I can speak a little bit from an education perspective, like why a lot of universities are acquiescing to federal orders.

Right now, the philosophy at a lot of large universities is that it’s better to survive in some capacity to be able to educate young people (academic freedom is still allowed in classrooms, my university keeps insistently reminding faculty), than be shut down and shot and be unable to educate anyone at all. Also, they have thousands of employees relying on them for a paycheck to feed their families.

I’m still pissed at the loss of minority support systems. Students feel betrayed at the loss of gender neutral housing. There is righteous anger brewing. I’m part of the LGBT community, and seeing my community silenced as an organizational body and deleted from ongoing research boils my blood and makes me want to burn everything down.

But deep down, I get it. We have to keep educating youth about the true history of the USA, keep teaching them about how science works, keep exposing small town 18-year olds to other races and cultures to open their minds to empathy. If we don’t, we’ll have an entire generation that only has right-wing propaganda to teach them about the world.

Higher ed administration has a lot of weight on their shoulders. They of course side with minorities morally, ethically, and as human beings. It’s a really hard place to be in.

I’m wondering if this perspective is driving anyone in federal departments, as well.