One Battle After Another

On university campuses, student papers are fighting their own administrations—and sometimes the government—for the right to report.

Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez went to the University of Texas at Dallas to study political science and government, not journalism. But during his freshman year, in 2023, he joined the university’s student paper, The Mercury, after reading a story in it about a graduate student who’d tortured cats.

A Former Professor Blasts New College of Florida’s Conservative Makeover

Amy Reid was one of President Corcoran’s most vocal critics while she served as faculty representative on the Board of Trustees. Now she reflects on her fight to save the college she knows and loves. Amy Reid spent more than 30 years at New College of Florida, where she served as a professor of French and the founder and director of the gender studies program. Her relatively secure employment as a tenured professor emboldened her to become one of the most outspoken critics of the conservative effort to transform NCF into a “Hillsdale College of the South.”

Cincinnati’s Climate Momentum Builds

Rising above the Ohio River, the University of Cincinnati has long stood as a model of innovation with its bold architecture, community partnerships, and research-driven approach, earning it recognition as one of the nation’s most forward-thinking public universities. But beyond its design legacy and academic excellence, Cincinnati has also cultivated a deep and growing commitment to sustainability. From its climate action initiatives and LEED-certified buildings to campus-wide efforts to reduce waste and expand green infrastructure, the university has woven environmental stewardship into every layer of campus life.

Catawba College's Clean Water Advocacy Bootcamp Helps Plant the Seeds for Young Environmental Activists

Aging environmental activists wonder who’ll carry on the fight? Riverside classrooms and college boot camps are just some of the programs aimed at showing North Carolina students they can build a career in the environmental movement.

Larry Baldwin stood before a crowd of about 60 people gathered in Northampton County for the screening of The Smell of Money, and he posed a question.

Holy Cross Announces New Micro-Grant Program to Launch Faculty, Staff Projects in Worcester

Holy Cross has launched its Worcester Pillar Micro-Grant Pilot Program, a new initiative designed to deepen the College’s engagement with the city of Worcester through small-scale, high-impact projects that advance collaboration, learning, and shared opportunity. The program supports projects such as a student-produced vodcast series, a community art exhibition created with Big Brothers Big Sisters and an urban gardening program.

Duke Opens Female Scholar Program to Men After Trump Demands

Duke University is opening up a female scholars program to men, a move that’s in line with President Donald Trump’s demands to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices. 

The Baldwin Scholars program, which was started in 2004 for female students, will now allow applications from all undergraduates, according to The Chronicle, the school’s student newspaper.

Trump Administration Launches Plan to Dismantle Education Department

The Trump administration is implementing its widely telegraphed plan to shutter the Education Department by transferring critical responsibilities to other federal agencies.

Six department offices will be affected by plans to move operations to four separate agencies, according to a department official and two people familiar with the discussions who were granted anonymity to discuss the details.

International Students Are Increasingly Avoiding US Universities, New Study Says

The number of international students newly enrolling in American universities plummeted this fall, according to figures released Nov. 17, as foreign-born students navigate visa restrictions and other hurdles imposed by the Trump administration. The study, conducted by the Institute of International Education, said new international student enrollments declined by 17% this year, the largest drop in more than a decade, not including the pandemic.

Tribal College Leaders Uneasy About US Financial Commitments Despite Funding Increase

Tribal citizens are among communities navigating the impacts of massive cuts in federal spending and the effects of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. On a recent chilly fall morning, Ruth De La Cruz walked through the Four Sisters Garden, looking for Hidatsa squash. To college students in her food sovereignty program, the crop might be an assignment. But to her, it is the literal fruit of her ancestors' labor.

Texas v. Texas: State AG Sues Higher Ed Board Over Work-study Programs

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the law making seminary students ineligible for the need-based programs unconstitutional and “anti-Christian.”

Paxton argued in the lawsuit that the state work-study programs — all of which are need-based — exclude otherwise eligible students “based solely on the religious character of their course of study,” violating the First Amendment.

Feds Cannot Withhold Funding From UC System Amid Lawsuit, judge Rules

The Trump administration has routinely used civil rights probes to force colleges “to change their ideological tune,” U.S. District Judge Rita Lin wrote.

 In her ruling, Lin described a “three-stage playbook” that the Trump administration uses to target universities. First, an agency involved with the administration’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announces civil rights investigations or planned enforcement actions.

Hofstra University Announces Hydroponic Container Farm to Advance Sustainability, Interdisciplinary Research, and Community Food Access

Hofstra University unveiled plans to install a Freight Farms Greenery™ S hydroponic container farm on its North Campus as part of the University’s ongoing “Pride Farm” sustainability initiatives. The announcement was made at a legislative breakfast held on campus, Monday, November 17, 2025. The container farm is supported by New York State Senator Siela A. Byno.

NIH Budget Cuts Have Disrupted the Lives of 74,000 Research Participants and Terminated 100s of Clinical Trials

The cuts “disproportionately” affected research on ”infectious diseases, prevention, and behavioral interventions,” according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases had the most funding canceled, and the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities had the highest number of studies canceled.

How Colleges Can Help Students Affected By SNAP Disruption

As the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history drags on, student advocates are urging colleges to step up and support those affected by a loss of food benefits.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the government’s largest anti-hunger program, supports about 1 in 8 Americans in an average month. And its funding has never before lapsed during a government shutdown.

Fool’s Liquid Gold

The McArthur family were nothing out of the ordinary. Two parents, two kids, a dog. Rick was an electrician most of the time, high school football coach always. Amy was an elementary school teacher for Wake County. Their two kids, Katie and Rory, had just finished school for the year (Katie two weeks earlier because of her private high school, which she attended on a need-based scholarship). To celebrate the end of the school year, the family had saved for a week in Kitty Hawk, on the Outer Banks. Once Rick’s big project at NC State didn’t need him anymore, the family made a beeline for the coast.

Field Notes on Buffalo and Brome

It was a morning in early August, the sun shining over Golden, Colorado. After weeks of field work since June, the buffalo herd revealed themselves. A group of mothers and calves strolled peacefully over the grasses, grazing on sedges camouflaged among lying grasses.

Buffalo are selective, going through plant life like a puzzle to find what best sustains them. Recent research shows that they select more useful and nutritionally better quality grasses, and this was what I also observed firsthand.

Stopping to See the Fireflies

The first time I saw fireflies, I thought I was imagining them. Walking home in New York with my roommate, she stopped and pointed toward the field. Tiny lights blinked on and off, scattered across the dark. I stood there, watching. For once, the city felt less like concrete and more like something alive.

Back home in San Diego, I grew up surrounded by nature without realizing it: beaches, hills, and the California coast were always close by. It was so constant that I hardly noticed.

The E-transport Explosion, an Environmentalist’s Dilemma

American cities have become infiltrated by electronic modes of transport. E-bikes, e-scooters, and e-skateboards alike have become more accessible, with popular ride-share apps like Uber even offering options to hail.

Growing up in Washington D.C., I have been able to witness just how abundant these electric mobility devices have become. In 2023, D.C. voted to raise the number of scooters allowed to 20,000, up from around 11,000 in 2022.

When the Tide Smells Wrong

The first time I tried to surf Imperial Beach with friends, the lifeguard walked over, pointed at the yellow sign, and said, “Closed,contamination.” The tide looked fine, yet the air didn’t. It carried a strong, sour, metallic smell that locals recognize before the wind even changes. We tossed our boards back in the car and drove north to Pacific Beach. The ocean shouldn’t require a detour.

Imperial Beach is situated at the end of a watershed that originates in the mountains of Baja California and extends into the U.S. as the Tijuana River.

Will Giant AI Data Centers Create a New Movement?

The church glows. Morning light reflects off the waxed hardwood floor and white-washed walls. We sit in pews that fill Hopeful Anglican Church’s single-room interior. At the front of the sanctuary, the altar table holds a cross and candles. We can’t see these items, though, because a large TV screen at the end of the aisle blocks our view. “Say No: Do Not Ruin Our Community,” reads the sign displayed on the TV. People from NGOs, local communities, and universities find their seats in the pews. We learn each other’s names and where we’re from.

Why Are Extinctions So Romantic?

I recently discovered, via an Instagram infographic of all places, that we have reached the point of no return with coral reefs. Reefs are the first ecological system to cross a climate tipping point in real time officially. This was obviously very upsetting to me, but I was confused about why I had only just heard about this now. Surely, a year ago, we knew that we were at the tipping point. Why is it only treated as “news” once it’s past saving? It made me start thinking about extinctions as a whole, and the weird way we romanticize doom, especially once it’s too late.

Welcome to the Neigh-bear-hood

It was an unlikely sight along the busy city roads and bustling neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut. A large group of students, professors, and local residents were gathered underneath an enormous maple tree, curiously pointing and taking photos. As I approached, I looked up and gasped: a juvenile black bear, perched lazily along the thickest branch, peeked out from the leaves. She had made her way from the forest onto Trinity College’s campus in the heart of the capital city. More and more people joined the crowd, and we spent a good hour watching the bear and her little paws peering down at us.

The Shape of Hope

After collective farming collapsed in the 1970s, my family in Shengzhou received land under China’s Household Responsibility System, which required them to sell a fixed share of crops back to the government at set prices. These mandates, combined with degraded land, left little to eat and even less to sell for schooling. When harvests failed, my grandparents knocked on neighbors’ doors asking for cabbage, rice, and anything else that might keep the family fed. When that was not enough, my aunts and uncles left school to work.

Roadside Revolutions

In rural northeastern North Carolina, where pines edge red clay fields and country roads stitch together generations, Warren County has long been a homeplace shaped by resilience. A predominantly Black community with deep agricultural roots, Warren County nurtured churches, farms, and family land long before environmental injustice carved its name into national history. In 1982, those same quiet roads would become the stage for one of the most defining civil rights and environmental justice movements in the United States.