Bonnie Gordon

FOR contexthttps://www.bonniegordon.org/uva-updates-2025/september-updates-and-bov-meeting-context?fbclid=IwRlRTSAMvsTxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHl6qSu5pNcmNjrs6x_8FL0q2WOwNjqdEQ2qvDB_x-eDJX9ut0wNjGm66fzCX_aem_zGyEVceKBoUeF0kFrdE4Rg
I Always imagined that the crashing and burning of an institution would be dramatic. As a historian I should know better.

https://www.bonniegordon.org/uva-updates-2025/2025-2026-here-we-come
Friday August 22 The UVa Faculty Senate passed a resolution affirming University Values. In short it said “we affirm that we follow policy, that we are committed to excellence education and the exchange of ideas, the faculty senate will uphold this stuff while the U does its business which includes teaching, medical care, research etc. Under normal circumstances this would seem somewhere between silly and redundant. It’s like the grocery store saying, “we affirm that we sell groceries.” But these are not normal times.
Why did they do this? Why would faculty who should be preparing syllabi take time to do this? Many faculty are concerned about what they can and should say in class. What if you teach a class on women in the slaveholding south? Outside the college what if you supervise OBGYN residents and you need to make sure they know how to do a D &C? What if you are the faculty advisor to the Women in Agroecology club or the Black Biology Grad Students Organization? What if you teach about Israel/Palestine? And as Jessica Sewell reminded me "the Senate also took time to do this because the administration was silent, allowing panic and self-censoring to kick in. We wanted to remind them, and the BOV, that if they were going to cross those lines, they needed to be explicit. It’s interesting that the interim provost’s email stating the administration’s support for academic freedom came a few days after the senate declaration."George Mason The Department of Education decided that George Mason violated civil rights law and insisted that the President apologize to the university. His lawyers said he has done nothing unlawful and will not apologize.

Our students made these in 2018.I don’t think I understood security theater until August 12 2018 when a couple of hundred state troopers kettled our students who were engaging in peaceful protest.

Our students made these in 2018.I don’t think I understood security theater until August 12 2018 when a couple of hundred state troopers kettled our students who were engaging in peaceful protest.

An open letter today from a group of us who teach in Jewish Studies at the University of Virginia.
"We teach Jewish studies at the University of Virginia. Like our colleagues across the United States, we will begin the 2025-2026 academic year amid an institutional crisis, one that does not bode well for either Jews or higher education in the United States......."
"We therefore join scholars of antisemitism across the world in urging our colleagues to reject the weaponization of this highly charged term in order to suppress disfavored speech. And we stand in solidarity with UVa students, sta!, faculty and community members who have exercised their rights to free speech regarding Israel and Palestine.
As scholars committed to a pedagogy grounded in historical facts, rigorous discussion and empathy, we believe that conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism interferes with our
mission to educate. Criticism of Israel’s policies in Gaza is not, in and of itself, antisemitic; indeed, it is crucial in this moment of crisis, as leading scholars and human rights organizations have classified Israel’s actions there as genocide."
Story-save.com is an intuitive online tool that enables users to download and save a variety of content, including stories, photos, videos, and IGTV materials, directly from Instagram. With Story-Save, you can not only easily download diverse content from Instagram but also view it at your convenience, even without internet access. This tool is perfect for those moments when you come across something interesting on Instagram and want to save it for later viewing. Use Story-Save to ensure you don't miss the chance to take your favorite Instagram moments with you!
Avoid app downloads and sign-ups, store stories on the web.
Stories Say goodbye to poor-quality content, preserve only high-resolution Stories.
Devices Download Instagram Stories using any browser, iPhone, Android.
Absolutely no fees. Download any Story at no cost.