Meeting the Moment Hi! I’m Liz Neeley and I’m glad you’re here. Each Friday evening, I write a summary of the week’s events in science and higher education. I pull together roughly three bulleted paragraphs about what…

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@LizNeeley's parting thought for Year 2, Week 4 (con't): Whether they are deliberate manipulations, or merely side-effects of exhaustion, cynicism, or stress, we must not allow false social realities to control us.

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@LizNeeley's parting thought for Year 2, Week 4: Sometimes our memories fail us, our fears dull us, and our institutions fail us. But I can’t stop thinking about the role every single person can play in resisting the erasure of our past and distortion of our present.

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Defund Science, Distort Culture, Mock Education It’s not just about cuts to research. It’s about power.

What to do and what's next: check out the Atlantic’s podcast episode: “Defund Science, Distort Culture, Mock Education”

Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat says: "Autocrats engage in a mix of utopia and nostalgia." The discussion touches on the manipulation/destruction of historical records.

bit.ly/3YZOOaE

Governor Newsom meets with World Health Organization Director-General, announces California becomes first state to join WHO-coordinated international network | Governor of California Official website of the State of California

But for what it's worth, California announced that it has already joined the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.
bit.ly/468oXB5

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US officially leaves World Health Organization Trump ordered the withdrawal a year ago, accusing the UN agency of failing to adopt reforms and mishandling the pandemic.

The US formally completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, and we owe $260 million in unpaid debts.
bbc.in/3M2V0vA

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Kansas adopts faculty workload, post-tenure review system for public universities • Kansas Reflector Kansas Board of Regents adopts model for annual assessment of state university faculty in terms of teaching, research and public service.

The Kansas Board of Regents has instituted a new mandate for post-tenure performance and workload review.
bit.ly/4qH3TtK

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Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, will be rearrested and deported to Algeria, DHS says Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, will be rearrested and deported to Algeria, Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, announced Thursday, as the federal…

The administration is still attempting to deport Mahmoud Khalil, this time to Algeria.
bit.ly/3Z1YIIR

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Florida Proposes H-1B Hiring Ban at All Public Universities All Florida public universities would be banned from hiring foreign workers on H-1B visas under a policy change that the Florida Board of Governors will consider next week.

The Florida Board of Governors is considering a rule that would forbid state universities from hiring H-1B visa holders for the rest of 2026.
bit.ly/4bPArx5

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In the win column: the Department of Education withdrew from legal proceedings over threats to withhold billions of dollars from schools who maintain DEI programs.
nyti.ms/45uRbpy

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Year 2, Week 4 Jan 17-23, 2026 - memories in the making

Each Friday evening, @LizNeeley.bsky.social writes a debrief of the week’s events in #Science & #HigherEd - What's happened? What next & what to do? 🧪

The goal is to help you keep current— by staying focused instead of flooded.
Jan 19-23, 2026 was Year 2, Week 4
bit.ly/4t5dPz2

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@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 39: It all matters. It all helps. Every part. Every step. Every time. (2/2)

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@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 39: As @prisonculture.bsky.social says, “I believe in strugglers and I believe in coworkers and I believe in solidarity. I believe we need more people all the time in all of our work, in all of our movements.” (1/2)

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Mel Buer (@melbuer.bsky.social) I see protest discourse is hitting the feed again ahead of No Kings—idk man, go, don’t go, …but if you do go make sure to link up with an org that’ll help you get into longterm organizing and if you…

And as this thread by @melbuer.bsky.social says: "Protests aren’t effective warnings for the powerful if you aren’t backing it up with more organizing outside of it." Read the full thread for all the other work that needs doing.

buff.ly/8PIOQvI

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The #NoKings protests took place this past weekend.

There are very good reasons some of us cannot or should not demonstrate. All the more reason for the rest of us to keep showing up:
- safety in numbers
- joy in community
- to coordinate and work in formation are falling away

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The judicial branch has run out of funding.

When our courts start reducing services, sending staff home, and not paying those who are required to keep showing up… what will that mean for this essential branch of the government?

bit.ly/4oxsxf3

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Former NIH leaders lament ‘constant chaos’ at the agency, and caution it’s not over “It's been like living in a washing machine, it's been constant chaos,” former NIH official Jeremy Berg said at the #STATSummit

Between one quarter and one third of CDC employees have been removed from work, according to their union. And experts warn us to keep bracing for more.

bit.ly/4hlRsQr

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California announces coalition of Governors forming new alliance to protect public health from political interference | Governor of California Official website of the State of California

Fifteen governors have launched the Governors Public Health Alliance to strengthen their emergency preparedness and bolster their ability to rapidly and reliably respond to emerging health threats.

bit.ly/3WPVHdo

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Brown, USC, Penn, and UVA joined MIT in rejecting the promise of preferential funding in exchange for academic freedom (i.e., the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.) Since we published the newsletter, so did University of Arizona. bit.ly/3KYIJYd

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Each Friday evening, @LizNeeley.bsky.social writes a debrief of the week’s events in #Science & #HigherEd - What's happened? What next & what to do? 🧪

The goal is to help you keep current— by staying focused instead of flooded.
Oct 11-17 was Week 39: buff.ly/pHUaQ2P

#MeetingTheMoment

Meeting the Moment Hi! I’m Liz Neeley and I’m glad you’re here. Each Friday evening, I write a summary of the week’s events in science and higher education. I pull together roughly three bulleted paragraphs about what…

If this curated summary of news & how to think about it sounds helpful, subscribe here:
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 37 (cont): No matter how carefully we pick our fights, or how necessary they are, sometimes the door will hit us in the face. When it does, I hope we can heave ourselves up, hold on to each other, and be willing to keep trying."

@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 37: "Sometimes we have to force the issue, ratchet up the pressure, and hold our ground no matter what. I believe this compact is one of those times. ...but the right thing, the simple thing, is not the same as the easy thing." (1/2)

After months in limbo, four NIH institute directors fired Two leaders removed by Trump administration had hoped to stay at agency as in-house investigators

Four NIH directors who had been on administrative leave since April were officially fired.
www.science.org/content/arti...

Nine universities face a very public choice about the so-called “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” - essentially a loyalty oath being demanded by the administration. Read it for yourself: www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

The government has been shut down since last Wednesday (nine days & counting).

The specifics of who is furloughed and which work continues vary quite a lot by agency. How it's affecting agencies & services:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Week 37 Sept 27-Oct 2, 2025 - hold the door

Each Friday evening, @LizNeeley writes a summary of the week’s events in #Science & #HigherEd - What's happened? What next & what to do? 🧪

The goal is to help you keep current— by staying focused instead of flooded. Here's last week: buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

this week, for our newsletter, @ambikamath.bsky.social wrote a bit about writing (and not writing), featuring some excellent advice from @edyong209.bsky.social!
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

So What Do You Do? file under: PROCESS NOTES this one is from: LIZ Last December, Ambika and I took a large roll of paper, unfurled it across my dining room table, and started...

We have a brand new offerings brochure! @lizneeley.bsky.social wrote about the process leading up to it here:
buttondown.email/liminalcreat...
We can't wait to hear from you about how we can work together!