Heather Shea

All right, welcome back to current campus context, a limited series from student affairs now the online learning community for Higher Education and Student Affairs. I’m your host, Heather, Shea. We’re recording this episode at 5:36pm on Thursday, May 1, and as always, things may have changed by the time you listen. This is our final episode in the series, at least for now, and I think it arrives at a pivotal and urgent moment for higher education. Over the past few months, we’ve been documenting the dramatic and at times deeply troubling developments in the early days of Donald Trump’s second term. Since so let me just give a quick recap. Since January, the administration has launched an aggressive agenda, slashing research funding, dismantling the Department of Education, eliminating dei programs targeting international students, cracking down on campus protests and trying to reverse student loan relief, the result is a higher landscape defined by political pressure, legal uncertainty and financial precarity. So throughout this series, we have covered the partisan takeovers of boards, threats to academic freedom, the impact of intimidation on our undocumented, trans, first gen, black, Muslim and other marginalized students. But we have also highlighted forms of resistance, from student protests and faculty organizing to legal pushback and coalition building. I’m going to take a second to pause. It is the end of the semester. It’s actually the last week, finals week here on my campus, commencements this weekend, and I’m feeling this like familiar shift into summer mode, and we kind of collectively take a breath. And yet, higher ed family, we we struggle in these moments of transition. Keith and I were talking earlier this morning, and he reminded me from our student development theory class at Colorado State. Dave McElfresh said that date back, he said that growth doesn’t happen in the stages itself. It happens in that transition period between the stages. So today, as we enter these summer months, I think we need to ask ourselves, collectively, what kind of higher education system is emerging and how do we respond? So I have two returning guests here to help unpack that question. Welcome back. Dr crystal Garcia, hey, thank you for having me back. Dr Garcia is an expert in minoritized college students experiences in campus environments, and an associate professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. And also with us is Dr Orion Poon, hello,

OiYan Poon
glad to be back. Love the shout out to Mac Yes.

Heather Shea
Dave Mac, OiYan is co director of the College of missions, futures collaborative and consultant in higher education equity to Illinois Governor. JB Pritzker, education team, so excited that you both are here. So let me get into a little bit of the of the recap. As I mentioned in the beginning, we are marking the first 100 days of the print the President Trump’s second term. This is always a traditional milestone that offers kind of a glimpse at any administration’s priorities and governing style so far, and we’ll post some of these articles in the show notes. It’s broken all the records. It’s been a whirlwind of executive orders, agency shakeups and legislative proposals that have signaled a dramatic shift in the federal government’s relationship with our colleges and universities. We’ve seen calls to eliminate oversight while exerting political control, moves to undercut dei and student protections and escalating pressure on institutions to align with conservative agendas or face the consequences and the headlines this week, which I’ll mention but we’re going to focus more on the 100 days today, kind of bear this out, right? Harvard is responding to political pressure with promised reforms, a sweeping Student Aid overhaul is advancing in Congress. And competing ideological vision shaping federal policy are part of this broader pattern, and as we’ve said multiple times, these are not isolated incidents. They are part of a coordinated effort to remake higher education as we know it. So today, as we close out the series, we’re taking stock not just of what happens, but what it all means, who is being centered, who’s being sidelined, what stories are dominating the narrative and which ones have been. Erased and most importantly, how do we respond? So let’s get into it crystal. Given what I’ve just shared, where should we begin as we discuss these first 100 days of colleges and universities in the field of student affairs under Donald Trump?

Crystal Garcia
I mean it so much, right? You know, even as I was glancing through the articles Heather that you shared in preparation of this episode, I was just thinking, first 100 days more, like first 100 years. It feels like in some ways, you know, for me, I’m I as a career educator, my heart is always around students and how they’re experiencing this moment and what that looks like for them. You know, in our history of higher ed class yesterday, we were unpacking just, you know, handful of the headlines that are more recent and and some that you know, were published a little bit earlier on in the semester, including pen America’s release of the banned words list. For example, you know that massive list of words that are being flagged banned right within federal spaces that grants are being flagged for now. And you know, funds rescinded, grants canceled, etc, around those and students were baffled, I mean, and these are higher ed students, first of all, let me know, you know, these are students that are studying colleges and universities, and they were taken aback by all that was happening. Because I think big picture, you know, they’re keeping up with news, but there’s so many other things that are happening outside of higher ed that to just focus on all the things that have been happening within it. It’s overwhelming. And so, you know, I think about, for example, recently Mohsin madawi was released, you know, though that released, but not cleared of, you know, continued, you know, scrutiny. What will that path forward look like, legally speaking for him, you know, other students from Aztec, Mama Khalil have yet to be released. And we also know that some students had their visas reinstated, but not all students had visas reinstated, and the scrutiny and the uncertainty around that just continues. And so that’s a lot for me to think about in terms of international students and the real ramifications that they’re facing. And I think that for me, it’s like a micro version of what we’re seeing at a big social level across the country, and targeting particular groups that are very vulnerable, that don’t have as many protections as others, and don’t have, unfortunately, The advocacy and numbers that maybe other groups do. So, you know, for example, international students in the scope, I think about trans students on the national scope. You know, all of the laws, all of the legislation that is coming through, targeting those individuals, realizing that these are perhaps easier targets for them to start with. And likewise, you know, at the institutional level, we’re seeing attacks on one institution seemingly at a time, but these institutions are being chosen very strategically. These student groups are being chosen very strategically. And it’s important for us to understand that a win for any of these attacks is a loss for all of us, all of us, in a big way. And I wrote this down, sorry. I’m going to read a word for word, because I thought that it was so impactful. I don’t know if you all tuned into the 100 day ABC interview that Trump did completely. I

Heather Shea
didn’t, I didn’t watch it, but I think we should post it in the show notes so folks and watch. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

OiYan Poon
Thank you for watching it for us.

Crystal Garcia
Well, uh

OiYan Poon
wanted what happened, please. So

Crystal Garcia
much happened. But something caught me like I literally had to pause and say, I need to remember this point. I was listening to this clip on a podcast, actually on recapping the interview, and I was like, I need to remember this and and get it whenever I get home, because I think it’s so important. And it felt like a Passover moment. But Trump was talking about the the law firms right, that settled up with him, that he that he attacked and, you know, the the interviewer said, you know, is it just that the they’re defending people causes that you don’t agree with and that you’re just targeting them for that reason? And kind of pushed on that, but Trump replied and said they paid hundreds of millions of dollars because. They felt, I guess they probably felt like they did something wrong. And he continued on, these are the most powerful firms in the world, and they just signed whatever I put in front of them. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m actually surprised myself in a certain way, but they obviously felt they probably did something wrong. I guess that’s why they signed. And there’s so much to unpack from that, but all that I could think of is, I mean, it’s admitting, right? It’s admitting I go at, or, you know, institutions, people with whatever I think will possibly stick. And I’m kind of taken aback if it does, because I don’t even think that it has grounding. That’s what I’m hearing from it. And I’m being misinterpreting this. But the fact that he said I was actually surprised myself in a certain way leads me to believe, right? Like there’s those question marks around it. And, I mean, go, Yeah, I was just

OiYan Poon
gonna say that reminds me of, I just finished reading on tyranny, and that’s, there’s like 20 lessons on I have on tyranny. ISM, yeah, that’s my desk. Lesson number one, don’t comply in a I think it’s what is it don’t comply, right? Or don’t comply in advance, or something like that. It is, do not obey in advance, not obey in advance, anticipatory compliance. Yes, and that’s exactly crystal, like you’re saying. Even Trump is shocked that lesson number one, no one’s really listening. Yes, well,

Crystal Garcia
and then my first thought was Harvard. And like all of the everything that has been happening and the pushback that initially we were celebrating, right, like, yay Harvard. You know, I heard it on the podcast too. I was celebrating. But then, you know, just within the last couple of days, Harvard comes out and renames their diversity office. They come out and say they’re not going to be funding their affinity group graduation celebrations here forward, and I’m like, stop

OiYan Poon
it. Why you gotta Harvard, Harvard?

Crystal Garcia
So those are things on my mind. I’m thinking about the strategic ways that we’re seeing people institutions tipped off. But I mean, even if we think about Trump’s intentions, you know, of what he thinks will even stick or fly like I just think we’re giving him so much more power than we need to. And that’s the troubling part. What

Speaker 1
is that? I don’t know,

OiYan Poon
oh my gosh, calling John Dugan on the leadership stuff here. I’m like, What is this? Yeah, like, where is the leadership? That’s what I’ve been the model, right? Yeah. What is the model? And, yeah, thanks for kicking us off crystal. Yeah,

Heather Shea
yeah. Keep just Yeah, go on. I don’t need it for sure that,

OiYan Poon
just like sums up so much of these 100 days, I was just listening to Tressie McMillan condom yesterday or this morning. I can’t remember when, but New York Times and NPR had like these luminaries, kind of discussing the first 100 days. And she said something like, the thing that has surprised her most is that anyone was surprised. Yeah, right, so I feel like the I agree with her, the shock and awe was like, mapped out, publicized. Hey, this is what we’re going to do. And then remember during the campaign in an election when people asked him, Oh, are you following this project 2025, thing? He’s like, I don’t even know what this is. And to a T, everything is there. Did people actually believe him when he said, like, I don’t even know what this is. I mean, come on, right? Yeah. And maybe we were frozen by like, yes, we believe this is going to happen, but we don’t even know how to fight this. But I, I’m, I’m so dismayed to see so many of these leaders just kind of capitulating, and then there’s like, such a low bar for anyone just to even just say, and if not do something, saying things right, like these speeches that we’re seeing on the DEM side around the country, and people are just getting celebrated for them saying things right, like, which is a

Heather Shea
town hall, yeah, great, Great. Let’s say the

OiYan Poon
things, this is fascism, this is tyranny. We need to fight it. But okay, can you lead like, who are we all like? How are we all leading the fight tangibly? And maybe it is on the quieter end of things, and that’s fine, but I kind of just, I feel like. Yeah, my morale could use a little lift, you know? And so I think that’s why I keep coming. I’m I’m surprising myself in terms of, like, Am I an optimist? Because I keep trying to find these little victories. Like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund just won an injunction against the Dear Colleague letter, right, and, and, or this call from the administration to cert like, to document and certify diversity equity, inclusion activities, state by state, in higher education, in K 12. And there’s then the LDF won an injunction against that right, and so these things aren’t getting lifted up. But even if they were, and maybe it’s like, if we did lift it up, would our institutional leaders, like at Nebraska Crystal, you spoke at the Board of Trustees, right? Like, would they even pay attention to this? Yeah, I don’t know. What were the vibes at the board Crystal,

Heather Shea
I’m super interested in this. Yeah.

Crystal Garcia
Um, so that meeting was very long, three and a half hours, in fact, unexpectedly, not because there was so much discussion about bylaws changes, which was the whole reason why I was there, right? They back in, oh my gosh, I don’t even know, maybe in February, at this point, they called an emergency meeting in response to the Dear Colleague letter in the executive order, and put up some bylaws to be amended in response to the letter. And then in this, this was the closest or the next meeting, and so they were supposed to discuss it further, I suppose, or vote on it, and or both. The there was a lot of celebrations, a lot of other things happening. So we, you know, we waited maybe two and a half hours for the actual discussion to start, and when it did. I mean, I was a little bit disheartened, in some ways. They switch the board meetings between campuses. You know, we’re a system, so our main campus is in Lincoln. That’s where the emergency meeting was, and at that meeting, I think we maybe had five or six faculty members that spoke out against the bylaws changes. This meeting was at Omaha, and there were two of us faculty that spoke, and there were also, I believe, two or three students that spoke as well, which was great. Prior to the meeting, we collected testimonies, written testimonies. We had another group that collected postcards and had folks, you know, write statements on postcards and submit those digitally to the regents ahead of time of the meeting, and then also bring them there. We had a couple 100 statements that we presented to them, and I yeah, I thought there would be more discussion. I thought that there would be a little bit more debate. But what I was really heartened to see is that we had one board of board member who had a wonderfully prepared statement about why they were not going to vote to pass the bylaws changes.

OiYan Poon
And the bylaws changes explanatory pause was to kind of essentially ban diversity equity, inclusion right, not

Crystal Garcia
so much so basically, to remove references to race, to gender, and then it was really in reference to, like, student admissions policies, financial aid, I believe, and then also, what’s the word that I’m looking for employment? So, yeah, yeah. So we had again, one Regent who had a wonderful statement and shared, you know, they just, they didn’t feel that it was actually in the best interest of our community. And, you know, we can’t even be sure, right, that we aren’t going to still have some sort of punishment by, you know, complying, and that that’s not necessarily going to save us. So we had one Regent that was amazing, spoke out. Then we also had all of our students who did not vote to pass it. One student abstained on the first one. They were a little uncertain about affirmative action and admissions or in hiring in general, and so I think that they just didn’t feel comfortable with having an opinion on it. But the others, all three, also spoke and said that it wasn’t in the best interest of students. And so even though the meeting didn’t go you know, they still passed the bylaws changes, even. So it didn’t turn the tides necessarily that we were there. I felt that it was amazing to see these students stand up for, you know, their peers, their current peers and future peers, and the institution more generally, because it’s not just about students, it’s about hiring practices, you know, for the institution broadly, and you know, a legacy of of what, who we define as discrimination. We can’t even say the words of what discrimination means.

OiYan Poon
Oh, due to the bylaw changes, yeah, like it’s, we don’t accept

Crystal Garcia
discrimination, but we can’t say discrimination on the basis of race, of gender. Like, how does that even make sense? So, wow, yeah, so Alas,

OiYan Poon
alas. And I was just, you know, I think it’s so important to be on the record, yeah, yeah, right, to create the record for the future. Because I think that is the, you know, I think we think about, like all those Supreme Court cases that don’t go the way of equity and advancement of a multiracial democracy, but there’s always the dissents, right? And reading those dissents that’s the record and basis for future action. And so thank you, crystal for you know, being part of in your community for being there. Yeah,

Crystal Garcia
thank you for that. Yeah, it did feel right. I mean, again, you know, whenever we think about where we want to show up and what’s important to us and what we know is true, and you know from our research and the work that we do, it’s hard not to speak out, um, yeah, whenever we see harm that’s happening within our communities. So, yeah, there was that I do. I felt good about what I said, Though I will say that because I kind of look like a as

Heather Shea
much as I could to the people that employ me.

Crystal Garcia
You know, I mean, right, it could have gone a lot, a lot further, but you know, yeah,

Heather Shea
no, it’s really powerful. And I mentioned, as we were prepping to start today that I that I just watched your clip because it was on, it was posted on Instagram, I think. And as I was watching it, I was like, see this? This is a microcosm of what could be happening at board meetings all over higher education right now, right? We, we have these opportunities to speak. We need to use them. We need to be, you know, present and and, as you said, Let’s do that direct dessent, right so, oh,

OiYan Poon
those of you not on video, my child has joined the video. This is what it’s about, right? These kids,

Heather Shea
exactly. I’m picking up my daughter from college tomorrow, and I yeah, she’s I can’t wait to see her and spend time and just debrief and all of that. So yeah, the college students are the future, right? And it’s hard to kind of regain that sense of calm and clarity when there’s so much noise you know happening in the world right now. Yeah?

OiYan Poon
Wow. I also want to raise. Oh, I was going to raise. You know, today is May Day. And yes, I know here in Chicago, I think other cities too. I know in Chicago we had 1000s of people turn out today. It was raining, it was pouring. People were still out. And so, you know, speaking of being on the record, right? There’s so many different ways to be on the record. It was really great to see so many people out there, yeah, making their voices heard and dissent, yeah,

Heather Shea
yeah, this organization, and I think it’s across, I mean, it’s the organization’s called 50, 50, 1 right? It’s like 50 states, 50 protests, one movement. I think that’s what it stands for. I’m have to look that up and we’ll post the link, but they’re posting updated opportunities to show up and be visible. And, yeah, I I think that’s, you know, one more tool that we can use and engage that’s good. May Day, May

OiYan Poon
Day. We are, lately in student affairs. We are workers, you know, we’re helping profession, but we are working within these large institutions. And I think

Heather Shea
one of the things that before we go on to like, kind of the what we can do within our spheres of influence. I am really curious about how you all see who is wielding power, where have the power dynamics you know, shifted, who is like coalescing power? Right together and just in general, like, you know, is the broader public paying attention? Because that’s, that’s the other question I have, and how might we regain some of that power?

OiYan Poon
Where are we organizing power? I mean, I’ve just been, you know, as you know, I’m no longer directly on a college campus, but I am noticing, you know, the quiet ways that different spaces and corners of our communities are gathering together and figuring out, what will we do. How will we show up, the different ways. I also want to note last week, apparently, Northwestern University’s Faculty Senate had a quorum for the first time in its history. So there are things happening. And I do have a lot of friends on faculty at Northwestern and I know for months they’ve been meeting at each other’s homes and, you know, at coffee shops to and figuring out what we study right higher education, governance, and for the first time in the history of this not very young university, the faculty finally got it together and got a quorum, and they passed four resolutions explicitly talking about academic freedom and rights to speech and expression, in addition to, you know, calling for divestment from genocide in in Palestine, right? So they were pretty radical resolutions, you know, all all told. And look at that. Look

Heather Shea
at that. Yeah, wow. So

OiYan Poon
at 100 days into this new term, I feel like we are just about, I still feel like we’re on a precipice of like it’s still building, but I’m starting to feel a little bit of hope, even when we do have these setbacks, like Harvard being like, we’re leading the way, just kidding. So there are we have to hold on to these, like community people wins. Yeah,

Heather Shea
yeah. And as I was chatting with Keith again this morning, we were just, we were just talking about, like, where are people at right now? I mean, it is exhausting. It is exhausting keeping up with the news. And as he and I were like, kind of strategizing, like, what kind of conversation would be beneficial at this moment, as we’re kind of wrapping up the series, it was like, I think we need a you know, you know, what’s next, you know. And then how can we start figuring out what those coalitions are, you know, whether it’s you know, shared across campuses or within our within our own campuses. And so the coalition building, I think, and that the hope for the future. I think those are two things that I don’t know. It’s I in one of the pieces that we’ll post in the show notes the former Under Secretary of Education, James CAVAL, who happened to visit Michigan State University last fall and met with a bunch of students, who was delightful. He said was kind of taking stock at the first 100 days, and then he’s like, and we have 1361 days to go. So Bucha, sure

OiYan Poon
do. Yeah. Sure do. Yeah.

Heather Shea
Russell, what about you? Where? Where are you in the in the hopefulness

Crystal Garcia
i i always have hope like I do feel like I’m pretty optimistic. Usually, if you catch me on a day whenever I’m not, that’s more unusual. But you know, oyan and and I think in previous podcasts, I forgot if it was last week or the week before you all talked about, like, the Big 10 coalition, yeah, act. So, like, our Faculty Senate passed a resolution to support it, and we also had our student government propose a resolution to support our resolution. And so I think that that is something we haven’t really talked about, yet is thinking and, you know, we’re right now kind of questioning what, what staff set it up to like, maybe we can talk with them, and then think about our other campuses. So I’m, I’m trying to think strategically of how we continue to apply pressure to our institutional leaders because they are feeling the pressure right like I think it was last week that there was this discussion right of conflicting values within the institution that are at play. You know, I think it was Brennan who brought up an example of a colleague who said. Like, yeah, we have to cut dei because, like, I want my research to keep going. And, like, can we just, you know, stop dei stuff, because this is important too. But I, you know, I argue we can’t. We can’t stand to lose any of it. It’s all important. And if we start chipping away at who we are, then, like, who are we, right? And I think that, and I’m going to get back to, like, the coalition building, but really quickly, something that I’ve been thinking on is the ways that the you know, terms diversity, equity and inclusion are used have been weaponized, and we know that, but I think they’ve gotten so watered down now that we even forget what that is. It feels like extras like, you know, it’s just these cutesy things that we do to help students have fun and have a good campus. You know, experience dei is civil rights like and I think if we stop saying this dei work, we need to say, No, this is anti civil rights progress. That’s a whole different meaning. I very seriously doubt that that colleague who was saying, Can’t we just scrap the DEI right, which is important, wouldn’t would find it harder to say, Can’t we just scrap civil rights? And then yeah, you know, it’s, it’s just even words, right? So I think it’s really important for us to, like, hone in on that, and anytime that we keep hearing people dismiss diversity equity, inclusion as something that’s, you know, non vital to our campus communities, just to have that reminder of, like, No, this is human rights, civil rights work that we’re doing within campus spaces and beyond, but in terms of coalition building, I think that tuning into our each of the pockets of power that we have that are already groups that exist because we know one person doing something is not going to be as effective as if we have an entire group, and then multiple groups, and then what happens whenever all these groups are working together? Earlier, I was talking about how students in my class kind of were like, Oh, wow, this stuff is happening again. Those are higher ed grad students who weren’t fully informed about what’s happening whenever we actually met with student government senators earlier this week, who said, you know, we want to talk to you more about the resolution, etc. And when we talk to them, and they asked us, like, why are you concerned about this? Like, can you tell us more about why this resolution was put forward? And we started talking about, you know, all the things that we’re worried about, they were like, wow, we’ve learned so much in just this short half hour meeting. And that leads me to believe that it’s not that people don’t care, it’s not that people aren’t engaged because they don’t think that it matters, but they don’t really have an understanding of how all these things are interconnected and how they work a student interconnection,

Unknown Speaker
yes. Like, why

Crystal Garcia
tenure attacks matter? Like, yeah, I want my faculty to have that. Sure. Maybe I don’t know, but why does it affect me? Or how does it affect what we can or can’t teach, like, what’s NIH and what’s 15% indirect and like, what does that matter? And all these universities have millions of dollars and like, I don’t know. They’re gonna lose some money. I don’t know what that means. Like, we have to be more intentional about educating folks and activating them. I don’t think that we can continue to expect that people are keeping up with these things and understand the

OiYan Poon
interconnection giving the on ramps on how to activate, right and also right, really honing in on the interconnectedness. Because I, I have heard for decades, people are like, Oh, it’s higher ed. That’s a privileged space, right? I have other concerns and not really understanding how interconnected all of it is, right? And we’ve talked about in this limited series about how connected it is, how the university serve as major employers, as you know, advancing science for cancer cures and health advances, and all these various benefits that connect to everything in our lives, right? And so then I think it is that on ramping to getting people helping people, you’re right. Crystal, absolutely.

Heather Shea
So then you see, you know, I think we talked about it as, like, a marketing and communications kind of problem, right? If, like, we need to think about the messaging. Where is the messaging? Who’s Who is picking up these stories about the value and and how institutions of higher education are contributing to democracy, right? And there’s, there’s some interesting there’s some interesting podcasts, other podcasts that unpack this. The other piece that I was thinking about because, you know, first of all, those of you who are experts in higher education and have. PhDs in this area like this. I think, as Dr Commodore said, like this is our time to shine, right? This is our moment to start unpacking and and showing the ways in which our institutions, you know, if one side, the folks who are receiving NIH funding are, you know, upset at the folks who are doing the DEI work, like, we are all part of the same campus. We are all one university, like, what takes down, you know, one unit will ultimately affect everyone. But I was, I was this, this book on tyranny, I think, has been a super fascinating read. And if you haven’t picked it up, definitely, you know, think a little bit about what what are the current moment and what is it saying about what’s happening right now? Because it wasn’t written within that, you know, context, necessarily.

OiYan Poon
But everyone needs to read it. Everyone needs to read this, like, absolutely. And in your summer reading, it’s super

Heather Shea
short, yep. And it is like, this is, this is the like, I think, moment that we’re at so but I also wonder, you know, what forms of grassroots or institutional or government coalition building is is maybe going to be most effective, or is it just, we just need to do all of it, like, if I’m going to, if I we all have limited time. Where should I put my efforts and how should I engage?

OiYan Poon
I think it’s an assessment of like, what your own capacity and skill sets are right? I think I’ve given a shout out to Deepa iyer’s book before. I always forget the title social change now guide for reflection and connection, and she has she offers different roles that people play in movements and leadership, for change efforts for collective efforts for change. And so there’s different story, you know, people play the role of storytellers. But then there are also weavers. There’s, you know, frontline folks, and these different roles that we each play. So I think it begins with a self reflection as as your own individual, but then it also your various team settings, your whether it’s your department or other social networks, like, what is your role? What is everyone’s different roles and capacities and skill sets, right? And then how do you bring it all together? Right? So I think it starts there. So then, for example, with the messaging that we were talking about, who, who are the messengers? Right? I am, if anyone is following me on social media, I am fully obsessed with sinners right now, and I’m going to see it again tomorrow. And you know, I was thinking Ryan Coogler has done one of the best ethnic studies efforts, Race and Ethnic Studies efforts, um, out there, right? He is a storyteller, right? I don’t know how to make a movie. I don’t know how to make these things, right? I don’t even know how to make a Tiktok video. Okay? So we have storytellers in our midst, in our communities. And, you know, I had this thought the the amount of racial history that Ryan Coogler does in sinners in 1930s from 1930s Mississippi Delta, Jim Crow, south, right? I was like, would this be banned in different places that are have, you know, ordinances against learning about our accurate, truthful histories, right? But I have not heard of that talk, right? Instead, I’ve heard, wow, look at this blockbuster hit that’s making money for Hollywood, right? This is the first time since the pandemic that people are actually really going out to the movies. That’s the conversation, right? Meanwhile, they’re like watching it. People are watching it like two, three times me and others and others.

Heather Shea
Have you seen it? Crystal? No, no, I haven’t seen it either. So,

OiYan Poon
oh, my God, you have to see it, right? And, yeah, so anyone who is out there listening, you’ve seen it. You know what I’m talking about, like, these histories that people and people are looking up further, like, Oh, I didn’t know there were Chinese people in 1930s Mississippi Delta, right? So then people are looking that up and, like, curious and, oh, I didn’t know the Choctaw, where the Native Americans in that region, and people are looking that up and learning more, right? And so these are all so I think the coalitions also have to come to. To creative cultural producers too. How do we connect with right? People who actually know how to tell stories beyond Student Affairs. Now, love you, Heather, love the team, right? But we have a very specific audience. We do. Yeah, so, and we’re very clear about that. You’re very clear about that, and that’s why it’s successful, right? There are others who have farther reach,

Heather Shea
yes, yes, and I think so. I My next question is really about like, how, what role do we in student affairs? Right, for folks who are listening, what role do we play in this next you know, whether it’s next 100 days, whether it’s next 1300 days, as we do the countdown. But like I, I feel like we, we have an important role. Maybe it’s telling the stories. Maybe it’s supporting students in these moments, checking in with students. You know, are they? Are they doing okay as students are vacating our campuses for the summer months like that. That’s also feels a little bit dispersed. So I don’t know what either of you would say about what what role should student affairs folks who are listening play in the next 100 days?

Crystal Garcia
Yeah, I think that that, again, I resonate a lot with what way on shared in terms of, like, thinking about your strengths, where you want to contribute. There’s so much to do from engaging in protests, sure whether that’s in on campus or out of campus or outside of campus, or whether that is, you know, messaging your reps, like your state reps, whether that’s, you know, going to your board of regents meetings and speaking out, whether that is supporting students, and having that conversation day to day of like, how they’re feeling or supporting them, like on an individual level, all of those things are really important for me. I’m thinking about this, like activation piece a lot, and I was literally cycling inside, you know, like a gym, whatever. So, not dangerously cycling, but on my phone, like in my notes, like writing down ideas that I was having around, like, oh, like creating, you know, a flyer that says something to the extent of, like, higher ed or, you know, colleges and universities everywhere are under attack. How is that affecting you, and what can you do about it? And then having a QR code that links to information, and just putting those all over campus, and, like, just letting people see that, right, or sharing it literally with every other campus across the country, right? Like, how are we informing folks and keeping them updated? But then to oils, point of, like, how do we on ramp them? I like that you use that term of like, giving them opportunities and strategies. And you know, even as student affairs professionals, how are we talking to students about, like, their rights to protest? I think that it’s important for us to know what our campus guidelines are and how we’re talking to students about safely doing so and understanding their rights and understanding what that looks like, more broadly speaking, not to say, hey, I want you all to go protest. Here’s a list of how to do it. You know, maybe some of us can do but, but to think strategically of how we just support students in whatever it is that they want to do, how they want to show up, too. And I also really loved Dr Charles Davis posted a picture, series of pictures. I don’t even know what was happening. I was just like, this is beautiful. I love it. It was beautiful. I love it. It was we are dei March at the University of Michigan, Michigan, and all of these people had shirts that said, like, hashtag, we are Dei. And I don’t know what else was on the shirt or what was happening at this event, but it was just everyone was together. Everyone had these shirts, everyone was holding these signs, like talking, you know. And I think, what if we did that on every single campus? Like, what if every campus had hashtag, we are dei like, I

OiYan Poon
think Colorado State did that when their president announced, kind of like, Oh, we’re going to be rolling back all the diversity programs, etcetera. And, man, oh,

Heather Shea
people, I’m a two time CSU grad, so I’m like, yes,

Unknown Speaker
yes,

OiYan Poon
yes. So you understand the pain, because there’s such a deep legacy there of this work, all the advocacy offices and everything, all the advocacy so, you know, students also had the we are dei signs. I don’t know if there were T shirts, but this is, yeah, you know, this is a thing. You’re right, yeah,

Crystal Garcia
yeah. And we don’t have to, like,

Heather Shea
that’s a thing. It’s like,

Crystal Garcia
we can share ideas

Heather Shea
together. We’re all trademarked. We are all we’re not trademarked.

Crystal Garcia
Let’s stop being in our silos of our. Individualization like these student governments, go talk to another. Student Government is Big 10, right? Y’all talk to each other,

OiYan Poon
yes, and there is talk to each other. There is a, you know, I was really excited to see the US. Student Association seems to be re energizing now. They had a conference recently. So grad school, I was in the UC system. There’s a UC Student Association, and they networked with the USSA, right? So this is a network of student governments. I remember Wisconsin was in it, yeah, a lot of Big 10 schools were part of USSA. So that’s cool. That’s really we could just build on what’s already there. I know

Heather Shea
Sure, Crystal, if you send me a flyer with a QR code, I will make sure it’s printed in my campus. So I love that I and I do think those are some of the things that that we can do. I shout out to my parents, because I will say, the folks who have the time and the energy are folks who are retired like they are who I have seen at protests, partially because my parents, you know, were activists in the 60s, and so now they’re like, we’re still here doing this protesting work. So that’s what, that’s what I had the opportunity to do with them a couple of weeks ago, it was a lot of fun. I know we could keep going, and I have there’s so many things that we can discuss, but I think we should move to kind of final thoughts as we’re wrapping up, so we kind of always end with this last you know what’s on the horizon, what’s keeping you up at night and what’s bringing you joy. So Does somebody want to volunteer to go first?

OiYan Poon
Oh my gosh. Let’s see. I already mentioned sinners. That was like my one goal for this episode was

bringing in my obsession,

but yeah, so that’s definitely bringing me joy, but also, just like these little sparks, like I said, Wow, Faculty Senate are finally making forum after hundreds of years, that’s that’s Wow. That’s a moment of hope, right there. Joy, yes, summer weather is coming eventually to the Midwest someday. We’ve had glimpses that’s been really nice. You know? I think it’s in this conversation I keep forgetting, and I want to make sure that I bring this up, which is, we have to take moments of rest, you know. So as we transition into summer, celebrate these accomplishments. I know, Heather, you were just coming from a graduation ceremony. There’s so much joy in those moments. This is like, the one thing I definitely, for sure, Miss deeply is commencement time and putting on the regalia, and meeting people’s families and just, you know, celebrating these major milestones, and just reveling in that and taking stock of that. And then I think summer is a really good time to just do some deep, guided reflection, right? And so to this point, that’s what I’m what’s on my mind is, as we enter summer, sometimes we just totally lose steam, yeah, right, and we lose connectivity. And I And I’m worried. I am worried, and I want people to rest. And at the same time, how do we maintain I’m wondering, how we maintain these connections that we’ve made in these first 100 days, and that we don’t lose that momentum. Yeah,

Heather Shea
for sure,

OiYan Poon
this was that puppies, the puppies are bringing you joy. CRYSTAL I have kids.

Crystal Garcia
Dog is the loudest dog. This is the golden rule of pet ownership. I feel like our large dog never I love

OiYan Poon
that. This is the kid and dog episode, yeah, yeah, I’m sorry,

Crystal Garcia
y’all I know that that’s annoying, yeah, for me, you know, I am thinking about I get excited about pushing forward, I get excited about pushing back. I get excited about collection, collective action. And you know, I was, I’ve been so caught up in things that have been happening within our campus for the past few weeks that I got a little bit behind on work that I do with a another collective, now dubbed the Higher Education Advocacy collective. It was just like a working group for a couple of years, but now, you know, we have a little name and try to develop resources. And you know, think of ways to support folks as best as you know we can with the time that we have as well with whoever is able to show up. And so I’m excited about things like that. I know there’s another faculty member on our campus who just recently reached out to a lot of folks to. To connect them to an advocacy movement, joining students, staff and faculty that that care about diversity, equity and inclusion, civil rights, progress within our college campus. And it’s also kind of cool to, you know, like, have somebody else doing it, and then just be like, Yeah, I’ll go, I’ll show up, and not, you know, do the coordinating part, so I’m excited to be a part of that, but things like that keep me energized. I definitely think that we deserve rest during summer. I am 1,000% claiming that, but I also don’t want to completely go to sleep during the summer because I’m afraid of what we’re going to return back to last summer. We returned back at UNL to our Office of Diversity and Inclusion being eliminated the week before classes started. And so, you know, I would also say that I hope that’s not the case, that we come back to more massive and dramatic changes in response to all of this, but we’ll see what that looks like. And so for folks just to be ready and prepared, you know, to push back and to collect together and, you know, advocate in all the ways that you can, I think that that part’s important. So for the joy, joy part, I am so excited because shout out to my friends and colleagues, doctors, Antonio Duran and Michael Goodman, we’re doing a little writing retreat in May to Sunday, and I’ve never been there, and so I’m excited to just spend time with people. And you know, oyon, to your point of like, reflection and like taking a minute to pause, this semester has been so go, go, go. And I keep apologizing to all of my students, like I’m behind in grading, like it’s happening, I promise you’re doing great, like I’m, I’m gonna get to it, and it’s just always, this whole semester has just been felt, felt like, you know, a race of, like, trying to catch up with something and then something else comes up. And so I’m, I’m really looking forward to that pause and taking time with loved ones, friends and to get to just think and dream about what I want to do. You know, forward. So, yeah,

Unknown Speaker
let’s dream. I

Heather Shea
love it. I love it. Yeah, I part of the reason why we’re pausing this series is because faculty often off in the summer. I am also a week from tomorrow leading an undergrad study abroad in Europe, so I will be gone for a month. And so we always kind of knew there was going to be an end date, that it doesn’t mean that this is going to be 100% over, and maybe we’ll reconstitute the group in the fall, or if there’s some major thing that happens over the course of the summer, I am so grateful, though, to both the two of you, as well as all of the other correspondence. So I’m going to name all of you so dr crystal Garcia, Dr oyan Poon, Dr Brennan Cantwell, Dr Felicia Commodore and Dr Dimitri Morgan. When I reached out to all five of you with just like the hope that maybe two, one or two would be interested in joining me, and everybody said, Yes, I had. I had no idea. And this is definitely exceeded all of my dreams. So thank you so much for being a part of these conversations. And well, Heather,

Crystal Garcia
also, like, I don’t think you ever get thanked, you know, so, like, we should also, you’re so amazing with helping put things together and stay in contact with us and

OiYan Poon
going on top of everything, yeah, I know. Shout out to Keith too. I know he’s behind the scenes there, yeah,

Heather Shea
yeah, yeah. I mean the whole student affairs now team has kind of become wrapped up in this, like, we have our Thursday prep meetings generally, and we’re, like, talking about all regular episodes, but then we end up spending half of the time talking about what’s in the news. Oh, wow. So it’s, it’s been, I will say I think, you know, as I look to the future, I think staying informed with a purpose, right? Because it’s easy to get into the Doom scrolling, you know, moment of like, everything I look at the New York Times and I’m like, like, How do I open the new york times every day and just go, like, Oh, I just want to close it again. But if I know there’s a purpose, and I can do something with that information. I think that’s that’s super helpful. That’s the context, right? That’s the the gaining that context to be able to be informed. If you are listening today and you haven’t joined us or watched or listened to any of the past episodes, you can do that at Student Affairs now.com/current-campus-context,

as I just said, a huge thanks to the whole student affairs now team for shaping and supporting this limited series. From the beginning, we are evolving as a field quickly, and I think as we. We consider what’s next as both a field of student affairs, broadly in higher education, the more we can have generative conversations, the more we can come together. So if you have feedback or ideas of what you’d like to hear next from us, please let us know. So crystal Orion, thanks again, and thanks to the other correspondents and all of you who are listening watching. Thanks for tuning in to current campus context brought to you by Student Affairs now we will see you next time, whatever comes next. Applause.

How Trump’s First 100 Days Transformed Higher Ed (Inside Higher Ed, April 30)

Three Competing Visions Drive Trump’s Higher-Ed Policy (The Chronicle, April 29)

All of the Trump Administration’s Major Moves in the First 100 Days – The New York Times 

Exclusive: Inside Trump’s First 100 days | TIME 

10 key numbers that sum up Trump’s first 100 days (NPR, April 29)

Harvard Eyes Changes to Address Antisemitism, Anti-Muslim Bias (Inside Higher Ed,  April 29)

Harvard Promises Changes After Reports on Antisemitism and Islamophobia – The New York Times (April 29)

Student Loan Overhaul Clears House Committee (Inside Higher Ed, April 30)

House Bill Calls for Risk-Sharing, Sweeping Changes to Student Loan Program (Inside Higher Ed, April 29)

Books:

Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection by Deepa Iyer

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

For fun?
End of Trump’s Presidency  Countdown clock 🙂