Heather Shea
Heather, welcome back to current campus context, a limited series from student affairs now the online learning community for those of us who work in alongside and adjacent to higher education and student affairs. I’m your host, Heather Shea, and we are recording this episode at 5:04pm eastern time on Thursday, April 3. As always, things may have changed by the time you listen. So each week we are breaking down the shifting landscape of higher education, what’s happening, why it matters, and how we can respond. But we’ve talked a lot about staying informed is just not enough. You know, recent Inside Higher Ed piece by Nolan Cabrera, which we’re going to talk a little bit about today, raised a crucial question, what does it mean to navigate this moment with both awareness and action? And he put it, this is not the battle we chose, but this is the battle that we’re in. We’re going to unpack that that article a little bit today, but with ongoing debates over all of the things that we’ve been discussing, academic freedom, institutional autonomy and student access, how should higher ed leaders, faculty and staff engage? And that’s what we’re going to be unpacking today with our expert guests. So first back again this week. Dr crystal, Garcia, welcome back, Crystal. Hello. Thank you for having me. Yeah. So crystal is an expert in minority, highest college students experiences with campus environments. She is an associate professor and PhD program coordinator in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. And also, welcome back. Dr Felicia Commodore,

Felecia Commodore
hi everyone. Excited to be back, excited to be here with crystal for the first time. So great. I

Heather Shea
love it. Dr Commodore is an expert in leadership, governance and administrative practices in higher ed with a focus on HBCUs MSIs and black women in leadership. She is an associate professor in education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, so good to have you both here today. So let’s dive in. We’re going to give a brief news recap. Over the past few weeks, we’ve tracked the growing pressures on higher education, whether through the dismantling of the Department of Ed, the weaponization of federal funding, or new policies that restrict institutional autonomy. This week, we’re going to build on those themes, there are three major highlights that bring the stakes even higher. First, we’re seeing more and more international students targeted for detention and deportation. In short, they are being disappeared, largely without due process. And this has me a really, really concerned. But also makes me wonder, what happens to the rights of students on visas in these situations. What is the role of universities and protecting them, and what does this mean for global education and international students on our campuses? So that’s Topic number ONE. Topic number two, as I mentioned in the intro, Dr Nolan Cabrera recently wrote a Dear Colleague letter on essentially what good are academic freedom and tenure if faculty aren’t going to use them. This letter was published in Inside Higher Ed, and it challenges educators to push back against self censorship in the face of political pressure. But I guess I find myself asking, How can faculty, even those with tenure, effectively stand up when the risks, both personal and institutional and for their students, could be so high? So third topic last week, we talked about professional associations as higher ed’s last line of defense. And here’s something I think we actually miss, and it was brought to my attention by my colleague, Monique after Lee Dr atherly. Thank you for your information. This is about the power of labor unions and their collective action. Faculty grad workers and staff units are rising up against the political and financial tax on higher ed from strikes to legislative advocacy. They are making it clear that they won’t stand by while institutions are gutted. We’re going to link in our resources today several upcoming days of action. But this all makes me wonder, how can we Student Affairs educators and faculty engage in this movement, and what risk do we face if we protest or take action? All right, so let’s let’s dig in, Crystal, I know you are an expert of minoritized college students experiences and what I’ve just shared about the threats towards international student visa holders and. What are the implications you see for those of us who work closely with international students?

Crystal Garcia
Yeah, I think that we might have even started touching on this and my first episode that I was on, and honestly, it has just been increasingly frightening to see what has been unfolding in terms of international students and staff and faculty as well, but to focus in on international students specifically, you know, we, I think, in our last discussion, which I mean, if we think like, you know, weeks have passed, and it feels like so much more time, because so much is happening all the time. You know, we talked about Mahmoud Khalil and you know, since that time, more details have unfolded around other students. Rajani Srinivasan was a Columbia student who the State Department revoked her student visa, then Columbia revoked her registration. Was a finish like an almost finished PhD student who fled to Canada out of fear of what was going to happen to her. Because, I mean, I I can’t imagine what is going through students minds right now, as they think about deportation possibilities and where they might end up. They may be taken to a completely different country that they have no connections with, you know, whatsoever. There’s so much uncertainty about that. And so, you know, I can understand the students fear and what led them to make that decision, but, you know, this student was interviewed by CNN and was very assertive that she was not active in politics. She quote said, I’m not a terrorist sympathizer, I’m not pro moss activist. I’m just literally a random student. It just seems very strange that they would spend so much vast resources and persecuting me. And you know, she’s not the only one. So Tufts University had a PhD student, or Rumeysa Ozturk. I’m so sorry if I am mispronouncing their name, but that they were walking alone, you know, one night to go meet friends, and horrifically, and I don’t know if you’ve seen the footage of the video, it’s, it is. It’s terrifying. It’s scary. I mean, my heart was, yes, you know, seeing this group of people surround her in plain clothes, masked, which we can talk all day about, the hypocrisy of demanding that Columbia not allow masks on their campus, and then sending agents and that are masked to do this work. And again, Tufts, you know, more recently, I was glad to see this filed a declaration in support of this student, asserting that this student was in good standing, that they had no, you know, reason to believe that they were a threat to campus or otherwise, which, you know, we know this to be true of these students already, but I was glad to see the university come out in support of the student. And, you know, this just kind of compounds on all the other things that we’ve seen happening so far, and that question of due process, like, where is it these students were led to believe that they were seeking, you know, the top education, you know, the US is like such a place of of learning and growth and development to only be targeted in this way is really terrifying. And just to give another minute to the situation, from Tufts of thinking about what does this mean for campuses forward, our students now expected to comply with people that are not dressed in official attire, who aren’t even showing their entire faces, who take them into unmarked vehicles. I am so afraid of the harm that this may open up for other people who want to leverage this moment and hurt students just individuals because they can and I want, I wish that more universities were speaking out against it. I did see, though, I think, just today, that a story came out from Democracy Now that was covering a collective of Jewish students that chained themselves to Columbia’s gates to protest the detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, and one of those students, their name is Carly, was quoted to say, and I thought this was so impactful, there has not been transparency from the Columbia administration to Jewish students when they claim that they are doing. All of this to protect Jewish students. We would like to be consulted in that process, instead of being spoken for, you know, as Jewish students and to the Jewish people at large, being political pawns in a game is not a new occurrence, and that’s something we are very much and something we are very much. So here to say, hey, you cannot weaponize anti semitism to harm our friends and peers. You know, students are speaking out, which I love to see, but, yeah, I mean, I don’t know what else to say, except that I’m just so concerned.

Heather Shea
I fear that we’re seeing this happening in some campuses. And I just reiterate to folks that if it’s happening on any campus it matters to you, because you’re the next campus, your students, your community members, and so if we’re not pushing back now and advocating against this and calling it out for the horror that it is, then I’m just fearful of what that might lead to next. It feels like we’re then complicit. I think what I want to encourage folks to do, I will link some of these articles. Is to review and, and I think the quotes and the names are really important here, right? And I also want to say, what is due process, right? So, like, what is that? And why is it being denied student visa holders and, and and if it’s being denied them, who is next right? Due process may be denied to anyone. And then I get really super anxious and nervous about like our larger student body as well. Felicia, what would you add? Or do you want to dig into one of the other topics? Well,

Felecia Commodore
I’ll just add something real quick, because it’s the way, you know, things that I’ve been thinking about, I think one, I think you bring up a really good question, right? What is due process, and what does it mean on our campuses? And two things that come to mind with that for me is, one, this is one of the challenges of the whirlwind of things that have the administrators have had to deal with, because in these cases, you would usually bring in your general counsel, right? But our general counsels are all dealing with bringing cases against this, the federal government for funding and all of these things. And so everyone’s head is moving in 50 million directions at the same time, which I would, you know, say, is probably by design, so that they can’t pull on the same resources we would usually pull on, because these instances would be so one off, and in this case, they’re part of a case, a bunch of chaos. I think the second thing is, we mentioned Columbia, we mentioned the incident at Tufts. And I think it’s important to note that these are private institutions, right? And so when we think about due process, due process is often connected to constitutional kind of protection. And what we know is that there are some very variances in how we navigate constitutional rights on private campuses versus public campuses. So is not doesn’t catch me too off guard that we’re seeing these instances specifically starting to starting with because they’re going to come to public campuses soon, but we’re seeing them more start on these private university campuses, because it’s not public, it’s not state government sanctioned land, right? Or so. I think these are, these are little nuances that I think are important to consider. And then lastly, I’ll say this, I was someone who started college in the fall of 2001 actually a couple weeks after 911 and I remember there was so much fear from our students from particularly from Middle Eastern countries, that they did not come to school. And I can remember half of, you know, residence hall floors just not being there, right? And so aside from the humanity, part of it, and which is super important, like seeing a student just taken off of the street was, like, I said, terrifying to me. But also, institutions really have to think about what happens when their international students don’t feel safe anymore, on on our campuses, they’re not going to come to school, they’re not going to enroll in our schools, and honestly, we can’t afford that. Many of our institutions survive off of international student tuition. Yeah. Right? And so all of these things have trickle down effects for our institutions and why it’s imperative for us to be pushing back against what’s happening, aside from the fact is, and crystal so eloquently stated, it may be international students today, it’ll be our domestic students tomorrow. Yeah,

Heather Shea
yeah, yeah. It is, it is absolutely, it is absolutely scary. And I appreciate that conversation too about the funding piece, because I think we’ve been, we’ve been talking about funding quite a bit. But, I mean, I keep asking the question, why is all of this happening? It is all related to money, right? And I think that money equals power, and institutions have resources. One of their resources are an incredibly broad group of amazing faculty who are experts, content area experts on their area of of expertise, right? So like, when I think about Dr Coronavirus piece, you know, what does academic freedom get you for speaking out? And so I’d love, I’d love Felicia for you to we had a little chat in the in the notes for today’s episode.

Felecia Commodore
Yeah, so I read the piece, and I think there were parts of the piece that very much resonated with me, especially as someone who’s very passionate about shared governance and about academic freedom on our campuses. And I you can ask anyone I’ve ever worked with that, I always say, you know, there’s nothing more I hate more than when full professors don’t act like full professors, right? I we fight so hard for tenure, we work so hard to have the ability to walk fully in our academic freedom, and then a lot of times we just don’t show up, right? And there’s various reasons for that. So there was a part of me that was like, Yes, but I think another part of me was like, this time. I mean, this is not new, but it is slightly different. And I think there are, and the piece did acknowledge there are some contextual considerations and nuances, but I think, you know, we really have to think about all of the layers of what has happened, not just right now, but over the last five or six years that have weakened people’s belief in academic freedom. We believe it’s a concept. We say it’s a value of our institutions. But I think you would talk to people before this year on a number of campuses that would say I don’t really have academic freedom, like they tell me, I have it, but I don’t really have it. And so there was already a mistrust in being safe and protected through academic freedom that was already occurring that I think it’s a little difficult now to think people are going to totally place that distrust on the shelf and believe that their institutions will protect them, right? And I think we need to be real about that because and then the other thing I would say about that is, I think also we have to be real about two things. One, Dr Cabrera talks about self censorship. And I thought about that, and I was like, I don’t know that everyone’s self censoring. I think that people, some people, are self preserving, and I think some people agree with what’s going on. And I think we need to be honest about that, that we have faculty and people within our universities who are maybe silently cheering what’s happening right now and so being realistic about that, but also think people, there are some people who are like, Why would I stand up now when I have stood up before and was not, there was no community there for me. There were no there was no one to champion my cause, to help protect my academic freedom. And so I think some people are also like, I’m opting out, or I am going to work diligently to protect my students. I’m going to work diligently to protect my communities, and that’s where I’m going to put my work in, as opposed to being a loud voice on a speaker phone right now. And so I think there’s all these different things going on, and then we can get into things like doxing and the threat of violence on people and faculty. I mean, I’ve had colleagues I’ve seen get crazy emails after being on a podcast or publishing something, and you know, that’s a real we’re seeing we’re seeing people get taken off the street, right? We’re seeing people attack people at their homes. And I think that’s real. So for me, I do agree we need to stand up and fight for what we believe is core value and higher. Education. But I also think even more important than that is we have to rebuild a belief in a faculty community so that if someone one wants to speak up, they feel that there’s a safety in numbers and protection, but two, that everyone has a role to play, even if they aren’t the person to speak up, that they can access an element or a point a piece in the movement, that they can all work together, because speaking up alone won’t do it. Because, like I said, we have staff to protect, we have students to protect, we have families to protect, right? And so everyone’s going to play their own part, and it may not be vocal. So really, I think leaning back into seeing our universities as communities as opposed to just a conglomerate of people? Yeah,

Heather Shea
I think that’s a really I think that’s a really important point, and I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea of organizing and collective action, because it’s lonely to be out there alone, and it’s lonely to feel like your efforts, like, what am I really contributing? But then you start thinking about the coalitions that are being built. And so finally, the third topic about labor unions. And I don’t know if either of you have experience working with labor unions, I was in a union prior to moving to my current role, and was very glad to have that support at a couple of different times during my my time as a staff member here at Michigan State. So I think labor unions have some different types of power, and maybe are stepping up in the legal field in ways that we haven’t seen them do in a while. Yeah, either of you.

Felecia Commodore
So I just, I just moved from a anti, well, I shouldn’t say anti, a state that did not have unions

Heather Shea
friendly state, yeah,

Felecia Commodore
to a state that now has unions for faculty and staff and facility workers all those things. And so this has been a learning curve for me, actually, and things that I don’t think I ever thought about before and and I do think there is having made that transition that back to what I was saying before. There does feel a bit of protection in that. And being able to say, go to your union rep and say, Hey, this, this is not what’s supposed to be happening, or I feel like there are things that are going against what our agreements were, and not that not necessarily having to be you, but that then gets to be a representative. So I think there’s, there is some value in that, but it is challenging, because in higher ed, it really can depend on what state you were in, how your institution is organized. All of that stuff matters. And so it’s not consistent. It’s not a consistent practice or value across the country, particularly if you’re in right to right to work states. What I found, I don’t know if anybody knows this, but there is a national collective bargaining and higher education conference that happens every year at honor College in New York. So I’ve had a chance to go a couple of times. And so what we found is that where they are trying to unionize at colleges, and it’s hard and Right to Work states, because people are like, Well, what do I need a union for? We have the right to work laws. And so where I where I see the benefit, I think it’s also hard to think about that at a national level, when it’s so inconsistent across the country. Yeah,

Heather Shea
Crystal, what about you experience with unions? Or thoughts on that? Yeah,

Crystal Garcia
really no. Experience with them. You know, within our system, some of our institutions are unionized, and then, like ours is not, our campus is not but I do definitely know that there’s value in collective representation and action. And so, you know, even as I think, like kind of connecting back to Dr Commodores comments on Dr Cabrera’s piece, you know, I I understand, you know, the rationale, and I hear it, and I feel myself being drawn to it sometimes, right? Of like, Come on, y’all, we got to do something like, let go. But then, I mean, I do understand the realities of that are very different for people, and definitely different based on who they are, how they show up in the world, what their positions of power are, what their risk is, etc. And so, you know, I think back to Yes, unions, but then also even just like collectives. So, like, I was at Auburn University previously, and then now at UNL and in both institutions, we had these groups, these collectives, that were basically folks that were doing critical. Work that were, you know, scholars that cared about social justice and, you know, equity and being good and doing good in the world. And so, you know, for me at UNL, even though we don’t have a union, that organization, that group, that collective, which I serve as a co lead for with Dr Stephanie Bondi, who’s also amazing. Love her. We do so much together through our organization, and it feels less vulnerable because it doesn’t feel like, Oh, it’s just crystal and oh, it’s just Stephanie. No, it’s our collective that’s coming together and that has power in and of itself. And so I do encourage folks that if you don’t have something like that, that start rounding people up. Just start saying, Hey, you do this work. I do this work. Like, let’s make a group. What’s our name going to be? You know, there’s, there’s just so much opportunity to work together and to feel less alone in it. Yeah,

Felecia Commodore
and I would add Heather, because, you know, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t bring a little history moment into these conversations. But I think when we look back, because what I like in this time period to to the most in our history of higher education in the US is McCarthyism, right? Yep. And so when we look back at that time and we see the the stories that are the recounting of what happened during that time in academia, what Crystal mentioned is exactly what we saw right was these informal networks of academics and scholars and intellectuals at campuses and in communities that were supporting each other, that we’re making sure, like if, if we they knew we’re institutions where they would be welcomed or would be able to practice. I mean, we even saw historically when, when we were kind of at a height of anti semitism, Jewish faculty were not getting hired by campuses. It was HBCUs that were saying, Hey, you can come here and teach. So I think these informal networks are going to be super, super important now for spaces and places where there aren’t unions there, there or there is an aversion to unionization, right? I think the other thing we want to be keen on, and I saw some stories around this, is that, and this, again, very similar to what we saw during McCarthyism, is that there’s, there’s some rumblings about European universities seeing this as a prime opportunity to recruit us faculty, and saying, like, hey, we’ll get you your we’ll get you your funding. We’ll get you your And so think that is something we need to keep an eye on. And for folks who may feel that they’re in places where their livelihood is at stake, a lot of these European universities are like, Hmm, this might be the time to start sending out some feelers and recruitment efforts. And I think that is something we really need to pay attention to. Yeah,

Heather Shea
it is not subtle. My partner is a faculty member at the University of Michigan, and he shared, he shared this post, and it was like, Do you investigate Dei? You can come here and we will fund it. Right? It’s like so direct. I think that was at bar, say University, and is in France, south of France. I was like, living in the South of France.

Felecia Commodore
That sounds kind of inviting. Not that I want you to go anywhere.

Heather Shea
Heather. I do lead an undergrad. Study abroad, and I’ll be leaving in May to go to the Netherlands. And I, you know the Dutch people I think are so welcoming, I think my children would be upset if I didn’t come back. But anyway, besides leaving the country, let’s talk about actions, because I am really curious about this idea of supporting international students in face of the threats. You know, what are some of the actions that we might be able to take within our spheres of influence? Dr Commodore, do you want to

Felecia Commodore
kick us off or so, you know, I think about things kind of macro and micro. I think at the macro level, we really need to push our institutions to not just put out statements, but to actually, for lack of better words, codify their how they’re going to protect their students. We need processes. We need policies, and we need affirmation from board trustees. We need we need institutions to not just say they’re going to do it, but show us how they’re going to do it. And then I think on the micro level, and I think about myself, particularly as a faculty member, I think we need to be in regular communication. Conversation with our international students, and we need to have processes ourselves. I know I’ve thought about this, what happens if an ice agent shows up at my classroom? What? What am I going to do right and aren’t and I’ve been lucky, my university has processes for us, and they’ve given us instructions on how to navigate that process and stay within the legalities that we have to abide in, but I think we need to again. I’m going to say it. I say it over and over again. We have to think about what we do in terms and through a lens of community. And so these are not just our students or our colleagues, right? These are people that we are in community with. So how are we going to work and move and act and strategize as a community to not just protect folks, but to also give them a feeling of security and safety? Because I think a number of our students are on edge, and that affects their mental health, their emotional health, their ability to engage in work and in our classrooms. And so I just think we have to be very intentional. But part of that is talking with our students, finding out what they’re thinking, finding what they’re feeling, what’s happening with them and their families, and then strategizing anything about ways that we can support them.

Heather Shea
Thank you. Thank you. Dr Garcia, what would you like to add?

Crystal Garcia
Yeah, I 100% all of that. And I would also add, you know, whenever we think about these interactions with, you know, ice or Homeland Security, whatever the case might be, I have so far been thinking in terms of classroom interactions, of what would I do, how would I respond? How can I be prepared? And I think that is really important. We need to know that. But additionally, now, I think it’s our institutions are being called on to give direction and guidance and training, perhaps, of what do students do in the case that they’re encountered outside of class, with people that are in an unmarked vehicle, with people that are wearing plain clothes? What do you know people that are seeing this happen? Do you know what’s their responsibility? How can they document things in a way that is safe for them, that also captures the moment. It’s so gross. I I don’t even, I don’t know where we’re at right now, and talk having to talk about this like I never in my life thought that we would be accepting that sort of, quote, unquote, you know, official interaction, and it’s horrifying. So in any case, providing more guidance and context around that. And then I would also just like reiterate the need for folks to link up it we are vulnerable. Like, just even googling the work that we do, like you don’t even have to do anything extra. Some, in some of these cases where people are being targeted, it’s for something that they wrote, you know, a year ago. It’s not even something that they’re doing in this moment. And so we need to support each other. We need to have action plans in place. What will happen if my colleague gets detained. What will happen if my colleague gets fired immediately, without cause? What plans do we have in place to support each other, legally speaking? And then also, you know, otherwise, like I’ve seen folks do social media campaigns around, you know, folks that aren’t getting tenure because they were participating right in supporting Palestine and rallies, etc. And, you know, the the campaigns around it seem, seem on the ready right? But I’m sure that folks had to kind of scramble to put those things together. How can we be proactive of having supports things ready to go when the moment calls for it, so that we don’t feel overwhelmed or confused about what we should do to support our colleagues. So I I’m just like, plan for the worst case scenario, unfortunately in these cases, and let’s have a plan in place and share it with others, like there’s no reason why, like Fauci you know, campus couldn’t be using the same like resources and tool kits that I have in my campus. And how can we work together to do things like that? Yeah,

Heather Shea
it’s like we need a whole new playbook, you know, and crisis management, but and risk risk management, but from this lens of, you know, it’s not the it’s not the ambiguous. If this happens, it’s, I think it, for most campuses, it’s when this happens. So well we could keep talking about all of the concerns, and I really appreciate you both on and your time. So. I want to, I want to end us with three questions that I think are I’m enjoying at least, because I keep thinking about, what is bringing me joy. So three questions, what’s on the horizon, what’s keeping you up at night? Those might be the same things. And then what’s bringing you joy? Dr Garcia, do you want to go first?

Crystal Garcia
Sure, on the horizon, I’m thinking about this toolkit situation, right? Like, how, what are the things that I’ve already been developing? Like, for example, me and my colleagues have sent a letter, you know, outlining all the different ways that higher ed is under attack to our Faculty Senate. You know, we’ve put forth resolutions, or encourage folks to put forth resolutions, and those things have been introduced to our Faculty Senate. We have, you know, spoken out at our Board of Regents meeting against implementing changes in response to the Dear Colleague letter, we’ve testified at the state legislature against anti dei things. And I’m like, we’re recreating these things over and over, and everybody’s doing it all in different pockets. And so how can we put our resources together and say, here’s some templates, here’s some guides, here’s some things that we’ve used. You can modify it. You can edit it. You can, you know, use it in your own context. So on the horizon, I think, like, I’m excited about that of, how can I continue to, you know, help other people, and maybe they can help me too, because I need help. I need help. We all need it. I feel like right now, and the what is keeping you up at night? Oh my gosh. Like, what’s not I think I said that exact same thing last time, but I think I’m starting to This is sad, maybe because I think that at the beginning of this administration, it was a lot of shock. I mean, I’m not I’m a very I internalize a lot of things. I’m a very emotional person, in the sense that I care, I have empathy for other people and like it affects me. And so I felt emotionally heavy every single day, all of the days, and I feel Sadly, in a way, like I’m becoming more and more numb to some of the horrors that are happening, and it’s becoming more normal for me, which I don’t like, if I’m being honest with you, and so it’s like I’m sleeping better in some ways, but in some ways I’m not, because I’m disturbed that we’re becoming used to atrocities, and I don’t like that. What’s bringing me joy? I need all the joy, my family, my dogs. I just did. I just sat in on a session a couple nights ago that we did, like community building. I think I mentioned this before. I’m part of, like, a group of folks in our state that, you know, want change. And we did an educational session, and someone led that session around gardening, and, you know, starting starting your seeds, and how you can plant. And I am so new to all of that, but I really want to amp it up. I’m like, I’m the type of person that, whenever I find a hobby, I like, really go all in. I’m like, I need all of the things. Get me the tiller, get me like, everything. And I’m like, day one, I’ve never, you know, really done that so that I’m looking forward to gardening, because spring is here to Dr Commodores, beautiful. You know, metaphor, however, metaphor of like, the the changing seasons and what we could afford to So, yeah, yeah. And thank you for sharing that beautiful, that beautiful, beautiful analogy to think about in this, in thinking and comparing to the moment that we’re in,

Heather Shea
yeah. But yeah, yeah. Dr Commodore, what about for you?

Felecia Commodore
Yeah. So I think on the horizon, I’m just leaning more into my work around, particularly working with HBCU governance and boards, and thinking about fortify, how we can fortify our boards in this moment, but and also working with some colleagues around thinking about that broadly, not just in The HBCU sector, but across sectors, and really thinking about, what are the role of boards in this moment, also aside from boards, or I guess, in addition to boards, really fortifying our governance structures so that we can protect Academic freedom, and really having conversations with my colleagues who are different touch points across higher education, and thinking about how we can all think about holistically, whether you’re student affairs, whether you are you know, C suite administration, whether you are facilities, whether you’re athletics. How are we all going to be working together? How we can all better understand how our universities work, like actually work, not what we think they do, and how they thinking about how they all, how they work all together, so that we can all be prepared for how things roll out, when things are going to happen. Because I think. Like what I’m seeing is people being caught off guard by some of the things we’re seeing, because they didn’t know how the university worked. And so really making sure that those of us who are working in higher education understand what our institutions actually do and how they operate. What’s keeping me up at night? I think I think I said this last week, state legislatures, they i All the a lot of our states are in legislative session, and there’s all kinds of things happening. And then I saw a story today, and I need to investigate it a bit more, but there seems to be some order that went out now about in order for states to get federal money, they have to prove that they got dei removed from all their institutions. So So that’s both K through 12 and higher ed. And so at least the the eight level activity is really something I’m been kind of trying to keep an eye on, because again, particularly for higher education, that’s where we get most of our appropriations from, and that’s where a lot of things can be codified in ways that really impact us, that the executive orders don’t so much impact us. So really, that’s what’s keeping me up at night. And then as far as what’s bringing me joy, March Madness is bringing me joy, particularly the women’s tournament. So I had a perfect Final Four. I’m very excited about that. I even had a perfect region. That’s never happened in the history of me doing brackets. And so I am hoping and wishing for a South Carolina UConn rematch for the final, but it’s been a really good month of basketball, particularly women’s basketball, and so I’m finding a lot of joy in that right now.

Heather Shea
I love march for that reason. And as we talk about seasons, it’s usually the drearius and wettest month here in Michigan, but March is so exciting. Oh my gosh, so great. Thank you all so much. I, you know, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’ve been conceiving of this little project, and it would not be possible without the labor of you two and the other three correspondents who are who are contributing. So I just want to deeply appreciate that, and I look forward to the conversation every week. And I think, Felicia, you’re back next week. I don’t

Felecia Commodore
know what this means. This mean I’m not busy.

Heather Shea
You had lot. You had free time on Thursdays. That’s whatever

Felecia Commodore
that’s that’s really what it is. Yeah, yeah. I love it,

Heather Shea
yeah. And I think that you know, when we talk about labor like, this is labor, right? This is labor, and, and, and it is a service. So if you are watching today and you haven’t yet explored the other four episodes, we’ll link those as well, and you can catch up on all of those at Student Affairs now.com/current-campus-context. And we also now have a YouTube playlist, so you can just literally hit play and YouTube all of the episodes at once. Just want to appreciate the rest of my student affairs now, family, especially Dr Keith Edwards, super helpful, keeping me grounded, also worrying about, like you’re being awfully tuned in to all of this stuff. Are you doing okay? And I’m like, actually, I feel I Yes, I’m very informed and and I’m using that for for good. There’s an outlet, right? So higher ed, as we know, is shifting fast, so keep these conversations going. Share this episode. Post your takeaways. Tag us. Send us an email host at studentaffairs now.com so thanks again for tuning in today. Brought to you by Student Affairs now this has been current campus context. We will see you next week.

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