Most-clicked story of the week:
Antioch University’s board is in a legal fight with an institutional coalition it co-founded in 2023 over what the university described as a “hostile takeover.” According to Antioch’s lawsuit, the Coalition for the Common Good is trying to dissolve the university’s board, take over its finances and fire its leader.
Antioch won a court order last week temporarily blocking the coalition from taking over the university. CCG’s board has since disputed Antioch’s characterization of its actions and said its goal in dissolving the university’s board is to “simplify the governance structure to improve decision-making and help Antioch move forward.”
Number of the week: $8.5 million
That’s how much East Carolina University plans to eliminate from its budget in the second stage of its three-year, $25 million cost-cutting campaign. Its latest plan calls for reviewing academic concentrations and doctoral programs for potential savings while eyeing reinvestment in what administrators call “programs of distinction” that represent potential growth.
Texas universities’ core curriculum shake-up:
- Texas A&M University System on Thursday slashed 350 course catalog entries from its general education offerings, including classes in women’s literature, ethnic studies and gender studies.
- The vote by the system’s board came as Texas’ higher ed systems move to comply with SB 37, a new state law that requires public colleges to narrow their core curriculum to “foundational” classes and other criteria. To that end, the University of Houston system last month cut about 40% of its core curriculum options to meet SB 37 standards.
- Likewise, the University of Texas system could cut over 100 classes from counting toward its general education requirements for spring 2027 as it aims to comply with SB 37, according to internal emails reported on by the Austin American-Statesman. Proposed cuts include classes on slavery, gender, race and environmental history, the newspaper said.
The latest Trump administration news:
- A new proposed IRS regulation threatens to strip private colleges of their tax-exempt status over their diversity and equity efforts. The head of the National Association of College and University Business Officers argued the proposal “far exceeds” the U.S. Treasury Department’s authority and urged policymakers to reconsider it.
- A federal judge ruled that administration policies being used for deporting international students over their speech are unconstitutional. Stanford University’s student newspaper filed the initial lawsuit, saying that student visa holders have quit the publication or turned down stories to avoid endangering their immigration status.
- Ohio State University will pay the federal government $2.1 million to settle allegations it failed to disclose ties between its faculty and the Chinese government. The university admitted no wrongdoing, and an OSU spokesperson said Ohio State reported a faculty member’s inappropriate foreign affiliations once it uncovered them.
