment and finances, come as the Trump administration has also directed additional money their way. In September, the administration allocated nearly $500 million for H.B.C.U.s and tribal colleges, on top of the federal funds they had already expected.

Recipients of Ms. Scott’s windfall praised her for giving funds without strings attached, which they said would allow institutions to distribute funds however they see fit. . . .  

The article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/us/hbcus-mackenzie-scott-donations.html

Campus Police Discover Fake ID, Alcohol, and Mushrooms In a Dorm Room [ Patrolling Wisconsin ]

Defending the Ivory Tower: Hank Reichman on the Fight for Academic Freedom in the Age of Trump [ Scheer Intelligence ]

How UCLA is navigating unprecedented demands from the Trump administration [ PBS NewsHour ]