Free Republic

Ancient rhinos in Nebraska lived in large local herds and died slowly from volcanic ashfall, not sudden disaster. Credit: John Haxby/The University of Nebraska State Museum ************************************************************************* Volcanic eruption from 12 million years ago preserves a snapshot of extinct animal life. Rhinos that once roamed much of North America 12 million years ago likely lived in large herds, according to a new study by the University of Cincinnati. Researchers examined isotopes in the teeth of rhinos found in what is now northeast Nebraska. At this site, more than 100 rhinos died at a single water hole and were buried in...

There is controversy at George Mason University after Nicholas Decker, an economics PhD student published an essay asking “When Must We Kill Them?” in reference to Trump and his supporters. The essay captures the growing violent ideation on the left, fueled by rage rhetoric from politicians and commentators. The danger is that, for some on the extremes of our society, the question is not “when must we kill them?” but “when can we kill them?” On his Substack “Homo Economicus,” Decker warns that “evil has come to America” and that Trump is “engaged in barbarism” and seeking “to destroy the...

For the last few weeks, many foreign students living in the US have watched as a sequence of events has repeated itself on their social media feeds: plain-clothes agents appearing unannounced and hauling students off in unmarked cars to detention centres. The combination of targeted detentions and reports of wide-scale visa revocations have left campuses on edge, from the biggest public universities to elite Ivy League institutions. "I could be next," said one student visa-holder attending Georgetown University, who has written articles about Israel and the war in Gaza. Another student in Texas said he's afraid to leave his apartment,...

The left’s embrace of violence has reached the edge of the cliff. “The ultimate source of political power is, and always will be, violence,” George Mason University graduate student Nicholas Decker posted, promoting his recent Substack titled “When Must We Kill Them?” Decker is working on his PhD in economics, but his post had nothing to do with President Trump’s economic policy. Instead, it was a fantasy piece about the left murdering Trump administration officials, including Trump, over some perceived attack on Americans’ freedom. “Evil has come to America,” Decker said. “The present administration is engaged in barbarism; it has...

Harvard risks $2.2B in federal funds as it defies anti-discrimination mandates, drawing comparisons to Hillsdale's stand-alone model of rejecting government strings. Harvard University has rejected various demands of a presidential commission on anti-Semitism. The task force wants to persuade Harvard to ensure Jewish students on its campus are no longer harassed, or else lose its federal funding. Harvard retorts that it won’t be bullied by Washington. Among its other requirements, the Trump administration also warned Harvard to cease using race as a criterion in its admissions, hiring, and promotion, contrary to law. And it also directed the campus to ban...

The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its demands to change its hiring and other practices. A final decision on rescinding the university’s tax exemption is expected soon, the sources said. The administration already has blocked more than $2 billion in funding from the nation’s oldest university, which is fighting the White House’s policy demands, citing the constitutional right of private...

The Trump administration has suspended several dozen federally funded research grants to Princeton University as part of its investigation into campus anti-Semitism, according to a Princeton University email published by the Daily Princetonian student newspaper. The email, dated April 1 and sent to the campus community by university President Christopher Eisgruber, said the university received the notification from the funding agencies, including the Departments of Energy, Defense, and NASA.

The administration has moved to cut $400 million in federal funding to the university without changes to its policies and rules.Columbia University agreed on Friday to overhaul its protest policies, security practices and Middle Eastern studies department in a remarkable concession to the Trump administration, which has refused to consider restoring $400 million in federal funds without major changes. The agreement, which stunned and dismayed many members of the faculty, could signal a new stage in the administration’s escalating clash with elite colleges and universities. Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan and dozens of other schools face federal inquiries and...

Any false claim by the UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability,' the USDA warned.. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that the University of Maine System (UMS) has agreed to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order to keep transgender athletes out of women's sports. UMS, a network of eight public universities in Maine, was subject to a temporary pause in funding from the USDA last week during an ongoing battle between the state and the federal government over trans inclusion in women's and girls sports. The funding was reinstated just days...

Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and many other universities were founded explicitly as Protestant Christian institutions, only to devolve over time into something else. So, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Evangelical Protestants in America started again, creating a new generation of colleges and seminaries that they hoped would avoid the mistakes of their predecessors. But as the current controversy over Wheaton College attests, history seems to be repeating itself. And the problem reaches far beyond Wheaton. For 12 years I served as a professor at Seattle Pacific University (SPU). Founded by pious Free Methodists in the 1890s, the school...

The University of California announced a systemwide hiring freeze as the Trump administration threatens to dramatically slash its funding. In a Wednesday statement, UC President Michael Drake said university leaders are preparing for “significant financial challenges ahead.” He also instructed every UC campus to create individual plans to cut and conserve costs as state and federal budget cuts loom, such as delaying maintenance and cutting back on business travel. Some of the executive orders and proposed policy changes by President Donald Trump have threatened the institution’s “lifesaving research, patient care, and education support,” Drake said. On the state level, the...

What fresh hell is this? Why are American taxpayers funding this? Columbia has one of the largest international student and scholar populations in the US. Columbia University has 35,978 students enrolled ...: Columbia University has more than 23,000 international students and scholars from 162 countries

Columbia University is just the start of a long-brewing backlash. On Monday of this week the Trump administration's Department of Education put 60 schools on notice that they will lose federal funding if they don't do more to crack down on antisemitism on campus. “The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded...

An expulsion for Palestine is an honor, a sacrifice that pales in comparison to those of the Palestinian people,' Aidan Parisi wrote Thursday... Aidan Parisi, the son of a longtime State Department official who emerged last spring as a Columbia University encampment leader and is best known for owning an "emotional support rabbit," was among the students Columbia expelled for storming Hamilton Hall, he announced Thursday night. Parisi, a graduate student in Columbia’s School of Social Work, wrote on X that he was among the student activists expelled nearly a year after they stormed and occupied Hamilton Hall. Last spring,...

Over the next month, high school seniors across the country will find out whether or not they got into their first-choice college. But for some students who had dreamed of going to Columbia University, acceptance suddenly doesn’t sound so hot. “If you were to compare Columbia with virtually any Ivy League, virtually any other Ivy League will win [in terms of desirability with students] — and even non-Ivies like Duke, Emory and Washington [University] in St. Louis,” college admissions consultant and Command Education CEO Christopher Rim told The Post. As President Trump has cut Columbia’s federal funding in an effort...

Senate Dems, Jewish leftists and Jihadists protest move.. Last year Mahmoud Khalil gave an interview to a Hamas media operation about his “negotiations” with Columbia University during their occupation of the campus. The violent occupation of Columbia by terrorist supporters led to riots, vandalism, assaults, terrorist propaganda and attacks on Jewish students. Instead of taking action, Columbia continued to negotiate with the terrorist supporters at the expense of Jewish students. Now the United States is done negotiating with terrorists. “SHALOM, MAHMOUD,” the White House Twitter account declared, carrying a message from President Donald J. Trump. “ICE proudly apprehended and detained...

A California university is doing away with traditional men's and women's locker rooms in an effort to support transgender students - even as the state's governor condemns transgender athletes in female sports. The University of California, Davis announced plans last month to renovate the locker rooms at its Activities and Recreation Center, citing student feedback as the motivation for the $5 million project. 'We value inclusive, accessible environments that accommodate the diverse needs of our community,' schools officials said at the time, according to Fox News. 'We are pleased to announce that we will be remodeling the current locker room...

A judge ruled that Liberty University cannot claim Title VII protection in firing a male worker who came out as trans after being hired.A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that one of the nation’s largest Christian universities cannot claim Title VII protection in its firing of a male worker who only came out as transgender after being hired and completing his 90-day trial period as a new employee.The ruling is seen as setting the stage for an eventual U.S. Supreme Court landmark ruling on transgender rights versus religious beliefs in faith-based workplaces.In his Feb. 21 ruling, U.S. District Judge...

The University of Pennsylvania announced it would require standardized test scores for undergraduates in the upcoming admissions cycle. The school says the change will bring 'clarity and transparency to the application process.' Another Ivy League institution has elected to reinstate mandatory standardized testing after making it optional for undergraduate applicants since the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, the University of Pennsylvania announced it would require SAT or ACT scores in the upcoming admissions cycle in order to bring “clarity and transparency to the application process.” ... ”Beginning with the 2025-2026 undergraduate admissions cycle, Penn is reinstating a standardized testing requirement for...

If you have a complete and total disability, you may not be liable for repaying certain types of federal student loans. This is based on eligibility for the Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Discharge Program, which is offered through the United States Department of Education and overseen by student loan servicer Nelnet. You need to meet specific disability requirements to qualify for loan forgiveness through this program, and there are three main ways you can get approved. If you are experiencing a total disability and you struggle to repay federal student loans as a result, read on to find out...