Come join us, Philly friends!

Her speech does not become conduct just because the State may call it that. Nor does her speech become conduct just because it can also be described as a “treatment,” a “therapeutic modality,” or anything else. The First Amendment is no word game.

The gall of telling trans kids, after Skrmetti, that characterizing something as "treatment" doesn't affect constitutional protections...

Some frantic energy at Newark Airport this morning but the Touchless Precheck line was shorter than Starbucks’ (~4 min)

A Troubling Problem at the Heart of the Met Opera’s Big Hit

100%. I sat in the front of the Dress Circle on Wednesday and heard the same thing: namely, not much singing.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/a...

Such great questions and helpful comments from the @setonhalllaw.bsky.social faculty today. I’m really grateful to them for having me. Thanks @dorfmandoron.bsky.social!

Genuinely just bonkers to watch the USA do this to one of the most successful and innovative hubs of scientific research the world has ever seen. All those years of Free Speech On Campus debates and it turns out they actually wanted less cancer research. Absurd.

St. John’s University in New York No Longer Recognizes Faculty Labor Unions St. John’s University’s recent decision to cease recognizing faculty labor unions after 56 years stirred a conversation on Catholic social teaching.

“Father Brian Shanley is violating New York state law & ignoring decades of St. John’s institutional practice & centuries of Catholic social teaching around respect for labor & workers."

— Sophie Bell, St. John's University AAUP President

Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. It will...

This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.

The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:

Brian Soucek's "The Opinionated University" Brian Soucek is a Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis. A scholar of free speech and equality law...

I took the Page 99 test!

page99test.blogspot.com/2026/02/bria...
@uchicagopress.bsky.social

Ep 36: Make Universities Unruly Again with Brian Soucek Podcast Episode · In the Meanwhile · 01/30/2026 · 1h 6m

This week on @inthemeanwhile.bsky.social, @mhgreen3000.bsky.social and I talk with @brsoucek.bsky.social about academic freedom, the impossibility of institutional neutrality, and why turning campuses into corporate training centers undermines democracy. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Two Takes: Was UC Berkeley right to suspend a lecturer over his pro-Palestinian advocacy? The university suspended computer science lecturer Peyrin Kao after finding he made pro-Palestinian comments to students after a class. Here are different opinions on the matter.

Round 1 to Professor Kutz. Dean Chemerinsky, like Berkeley's Provost, simply ignores the relevant standard here (UC's APM-015), which, as Kutz quotes, requires a "significant intrusion of material unrelated to the course."

www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

DC-area friends looking for a fun & cozy event before the Big Storm: come join my conversation with @brsoucek.bsky.social at Politics & Prose Bookstore (Conn Ave location) tonight from 5-6pm about his excellent and timely new book, The Opinionated University! politics-prose.com/brian-soucek

I've got a copy of the finished product coming your way! I'm so grateful to you for being an early reader.

Seattle (2/3)
townhallseattle.org/event/brian-...
Chicago (2/10)
www.semcoop.com/event/brian-...

If you're at Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, BU, BU, USC, UCLA, Northwestern, UChicago, Indiana, USF, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Yale, UW, or Stanford, reach out to me directly for info about my visit!

UC Davis (TODAY!)
law.ucdavis.edu/events/opini...
SF (1/15)
www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2026-...
DC (1/24)
politics-prose.com/brian-soucek
Cambridge (1/28)
www.harvard.com/event/brian-...
Princeton (1/29)
www.labyrinthbooks.com/events/souce...

Book cover that says Brian Soucek The Opinionated University Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education

It's official publication day for The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education
@uchicagopress.bsky.social

More info on the book here:
lnkd.in/gAux5ktY
Links in the comments to lots of places I'll soon be visiting.

Great fun speaking on the #AALS2026 Hot Topic session dedicated to UC-Davis Law Prof Brian Soucek’s brilliant and timely book, The Opinionated University. I was honored to share the panel with BU Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig, UC-Davis Law Dean Jessica Berg, and U of… 1/2

This panel was so great: me and three amazing deans who deal with the issues in my book on the ground every single day. They all had so much insight to share.

Tune in to the AALS Hot Topic Program’s panel “Author Meets Deans,” moderated by @ucdavis.bsky.social Law Dean Jessica Berg. It will focus on Professor @brsoucek.bsky.social’s book “The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education.”

@ucdavis.bsky.social Law Professor @brsoucek.bsky.social’s article, “Tax Law as Muse,” coauthored with Associate Professor Jennifer C. Lena (Teachers College, Columbia University), will receive the first-ever Art Law Scholarship Award from the AALS Art Law Section at 11:10 a.m. CT. 🎉

#AALS2026

Promotional graphic for event featuring Brian Soucek at Town Hall Seattle, scheduled for Feb 3. A headshot of Brian wearing a navy suit is included with the book cover for "The Opinionated University." The background is a gradient mix of blue, pink, and purple.

2/3 at 7:30 PM | UC Davis law professor and author @brsoucek.bsky.social argues why institutional neutrality is an unattainable myth in "The Opinionated University," calling on universities to stand up for their values.

🎟️ Get tickets: buff.ly/joMhkf3

Opinion | The Dishonesty of the Northwestern Deal The university claims it preserved academic autonomy. It didn’t.

I wish I had written this essay. I think it's perfect.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

Northwestern took the deal Trump has offered UCLA (but with a $75mil bribe, not $1.2 billion).

Maybe before!

Who is better than @uchicagopress.bsky.social, who sent me a beautifully wrapped first copy of my new book! Get your copy of The Opinionsted University here: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Opinion | How Cuomo is exploiting public confusion over the definition of sexual harassment As a legal matter, the sexualized definition of harassment most commonly provided and publicized is over 20 years out of date.

Vicki Schultz and I wrote this in 2021. For some reason I've been thinking about it lately.
www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...

STATEMENT FROM THE UC ACADEMIC COUNCIL REGARDING DISCLOSURES OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII) With unanimous resolve, the Academic Council addresses University of California President Milliken concerning the disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII) of faculty, students, and staff to the federal government amid an ongoing investigation of UC Berkeley by the Office for Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Education into alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Milliken’s message to the UC community on October 3 describes the University’s actions as undertaken to comply with federal law, as written and interpreted, and refers to several months of anonymization efforts. The attendant FAQ further states that there have been prior federal investigations, demands for records, and PII disclosures by UC and many other institutions. Nevertheless, in this volatile climate—amid systematic and unprecedented federal actions designed to usurp control over U.S. higher education—universities must recognize that they can no longer rely on the ethos of collaboration and goodwill that has historically defined their relationships with the federal government. Consequently, we assert that the disclosure of PII can no longer be regarded as a standard procedural matter, irrespective of pre-existing agreements or interpretations of federal compliance requirements. These disclosures have already chilled academic speech and instilled fear in our community of punitive measures and targeted threats. Critically, named persons may not yet have had the opportunity to contest allegations, correct University records, or mitigate risks. These concerns are now amplified by press reports of expanded and unrestricted access to federal databases, raising the specter of misuse of sensitive information. While notifying affected individuals only after disclosure is preferable to silence, the post-facto timing has further eroded institutional t…

Another strong post from UC's Academic Senate, this time on the personally identifiable information of students, staff, and faculty that UC is (or might be) turning over to the Trump administration.

Well, it’s really “we agree to follow Pam Bondi’s view of the law”

fI at any time after the Effective Date, the United States ni its sole discretion determines that UVA si making insufficient progress toward compliance with the Civil Rights I.aws, it wil so notify UVA and provide UVA with a period of 15 days ot make appropriate progress. If the United States determines ni its sole discretion after that time that UVA has not made adequate progress, the United States may terminate this Agreement and may pursue enforcement actions, monetary fines, or grant or funding terminations as appropriate, and may resume al Investigations held ni abeyance during the pendency of this Agreement.

The real problem with UVA's agreement today is that it gives the US the "sole discretion" to decide questions like these. And I have a hunch that Pam Bondi is going to interpret the Bondi memo as consistent with "relevant judicial decisions." So UVA hasn't given itself much of an out here... /end

Are the opinions endorsing race-neutral means of promoting diversity INCONSISTENT with the Bondi memo, or does Bondi just go beyond them, supplementing their colorblindness regarding means with an additional requirement that ends be colorblind too? /3