Federal Actions and Their Implications for Higher Education

In this week’s rapid-response episode, Dr. Heather Shea is joined by Drs. Brendan Cantwell and OiYan Poon to break down the latest developments—from the Department of Education’s uncertain future to new guidance in the form of a Feb. 14 Dear Colleague Letter and FAQ, and executive branch threats to punish campuses that hold "illegal" campus protests. Why does it matter? And what can student affairs educators and higher ed leaders do to respond? Tune in for expert insights and actionable takeaways. Play Suggested APA Citation Shea, H. (Host). (2025, March 7). Current Campus Context: Dear Colleague Letter FAQ, "Illegal" Protests, and more (No. 249) [Audio podcast episode]. In Student Affairs NOW. https://studentaffairsnow.com/currentcontext_march7/ Transcript Heather SheaWelcome to the very first episode of current campus context brought to you by Student Affairs. Now the online learning community for 1000s of us who work in alongside and adjacent to higher education and student affairs, I'm your host, Heather Shea, and this episode was recorded at 5:15pm Heather Sheaon Thursday, March 6. Things might have changed by the time you listen. This new limited series is all about making sense of the moment. We're in higher ed is facing rapid change, and each week we will bring two experts to break down what's happening, why it matters, and what we can do within our spheres of influence. Our goal not just provide the news, but context, perspective and strategies for action. So I'm so excited to introduce our first two correspondents for today. First, Dr Brennan Cantwell is an expert in higher education policy, governance and the political economy of higher education. He is a professor of higher adult and lifelong education at Michigan State University. Hi, Brendan, hey, great to be here. And Dr oyun Poon is an expert in the racial politics of education, access, college admission systems and Asian Americans in education. She is a co director of the college admissions futures collaborative and consultant on higher education equity to Eleanor Governor JB Pritzker education team. Hello, well, welcome, hey, great to be here. Yeah. Thanks so much for joining. So this week, we're focusing on a few key developments with some significant implications for higher ed the first item earlier this week, Linda McMahon, immediately after being sworn in as Secretary of Education, issued her first statement about the department's final Mission. Pretty ominous sounding statement, and I think we expect it hasn't dropped as of the recording yet, an executive order charging McMahon with dismantling the Department of Education, even though we know that officially abolishing it would require an act of Congress. But this leaves me with questions about TRIO programs, Pell Grants, FAFSA. So that's Topic number ONE. Topic number two, february 14, your colleague letter. And then the subsequent FAQ document, which I think was meant to provide some clarification, but for me, made it more hazy in terms of what if anything we should be doing. And then meanwhile, the Chronicle of Higher Ed has been reporting that many campuses are taking anticipatory measures to comply. So that's topic two. And then the third topic, well, I don't want to bring in every single social media post. Earlier this week, Inside Higher Ed reported that the President doubled down on social media posting that college and universities that allow a legal protest would be at risk of losing federal funding. I'm thinking this maybe flies in the face of free speech. Maybe so. I think it goes without saying that these three issues will all shape the future of higher education in the coming months, maybe years, and so I'm going to turn it to you. Brendan, what does this all mean, given what I've just shared, where would you like to begin? And what do you see as the broader implications of these issues for colleges universities in the field of student affairs? OiYan PoonWell,