In a letter sent to faculty and staff obtained by KBTX, Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Alan Sams said the decision was made "as part of the broader implementation of the recently updated Systems policy". He claimed that the Texas university "made the difficult decision to begin winding down the Women's and Gender Studies (WGST) academic programs, including the BA, BS, Graduate Certificate and the Minor", claiming it was due to "enrolment over the past several years".
Enrollment in Obamacare is slowing down in California after Republicans in Congress opted not to extend a policy that beefed up financial assistance for patients, a move that led to the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history. About 175,000 people statewide have newly enrolled in Covered California, the state's Affordable Care Act marketplace, so far for 2026. That's a 31% decrease from this time last year, data shows. Health experts expect bigger declines in the coming months, as more enrollees receive notice of price hikes and cancel their plans.
Universities are facing mounting challenges. From falling enrolments to dwindling support from populist governments, many institutions are in survival mode. Throw AI into the mix as a possible solution, and it's either a lifeline or a distraction, depending on whom you ask. In the four years since our last Young Universities supplement, the context for these institutions (aged 50 or younger) has changed dramatically.
The college admissions process has been so notoriously stress-inducing that students and their parents plan for it for years and - if social media is any indication - seem to consider an acceptance as among the greatest moments of their lives. But getting into college is in fact becoming easier, with admissions offices trying to entice more applicants from a declining pool of 18-year-olds. They're creating one-click applications, waiving application fees, offering admission to high school seniors who haven't even applied.
Our Greek forebears, as early as Hippocrates, coined the term "kρίσις" to describe a "turning point"; kρίσις, a word related to the Proto-Indo-European root krei-, is etymologically connected to practices like "sieving," "discriminating" and "judging." In fact, the most widely mentioned skill we humanists offer our students, critical thinking, originates from the same practice of deliberate "sieving." Thus, when we call ourselves critics and write critical theory, we admit that crisis might just be our natural habitat.
From Washington, D.C. to California, the return to school has been marred by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been carrying out violent arrests outside public schools, despite the agency's acting director, Todd Lyons, stating that such operations would only be carried out under special circumstances or in urgent situations. Affected parents and guardians, as well as teachers and school administrators, have been quick to raise their voices in protest.
Concern regarding the closures focuses on transparency, with faculty and lawmakers questioning Penn State leadership's commitment and the decision-making process behind the proposed campus closures.
