Tag: universities

Stadium Erupts as Florida Brings Back Chant That Was Banned for Years Due to Imaginary ‘Racist’ History

Sanity returned to the University of Florida Saturday when the Gators took on the Florida Atlantic Owls at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

During the neo-Marxist cultural revolution that was the summer of 2020, everything deemed “racist” had to be purged, regardless of context or logic dictating otherwise. ESPN reported that this included the popular “gator bait” chant, in which fans would extend their arms in front of them and clap their hands together like an alligator seizing its prey.

What exactly does that have to do with race? The university’s president that year, Kent Fuchs, announced racial undertones were a concern because artwork from the late 1800s and early 1900s showed alligator hunters using black babies as bait.

However, Fox News’ Outkick Sports reported that Fuchs had admitted UF’s chant had nothing to do with any of those depictions.

“While I know of no evidence of racism associated with our ‘Gator Bait’ cheer at UF sporting events, there is horrific historic racist imagery associated with the phrase,” he said.

Fox sports writer Zach Dean observed, “Translation: ‘This isn’t racist, but we’re bending the knee to the mob because that’s what everyone is doing right now.’”

So, the president was weak-willed and he caved.

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“We’ll Show You a Picture of His Pig A**..F**k Him Up!” – College Professor and BLM Founder Caught on Tape Doxxing and Inciting Violence Against ICE Agent

A radical California college professor and Black Lives Matter founder has been busted on tape committing a disturbing act that possibly put one of America’s brave ICE agents in grave danger.

On Sunday, a far-left group called La Defensa del Pueblo held a summit in Oxnard to convene so-called immigrant rights activists, “faith leaders”, labor unions, and several more leftist groups to protest what it calls “terror against the people.”

During the event, the group focused the bulk of their ire on Trump’s September 2025 executive order titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” This order gave the administration some of the tools necessary to begin to dismantle leftist domestic terrorism and political violence.

La Defensa Del Pueblo also attacked Trump’s immigration agenda and what they laughably called his “war on Black America.”

But the event has gone viral for something even more disturbing.

The Manhattan Institute’s Stu Smith on Monday shared a shocking video of Cal State Los Angeles professor Melina Abdullah not only naming an ICE officer at the event, but also announcing where he was likely staying.

Then she repeatedly tells the audience to “f**k him up,” a clear call for violence.

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SAFE SPACE: Harvard Law School Offers Students ‘Low Sensory Rooms’ and Fidget Toys

Anyone who tells you that the ‘woke’ era is over is not paying attention to what is happening on America’s college campuses. Woke insanity is alive and well in higher education.

Harvard Law School is offering students ‘low sensory rooms’ and fidget toys to help deal with stress. What’s next? Coloring books?

These are people who will be offered jobs as judges and district attorneys in the future.

The College Fix reports:

Harvard Law offers students fidget toys, ‘low sensory rooms’

As that nation’s future Supreme Court justices, solicitors general, and elite law firm attorneys start school at Harvard University, the Ivy League is ensuring they have everything they need to take a “break from the noise.”

The freshman orientation for new Harvard law students reportedly promoted “low sensory rooms,” according to National Review.

The rooms include “weighted blankets, dim lighting, fidget toys, and more,” according to reporter Abigail Anthony.

Anthony opined: “Of course, the people being trained to work 80 hours a week at a Big Law Firm cannot be expected to manage a couple hours of orientation events without palliative care.”

Students can also relax in wellness lounges with “massage chairs” and “lowkey crafts and activities.”

The school reportedly informed students of the dozens of “gender-inclusive bathrooms” on campus as well.

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Trump Censorship Machine Loses Again in Court

The Trump administration’s crusade to crush campus criticism took another wallop on Friday in a California courtroom. Federal judge Noël Wise ruled that the Trump administration’s “ideological-deportation policy” brazenly violated the US Constitution.

The Stanford Daily—one of the best-known college student newspapers in the nation—sued the Trump administration for changing its “immigration policy and pattern of enforcement, namely by arresting, detaining, and deporting students with F-1 visas when those students use their freedom of speech to express opinions that the government does not like.” It asserted that the Trump administration’s “actions have specifically impacted Stanford Daily by decreasing the quantity and diversity of opinion pieces The Stanford Daily is able to publish on the conflict between Israel and Palestine.” Foreign students who had written on the issue requested that their previous articles be deleted, and other foreign students were no longer willing to comment on hot issues.

The Trump administration claims unlimited discretion to silence foreign students by deporting those whose opinions it disapproves of. Judge Wise wrote, “The language of the [First] Amendment makes clear that it is not the government that gives freedom of speech to the people. Instead, that freedom is imbued in the people. . . . It is not the government’s to take.” This is a notion that conservatives instinctively understand when it comes to the Second Amendment and the right of self-defense. But many people fail to recognize the same right for freedom of speech. Conor Fitzpatrick—the chief supervising attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)—which represented the student newspaper, declared, “Today’s ruling proves that free speech isn’t a privilege, but the inalienable right of every man, woman, and child.” FIRE president Greg Lukianoff clarified the scope of the ruling:

This ruling does NOT say the government must admit anyone, issue anyone a visa, or grant anyone citizenship. It says that once a person is lawfully here, the government cannot deport them because they engaged in protected speech. The government cannot tell a legal immigrant: An American is free to say this, but if you say it, you’re out.

George Porteous—Editor in Chief of Stanford Daily—hailed the decision: “The reporters in our newsroom shouldn’t have to fear that writing a story will result in their deportation. Today’s victory means they won’t have to.” But it remains to be seen whether this latest judicial rebuff slows the Trump censorship juggernaut.

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Disgraced New England mayor drags heels repaying $240,000 taxpayer cash

A former Connecticut mayor has repeatedly blown past deadlines to repay the $240,000 in taxpayer money that she allegedly misused while in office. 

Erin Stewart, 39, suspended her gubernatorial campaign in May after an investigation exposed alleged misuse of a New Britain credit card to ‘benefit herself, members of her family and her political campaigns,’ the city said.

The city alleged that Stewart improperly boosted her income in the 12 years she ran city hall.

After missing the first two deadlines, New Britain said that Stewart owes a total of $241,558 in attorneys’ fees, taxpayer funds and tuition reimbursement.

‘I take the allegations that have been made against me very seriously,’ the former mayor said in a public statement. ‘And for that reason, I am suspending my gubernatorial campaign effective immediately so that I can focus on addressing those claims.’

Stewart and her charity, the Mayor’s Trophy Charity Fund, were investigated by the Crumbie Law Group who were hired by Mayor Bobby Sanchez, Stewart’s successor, the CT Mirror reported. 

The Republican allegedly used more than $30,000 of the city funds to pay for her master’s degree program in public administration at the University of New Haven, News 8 reported. 

Another $22,000 of city money was allegedly spent on deliveries to her home including clothes, makeup, an ice maker, diapers and baby formula, documents obtained by the outlet showed. 

The card also funded nearly $20,000 in membership fees as well as food and drink at a private social club, the Hartford Club, the Mirror reported. 

According to a letter addressed to Connecticut Attorney General William Tong on June 5, New Britain also accused Stewart of buying items with the city-issued card between 2016 and 2025 and selling them in a ‘moving-out tag sale.’

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Universities Could Lose Foreign-Student Certification Over Internship Rule Violations, Trump Admin Says

President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a memo to universities aimed at restricting certain internship work authorizations for international students. Officials cautioned that schools failing to comply could have their certification to enroll foreign students revoked.

The memo, which is dated Aug. 24 and issued by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said the agency “has observed a rise in Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorizations that appear to violate regulatory requirements which permit CPT only where the training is an integral part of an established curriculum.”

“Failure to comply with SEVP regulations may result in an institution losing certification to enroll foreign students,” the memo said.

Some schools have already stopped processing applications. The University of California, Los Angeles ceased issuing certain CPT authorizations while it reviewed the guidance.

“UCLA has paused certain Curricular Practical Training authorizations while it reviews recent federal guidance and determines next steps,” a UCLA spokesperson said.

At the University of California, Berkeley, the international office described the Aug. 24 memo as “more narrow in focus, more direct, and includes content that is more restrictive in nature.”

An earlier memo had been issued in mid-August. Berkeley said it is unlikely to process certain work authorization applications “in the near future” and told international students to plan accordingly.

The university will keep handling “degree-requirement” CPT as usual and plans to resume “Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis Research CPT.”

University officials said they would consult legal experts to align processes with the new federal requirements.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE’s parent agency, said the underlying regulations have not changed.

“However, schools and employers should consider themselves on notice: under President Trump, abuse of this generous system will no longer be tolerated.”

CPT allows eligible international students to participate in internships or training when the work forms an integral part of their academic curriculum. The memo stresses that the training must connect to an established academic program.

This step fits into an overarching set of changes for foreign students. In July, DHS completed a rule ending the long-standing “duration of status” policy. That system had permitted many F, J, and I visa holders to remain in the country without a fixed departure date.

The new rule, published in the Federal Register on July 17 and effective Sept. 15, limits most stays to four years unless students apply for extensions through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Extensions will require screening, background checks, and fraud reviews. The grace period after the conclusion of studies is reduced from 60 days to 30 days.

“For nearly half a century, the outdated ‘duration of status’ system has compromised national security and created an environment ripe for immigration fraud,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at the time.

“By implementing clear, finite limits on these visas, the United States is reclaiming its ability to properly screen, vet, and monitor individuals within our borders.”

The rule is being challenged in court by a coalition of unions and advocacy groups that say the new rule makes the United States less competitive as a destination for international talent.

Earlier this year, ICE published the findings of an investigation into Optional Practical Training, a separate post-graduation work program.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said investigators “have identified over 10,000 foreign students who claim to be working for highly suspect employers.”

Visits turned up empty buildings, locked doors, and addresses associated with hundreds of students who were not involved in the activity they claimed, he said. Officials also found “phantom employees” who never reported to the listed sites, as well as complex international financial transactions, according to Lyons.

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Colorado college drops charges against student journalists, but speech restrictions remain uncertain

The Community College of Aurora closed its conduct case against student journalists this month, finding them “not responsible” due to unclear rules, after restricting the reporters from interviewing and publishing without prior approval and charging them for continuing those activities.

The student newspaper, FoxTalk, is led by CCA student Andrew Green, who told The College Fix via email that the decision, “is a big step forward.” 

He added that he still doesn’t “know whether the restrictions on interviews, reporting and publishing have actually been lifted.”

“I want the earlier warning reconsidered, and a clear answer about whether we are free to interview students, report and publish. I would much rather spend my time building the newsroom than fighting the college,” he said.

He added that he believes the school and newspaper can have a “good relationship” moving forward, “while FoxTalk still does independent journalism.” 

Green also said he is “working with the Student Press Law Center’s New Voices team to explore legislation around protections for college student journalists in Colorado,” he said. 

“Even if FoxTalk and CCA resolve everything, I would like the next student journalist to have clearer rules than I did,” Green told The Fix. 

A free speech group called the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression continues to press the college. 

Program Manager for FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative Marie McMullan said the group is “assessing next steps” and that “until the ban on publication and student disciplinary measures are rescinded, our concerns remain.”

She also said that this “kind of blanket ban on student journalism can’t remain in place, and we continue pushing CCA to change its course.” 

FIRE had sent a demand letter this month to CCA Vice President Reyna Anaya, calling on the school to “drop the charges against any student who chooses not to comply with such unconstitutional demands, and forego further censorial practices.” 

The group alleges that CCA’s directives violated the First Amendment through prior restraint, prior review, compelled speech, and restrictions on associational freedom.

Reached for comment, CCA Executive Director of Communications and Special Initiatives Courtney Butler told The College Fix that the school is still reviewing the matter and is unable to provide additional comment.

FoxTalk was registered under the college on March 13th. In April, Green asked CCA administrators “to confirm whether FoxTalk could seek comment from CCA faculty and staff in their personal capacities without going through Butler’s office,” according to FIRE’s demand letter. 

Dean of Student Success Julie LaRock then informed Green that the newspaper would need to “receive staff approval before identifying themselves as FoxTalk staff, accessing non-public spaces, beginning work on each month’s stories, and publishing any content whatsoever.”

LaRock further advised Green to hold off on additional work until structural coordination with the administration and faculty was established.

On June 3, Green questioned the order to stop FoxTalk from publishing, saying the group still planned to cover the June 30 primary election, including a debate at the University of Denver. 

After an administrator said FoxTalk only had to follow regular student-organization rules, Green assumed they could publish again and wrote to confirm. The administrator replied that the ban was still in place until FoxTalk’s structure was fixed, and also criticized the activities of three members.

On July 14, Green was charged with interviewing students, posting on the FoxTalk website, contacting employees, and ignoring earlier orders. On July 23 he was charged again for not following a college official’s directives. 

McMullan told The Fix that CCA’s rationale for restricting the students is not very common compared to what the group has seen in the past. However, several other schools have similarly tried to restrict student journalists. 

“Repeatedly … universities and colleges subjecting student journalists to investigations, hearings, and punishments for basic newsgathering and publishing, or attempting to wholesale stop students from publishing,” she said.

Morgan State University, for example, implemented a policy that restricts student journalists’ ability to gather news directly, requiring media inquiries to go through the Office of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, The College Fix previously reported. 

McMullan previously told The Fix this policy is a “blatantly” illegal “gag order.”

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MIT student claims he synthesized one of the deadliest chemicals known to man — sparking massive hazmat response

A student at MIT claimed he synthesized one of the world’s deadliest chemicals last week — sparking a massive hazmat response and the closure of the lab where he worked.

The unidentified grad student arrived at a local emergency room, saying he had synthesized dimethyl mercury, a highly toxic compound that can be fatal if exposed to humans in even the smallest amounts, NBC Boston reported.

The student was not authorized to be working with the compound and it was not part of his research, according to school officials.

MIT closed off Building 18 where the experiment took place on Wednesday and called in city emergency responders to begin the cleanup.

Common areas in the student’s residence hall were also professionally cleaned as a precaution, and the student’s room was sealed off.

Building 18 remained closed through Sunday as testing and investigations continued.

“Emerging information calls into question whether this compound was in fact synthesized,” an MIT spokesperson said on Saturday.

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Mellon Foundation Wages Philanthropic Jihad

Why is the Mellon Foundation funding programs linked to a political and religious system that seeks to destroy Western civilization? A cultural and ideological contest is underway for the future of Western civilization. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation—long a champion of the humanities and an advocate for “social justice”—has directed substantial resources toward Islamic studies programs in higher education. These programs advance perspectives incompatible with core Western principles of free speech, religious liberty, equal rights for all citizens, and the rule of law.

Commentators such as Vince Coyner (American Thinker), Joel Richardson (Will Islam Be Our Future?), Imtiaz Mahmood, Craig Huey, and Daniel Greenfield have described Islam, in its classical and political forms, as expansionist, intolerant of apostasy and criticism, and hierarchical in its treatment of non-Muslims and women. Greenfield has highlighted large-scale violence attributed to Islamist actors that is sometimes reframed internationally as “decolonization” or resistance. Whether one accepts these characterizations or not, the question remains: why has Mellon, with its $7.7 billion endowment and stated commitment to elevating underrepresented perspectives, invested heavily in programs that normalize or advance such worldviews under the banner of the humanities?

Mellon Grants Supporting Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Mellon has funded numerous initiatives framed as advancing the study of Islam and Muslim communities in higher education. Selected examples include:
• Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies: Grants in 2000, 2010, and 2012 totaling approximately $870,000 for a digital multi-volume atlas of the social and intellectual history of the Islamic world.

• American University of Paris: $100,000 in 2007 for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.

• Earlham College: $300,000 in 2008 to develop an Islamic Studies Program.

• Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford Colleges: $670,000 in 2005 for a Tri-College Islamic/Middle Eastern Studies Initiative.

• Lehigh University: $1.4 million in 2009 to establish an undergraduate program and Center for Global Islamic Studies, intended to “heighten awareness surrounding Islamic culture and civilization.”

• The University of Chicago: $600,000 in 2010 and an additional $800,000 in 2013 for an Islamic Studies Initiative aimed at raising the field’s profile as an interdisciplinary enterprise. F

• Duke University: $750,000 in 2012 supporting international and area studies centers, including Islamic Studies.

• Connecticut College: $100,000 planning grant (circa 2012) followed by an $806,000 renewal in 2018 for its Global Islamic Studies program. Faculty directors Sufia Uddin and Eileen Kane have spoken of “undoing” narratives that portray Muslims as violent or as security threats, partnering with fields focused on other “persecuted” groups.

• University of Michigan / Big Ten: $3 million in 2014 for the Islamic Studies Virtual Curriculum (later Digital Islamic Studies Curriculum), expanding shared courses across Big Ten institutions.

• University of Maryland: Approximately $1.75 million (2022–2025) for the Open Islamicate Texts Initiative, developing digital access to premodern manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu.

• UCLA: $350,000 in 2019 for a pilot project reframing Middle Eastern studies.

• Syracuse University: $500,000 in 2022 for a project on “Black-Arab Relationalities.”


These grants are real and publicly documented. Mellon is thereby sponsoring a radical and violent political system.” Many of the funded programs are academic in form, and, in practice, support a significant number of faculty and campus environments that tilt heavily toward narratives that downplay or justify Islamist violence.

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US Universities Had Extensive Ties With Chinese Defense Research Labs, Air Force Study Finds

Thirty U.S. academic institutions have until Aug. 31 to examine specified foreign research ties or risk losing eligibility for future federal research funding.

Seven days after the Pentagon ordered the reviews, an Air Force-affiliated institute published a study cataloging 204 interactions involving U.S. institutions and laboratories at the center of China’s defense research system.

The Aug. 24 study by the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) found more U.S. institution-level interactions with China’s Defense Science and Technology Key Laboratories than those involving institutions from any other country.

CASI describes the Defense Science and Technology Key Laboratories as China’s highest level national laboratory network for military research. The contacts it identified ranged from academic visits and conferences to coauthored technical research and formal joint laboratories in fields including aero-engines, underwater sensing, hyperspectral target detection, advanced communications, and aerospace materials.

CASI described interactions between Western researchers and Chinese military laboratories as “at the very least problematic,” saying even seemingly benign exchanges could give Chinese defense researchers access to knowledge and technology useful to the People’s Liberation Army.

CASI Director Brendan Mulvaney told The Epoch Times that institutional collaborations-including joint laboratories, long-term partnerships, and mutual study or training agreements-were the most concerning because they represented sustained cooperation rather than one-off encounters.

The Pentagon’s Aug. 17 order directs 30 U.S. institutions to review academic, financial, and research relationships with foreign entities of concern and report what action they have taken by Aug. 31.

The Pentagon did not publicly identify the schools. According to a list DefenseScoop obtained from a U.S. official, Harvard University, MIT, the University of California-Berkeley, Duke University, Penn State, the University of Texas at Austin, New York University, and the University of Southern California are among institutions on that list that also appear in CASI’s records.

The Pentagon has not said that the relationships identified by CASI prompted the Aug. 17 notices.

Purdue and Beihang Built Joint Research Labs

In 2011, Purdue and Beihang formally established the BUAA-Purdue Joint Laboratory on Energy Systems and the BUAA-Purdue Joint Laboratory on Low Emissions Combustion.

Then-Purdue President France Córdova and Beihang President Huai Jinpeng signed the agreements.

The energy laboratory paired Purdue’s computational modeling with Beihang’s experimental capabilities. The combustion laboratory focused on low emission gas turbine combustors used in aircraft and power generation.

Beihang records also describe the two laboratories as formal joint research arrangements and say the universities discussed broader scientific research, teaching, and faculty and student exchanges.

Beihang later described the combustion laboratory within a research program that also undertook Chinese National Defense 973 projects, a state-backed basic research program supporting its defense science and technology.

CASI identified Beihang’s thermal engineering department-which oversees a Defense Science and Technology Key Laboratory for aero-engine aerodynamics and thermodynamics-as having established a joint combustion research team with Purdue.

Beihang is now on the Pentagon’s Section 1286 list of foreign institutions subject to tighter research security restrictions.

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