Our vision was that education is personal formation, and liberal education the formation of free human beings and citizens, equipped with those excellent habits of mind and character necessary to lead flourishing live of meaning and purpose, regardless of their career. (7/21)

STATEMENT: A cold wind just blew through every newsroom this morning. Paramount may have closed this case, but it opened the door to the idea that the government should be the media’s editor-in-chief. Trump has a long history of filing frivolous lawsuits to intimidate critics,

“The success of the DOJ’s cynical demand that he resign for doing his job is a sad indication of the level of vindictiveness coming from the White House. As we approach Independence Day, it is also a reminder that in the face of tyrannical interference,freedom must be fought for”

Read David Cole “if the university makes such a change at the behest of the federal government, under plainly unconstitutional threats of devastating retaliation, it will have given away a crucial aspect of its academic autonomy.” nybooks.com/online/2025/07… via The New York Review of Books

A Message from a University President: Jim Ryan’s Questions open.substack.com/pub/meidastouc…

Read Robert Zaretsky: "Jefferson believed independence was worth a revolution, but the governing body of his academical village instead believes that a university president’s resignation is worth the lack of independence." The Chronicle of Higher Education chronicle.com/article/jim-ry…

Heed Jonathan Chait⁩’s warning:”This new order, if unchecked, will at some point reach a level at which opposition becomes prohibitively dangerous and the commanding heights of business, media, and academia all submit to Trump’s whims.” ⁦The Atlantic theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

My take:"Jim Ryan understood his university’s mission, and he worked with “honesty, integrity, trust & respect” to further it...As we approach Independence Day, it is also a reminder that in the face of tyrannical interference, freedom must be fought for." meidasplus.com/p/a-message-fr…

Happy 4th! "I fear for our republic as these abuses accumulate, but I am also heartened by the energies of those...who are determined to preserve our freedoms. I am confident we can tap into those energies in the years ahead as we...defend our democracy." wesleyan.edu/about/news/202…

"Essentially, legal experts said, Mr. Trump is claiming a constitutional power to immunize private parties to commit otherwise illegal acts with impunity." nytimes.com/2025/07/03/us/…

Read Ansley Skipper "Thomas Jefferson would be horrified" UVA open.substack.com/pub/protectdem…

Why are we allowing this outrageously cruel and inhumane concentration camp to exist? America, wake up!!

“It’s no longer about ideas or governing philosophies. It’s about personal allegiance to a single man..our country needs more leaders willing to pay a political price to uphold what they know is right.” nytimes.com/2025/07/06/opi… via @NYTOpinion

Wow who could have ever predicted that someone described as "obsessed with guns," "unhinged" and having "Nazi tendencies," who was expelled from high school "after some trouble with a girl," and who moved to the white nationalist capitol of America would every shoot anyone.

You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all... Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it we are nothing ✨Luis Buñuel

My latest interview for The Nation is with Jürgen Habermas and concerns the recent 3 volume translation of his history of Western philosophy titled, “Also a History of Philosophy”: thenation.com/article/cultur…

Read ⁦Margaret Renkl⁩ “That’s the beauty of not knowing: What looks terrible may not come to pass. There’s still time for people to come together and steer the narrative in an unexpected direction.” smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare via @NYTOpinion

Read Samantha Rose Hill⁩ “The danger is not that A.I. will replace human connection. The danger is that it will make us forget what actual connection requires while eroding our ability to think for ourselves” nytimes.com/2025/07/07/opi… via @NYTOpinion

Lovely: "Walt Whitman is among the figures approved to be enshrined in Mr. Trump’s garden. I do not think Whitman’s feelings would be hurt if he were left out. The project’s emphasis on individual glory rather than more collective ideals misses what Whitman endeavored to express"

Read Elisa New on Whitman "The poet argued, above all, for American memory, & he knew that in the many years hence we would need songs and pictures of our history in all its variety, in all its ups and downs, its eras of heroism & its lesser moments, too" nytimes.com/2025/07/06/opi…