Michael S Roth
@msroth.bsky.social
President of Wesleyan University. (grand)father, husband, author, professor. Defender of academic freedom, liberal education and democracy.
Read AO Scott: “Art can’t save us from anything, but we need it as a reminder of something better” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
This Poem About Monet’s “Water Lilies” Reflects on the Powers and Limits of Art
“Monet’s ‘Waterlilies,’” by Robert Hayden, reflects on what art can (and can’t) do in tumultuous times. Our critic A.O. Scott shows you why he loves it.
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Read AO Scott: “Art can’t save us from anything, but we need it as a reminder of something better” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Anti-antisemitism is out, and now traditional Jew hatred is back. www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Opinion | The New Right’s New Antisemites
Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation flounders in the Tucker Carlson-Nick Fuentes fever swamps.
www.wsj.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Anti-antisemitism is out, and now traditional Jew hatred is back. www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Same thing is true for leaders of colleges & universities
Crazy how much some media has normalized the idea that voters are taking a risk if they elect governors/mayors who will defy Trump. That he’ll threaten their funding, etc.
Try to imagine, say. Greg Abbott being asked if he’s worried that Biden will punish Texas over his lawsuits.
Try to imagine, say. Greg Abbott being asked if he’s worried that Biden will punish Texas over his lawsuits.
November 3, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Same thing is true for leaders of colleges & universities
Read @mashagessen.bsky.social “To be a good citizen of a bad state, one has to do scary things... It is weighing leaving against staying, moral obligation against fear, flying under the radar against taking a risk — and opting for the risk.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/o...
Opinion | How to Be a Good Citizen of a Bad Country
www.nytimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Read @mashagessen.bsky.social “To be a good citizen of a bad state, one has to do scary things... It is weighing leaving against staying, moral obligation against fear, flying under the radar against taking a risk — and opting for the risk.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/o...
How to organize against authoritarianism “the slow, patient work of talking to one’s neighbors is the only answer. The starting point for both winning an election and fighting fascism were the same, he said: building networks of people in local communities.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/o...
Opinion | I Thought Graham Platner Was Finished. What I Saw in Maine Changed My Mind.
www.nytimes.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:59 AM
How to organize against authoritarianism “the slow, patient work of talking to one’s neighbors is the only answer. The starting point for both winning an election and fighting fascism were the same, he said: building networks of people in local communities.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/o...
"If we are to have any hope that good ideas will win and bad ideas will lose, we need a wider range of viewpoints… viewpoint diversity is valuable because it disrupts the greatest..enemy of free inquiry, orthodoxy, which intimidates dissenters into silence" www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
October 29, 2025 at 1:12 PM
"If we are to have any hope that good ideas will win and bad ideas will lose, we need a wider range of viewpoints… viewpoint diversity is valuable because it disrupts the greatest..enemy of free inquiry, orthodoxy, which intimidates dissenters into silence" www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
My take:“We would do well to remember that American civil society has long been the guardian of our freedoms..Leaders in civil society must be steadfast in opposition to extortion under the guise of dealmaking” @aacu.org @aaup.org @thefireorg.bsky.social @cato.org www.chronicle.com/article/amer...
Americans Think Trump Is Overreaching With His Higher-Ed Compact
Most don’t want the federal government setting colleges’ policies, a new Quinnipiac poll reveals.
www.chronicle.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:19 PM
My take:“We would do well to remember that American civil society has long been the guardian of our freedoms..Leaders in civil society must be steadfast in opposition to extortion under the guise of dealmaking” @aacu.org @aaup.org @thefireorg.bsky.social @cato.org www.chronicle.com/article/amer...
We at @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social are developing a civics course for high schools to address what @danagoldstein.bsky.social describes here as fear of teaching young people how to think about American history www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/u...
How Politics Is Changing the Way History Is Taught
www.nytimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:05 PM
We at @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social are developing a civics course for high schools to address what @danagoldstein.bsky.social describes here as fear of teaching young people how to think about American history www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/u...
Spoke with @audiecornish.bsky.social about how White House wants schools to sign loyalty oaths…an anathema to American values & what has made #HigherEducation great. @cnn.com @aacu.org @aceducation.bsky.social @thefireorg.bsky.social @sykescharlie.bsky.social players.brightcove.net/225767975400...
President Michael S. Roth on CNN This Morning
Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth '78 appeared on CNN
players.brightcove.net
October 26, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Spoke with @audiecornish.bsky.social about how White House wants schools to sign loyalty oaths…an anathema to American values & what has made #HigherEducation great. @cnn.com @aacu.org @aceducation.bsky.social @thefireorg.bsky.social @sykescharlie.bsky.social players.brightcove.net/225767975400...
Read David Brooks “Yes, Trump is launching an assault on democracy. But what worries me more is what has happened over the last few decades to the rest of us. There has been a slow moral, emotional and intellectual degradation” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/o...
Opinion | The Rot Creeping Into Our Minds
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Read David Brooks “Yes, Trump is launching an assault on democracy. But what worries me more is what has happened over the last few decades to the rest of us. There has been a slow moral, emotional and intellectual degradation” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/o...
Read @kevincarey1.bsky.social on the importance of preserving liberal arts colleges www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/o...
Opinion | What’s Lost When Liberal Arts Schools Close
www.nytimes.com
October 22, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Read @kevincarey1.bsky.social on the importance of preserving liberal arts colleges www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/o...
“Long civil rights historiography seeks not merely to extend timelines or diversify our memory but to excavate submerged political possibilities…and to understand the conditions under which they were abandoned or foreclosed.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/b...
The Civil Rights Movement Changed America. We Glorify It at Our Peril.
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM
“Long civil rights historiography seeks not merely to extend timelines or diversify our memory but to excavate submerged political possibilities…and to understand the conditions under which they were abandoned or foreclosed.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/b...
Read @Davidfrenchjag.bsky.social “Every year, this cultural trend reinforces itself. Decency becomes rarer, and decent people feel more isolated.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Dragging Us Down to His Level
www.nytimes.com
October 19, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Read @Davidfrenchjag.bsky.social “Every year, this cultural trend reinforces itself. Decency becomes rarer, and decent people feel more isolated.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/o...
“the enormous power of the federal government is being deployed [for]establishing loyalty to the leader in Washington. The assault on higher ed is part of a broader campaign against institutions in civil society whose legitimacy has not depended on the White House” www.thebulwark.com/p/colleges-u...
What’s a College President to Do in the Trump Era?
Not going on bended knee to Washington would be a good start.
www.thebulwark.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:54 PM
“the enormous power of the federal government is being deployed [for]establishing loyalty to the leader in Washington. The assault on higher ed is part of a broader campaign against institutions in civil society whose legitimacy has not depended on the White House” www.thebulwark.com/p/colleges-u...
My take on the invitation to join the President’s Loyalty Club: “Those who resist the new Gleichschaltung will argue that faculty and students should never have to sacrifice their freedom and autonomy to align with the leader in the White House.” @aacu.org www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Join a Loyalty Club for Higher Education—While You Still Can!
Another way to show devotion to the nation and to truth.
www.thenation.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:38 PM
My take on the invitation to join the President’s Loyalty Club: “Those who resist the new Gleichschaltung will argue that faculty and students should never have to sacrifice their freedom and autonomy to align with the leader in the White House.” @aacu.org www.thenation.com/article/poli...
This Sukkot: A Time for Peace
A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;
A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking;
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war & a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes
A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;
A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking;
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war & a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes
October 13, 2025 at 12:20 PM
This Sukkot: A Time for Peace
A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;
A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking;
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war & a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes
A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;
A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking;
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war & a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes
“America is now in a dangerous period, in which the president can order investigations and indictments against his enemies. Mr. Trump is criminalizing Americans’ ability to challenge their leaders.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
Opinion | Trump Disgraces American Justice
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 11:10 AM
“America is now in a dangerous period, in which the president can order investigations and indictments against his enemies. Mr. Trump is criminalizing Americans’ ability to challenge their leaders.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
“a shame that by throwing in her lot with the Ellisons, Rowans, Schwarzmans &[those]abetting Trump’s destruction of the American republic, Weiss is betraying the principles of decency &democracy she so..admirably struck a blow for in her resignation letter.” www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
Bari Weiss’s American fairy tale
Having sold The Free Press, CBS New’s new editor-in-chief may find herself in ideological jeopardy
www.newstatesman.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:44 PM
“a shame that by throwing in her lot with the Ellisons, Rowans, Schwarzmans &[those]abetting Trump’s destruction of the American republic, Weiss is betraying the principles of decency &democracy she so..admirably struck a blow for in her resignation letter.” www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
Henry J Farrell “The best defense… is solidarity among groups who disagree ferociously on many questions, but who agree on the need to keep America democratic and rebuild institutions and social connections to make democracy more robust.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
Opinion | Where Trump Is Vulnerable and How to Act on It
www.nytimes.com
October 9, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Henry J Farrell “The best defense… is solidarity among groups who disagree ferociously on many questions, but who agree on the need to keep America democratic and rebuild institutions and social connections to make democracy more robust.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
Bryan Stevenson is a national treasure: “We dishonor those who came before us if in this moment of crisis we remain silent...I don’t think it’s just unempathetic. I don’t think it’s just cowardly. I think it’s dishonorable.” @eji.org www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...
Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told
www.nytimes.com
October 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Bryan Stevenson is a national treasure: “We dishonor those who came before us if in this moment of crisis we remain silent...I don’t think it’s just unempathetic. I don’t think it’s just cowardly. I think it’s dishonorable.” @eji.org www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...
woke research by out of touch professors www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...
Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work in Quantum Mechanics
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 11:46 AM
woke research by out of touch professors www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...
"The White House is dressing up its compact as a reasonable corrective to what it views as problems in campus culture. Let no one be deceived. This proposal imposes govert censorship on academia. It is anti-American, & it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise" @acls1919.bsky.social
October 6, 2025 at 9:21 PM
"The White House is dressing up its compact as a reasonable corrective to what it views as problems in campus culture. Let no one be deceived. This proposal imposes govert censorship on academia. It is anti-American, & it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise" @acls1919.bsky.social
Looking forward to being back in San Francisco later this month Why Higher Ed Should Stand up to Trump, with Michael Roth www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2025-...
Why Higher Ed Should Stand up to Trump, with Michael Roth
Cutting billions in research grants. Detaining student activists. Threatening to cancel accreditation. President Trump’s attacks on colleges and universities have left them reeling. But rather than sp...
www.commonwealthclub.org
October 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Looking forward to being back in San Francisco later this month Why Higher Ed Should Stand up to Trump, with Michael Roth www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2025-...