Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · 1d

The Plains and the Pampas: a workshop at Columbia

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 2d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · 10d

www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...

Class of 1964 alumni urge University to undo coerced, unconstitutional agreement with Trump administration

Dear acting University President Claire Shipman, the board of trustees, and Dean Josef Sorett,

www.columbiaspectator.com

Manan Ahmed @sepoy.bsky.social · 10d

I am honored to be a colleague (and student) of Rashid Khalidi and his public lectures on Palestine at The People's Forum have started. Please learn!

Short Course on Palestine Class 1: The Origins of The Hundred Years War

YouTube video by The People's Forum NYC

www.youtube.com

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · 17d

Next October 30, I will be discussing A Brief History of Violence in Mexico with my friends Thomas Rath, Gema Kloppe-Santamaría, Paulo Drinot and Ben Smith www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

A Brief History of Violence in Mexico

This session will discuss A Brief History of Violence in Mexico by Pablo Piccato (Columbia University).

www.sas.ac.uk

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · 17d

From Columbia’s Mark Mazower: www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

The origins of today’s conflict between American Jews over Israel

In the early years, American Jewish support for Israel was a fraught issue. The turning point was the six-day war of 1967, which solidified a strength of feeling that has only recently begun to fract...

www.theguardian.com

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · 24d

An amicus brief has been filed on behalf of Khalid Mahmood arguing against the characterization of Columbia University antisemitic institution. See the document: acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...

Adobe Acrobat

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:71da01b6-3bc4-4a4a-9fce-bd90ec637e5f

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · 24d

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US judge orders Mahmoud Khalil deported citing ‘misrepresented facts’ on green card form

Lawyers say pro-Palestinian activist remains protected from immigration enforcement while separate federal court case proceeds

www.theguardian.com

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ACLU of Northern California @aclu-norcal.bsky.social · 26d

Remember Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil who was abducted and detained for his pro-Palestinian speech?

His story is a prime example of what can happen when a school abandons its students to the whim of the government.

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · 29d

a “well-known practice from the McCarthy Era” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move

Prominent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents’

www.theguardian.com

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Sep 11

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The chilling effect of Title VI investigations: the professors accused of antisemitism

Exclusive: Andrea Brower quits Gonzaga University after the Civil Rights Act is used to challenge her pro-Gaza activism

www.theguardian.com

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Sep 10

“Weiss’s publication, in short, was the preferred vehicle for conveying information from Columbia insiders who wanted to purge all criticism of Israel from the university to Trump administration officials who were using … financial pressure to help them do … that” www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...

Disgruntled NYT journalist to ‘anti-woke’ power grab: how far can Bari Weiss go?

After leaving the New York Times, she turned her Substack into an unshakable pro-Israel voice. Now as Paramount eyes acquisition of her company, Weiss is poised to become Trump’s ally among media elit...

www.theguardian.com

Brian DeLay @briandelay.bsky.social · Sep 10

Together, Texans built one of the finest systems of higher education in the world. Ideologues and opportunists are tearing it down. It is a despicable act of generational vandalism that will hurt all Texans, their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren.

Professors want to leave Texas because of tense political climate, survey says

Professors’ concerns included the state’s DEI ban and new limits to faculty influence at colleges and universities.

www.texastribune.org

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 24

Correct on the banal pledges of neutrality by real-estate-operations-with-tax-breaks administrators, but still relying on the simplistic taxonomy of “liberals” vs “conservatives” in the faculty. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

How to save the American university

As Trump threatens funding and public trust plummets, US schools are in the fight of a lifetime. This is how they can survive – with their souls intact

www.theguardian.com

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 18

“To equate the expression of such views with antisemitism is not only wrong; as Judt warned, it also risks putting Jewish students in greater danger.” www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

The Troubling Lines That Columbia Is Drawing

By adopting an overly broad and controversial definition of antisemitism, the university is putting both academic freedom and its Jewish students at risk.

www.newyorker.com

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 18

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

How My Reporting on the Columbia Protests Led to My Deportation

As an Australian who wrote about the demonstrations while on campus, I gave my phone a superficial clean before flying to the U.S. I underestimated what I was up against.

www.newyorker.com

Daniel Kressel @danielgkressel.bsky.social · Aug 14

My new book ‘Hispanic Technocracy: From Fascism to Catholic Authoritarianism in Spain, Argentina, and
Chile' with @CambridgeUP is out now! cambridge.org/9781009603041

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 11

The personal narrative is more interesting than the authoritarian thinking, of course. “The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/u...

The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities

www.nytimes.com

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 9

La semana próxima en Morelia.

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 1

Una conversación sobre mi libro con Sara Hidalgo y Sergio Aguayo

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 1

www.cuboblanco.org/revista/poli...

policia como solucion

POLICÍA, ¿SOLUCIÓN A LO QUE NO NOS GUSTA DE LAS MOVILIZACIONES?

www.cuboblanco.org

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 1

“Columbia’s capitulation has turned a university that was once a site of free inquiry and learning into a shadow of its former self, an-anti university, a gated security zone with electronic entry controls, a place of fear and loathing”

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Aug 1

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump | Rashid Khalidi

The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible

www.theguardian.com

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Jul 26

www.cuimcstandsup.org/specter/post-8

Post #8 — CUIMC Stands Up

Columbia Buys Back Its Federal Grants and Sells Off Its Spine By The Specter Editorial Board

www.cuimcstandsup.org

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AAUP @aaup.org · Jul 24

Columbia University’s agreement with the Trump administration is a disaster for academic freedom, freedom of speech, & the independence of American higher education. Never in the history of our nation has an educational institution so thoroughly bent to the will of an autocrat.

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Jul 24

"No established legal process was followed for the Columbia agreement; no genuine legal dispute was resolved."

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Jul 24

"The agreement is also the first to require a university to fork over money to the government as a condition of receiving money from the government, bringing a new brand of pay-to-play into the world of scientific and medical research."

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · Jul 24

From our very thoughtful law school colleague, David Pozen, a first take on the Columbia deal.
balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Jul 24

"another unprecedented feature of the situation ... that might ... prove the most consequential of all: the way in which the federal government is seeking to reshape the internal operations of universities not through generally applicable directives, but rather through a series of bilateral “deals”"

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Jul 24

"The agreement is also the first to require a university to fork over money to the government as a condition of receiving money from the government, bringing a new brand of pay-to-play into the world of scientific and medical research."

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · Jul 24

From our very thoughtful law school colleague, David Pozen, a first take on the Columbia deal.
balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Jul 24

"The agreement is also the first to require a university to fork over money to the government as a condition of receiving money from the government, bringing a new brand of pay-to-play into the world of scientific and medical research."

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · Jul 24

From our very thoughtful law school colleague, David Pozen, a first take on the Columbia deal.
balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Balkinization: Regulation by Deal Comes to Higher Ed

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Pablo Piccato @ppiccato.bsky.social · Jul 24

“a poorer, smaller Columbia would at least still be a university committed to freedom of expression and academic autonomy”. Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

Opinion | Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves

www.nytimes.com

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AAUP @aaup.org · Jul 21

This has been the first major trial of Trump’s second term. Over eight days of witness testimony, it uncovered a wealth of new detail about the ideological-deportation policy and its effects on college and university campuses across the country.

#AAUPvRubio

Landmark Trial Ends, With Court’s Ruling to Come; Record Uncovers New Details on Ideological-Deportation Policy and Its Effects on Academic Life

knightcolumbia.org

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