When Leadership Falls Short: The Crisis of Care in Library Work
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DEIA News Round-Up: August 2026
Posted on August 27, 2026 in Blog Posts
Authors:
Fatima Mohie-Eldin
Jason Arday’s Tragic Story Highlights Uncomfortable Truths about Race and Academia
Source: The Conversation US
After accusations of plagiarism were leveled against him, Jason Arday, the youngest ever Black academic to be made a professor at the University of Cambridge, faced an onslaught of racist attacks online before he was found dead in his home on August 14. As Cornel Grey, an assistant professor in the department of gender, sexuality, and women’s studies at Western University, writes, “Arday’s story [has] become fodder for the ongoing accusation by some critics that universities pursuing racial diversity do so at the risk of compromising academic merit.” This will inevitably lead to renewed scrutiny and suspicion of Black scholars, who already face greater obstacles to promotion and skepticism about their accomplishments. Additionally, it’s worth noting, as Grey does, that accusations of plagiarism do not always elicit such extreme backlash, especially when directed against white academics.
New Lawsuit Argues Texas’ Anti-DEI Restrictions Are Unconstitutional
Source: ACLU
The American Association of University Professors has filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas University System Board of Regents, alleging that the state’s restrictions on teaching about race and gender in course curricula, implemented in late 2025, unconstitutionally infringe upon professors’ First Amendment rights. As the lawsuit argues, “the Censorship Policy imposes unconstitutionally vague, viewpoint discriminatory, prior restraints on First Amendment protected academic speech throughout the Texas A&M University System.” The policy also requires extensive syllabi review, which has led to numerous texts and materials being prohibited, even writings by Plato.
Heritage Foundation Proposal Would Further Restrict Higher Education
Source: Higher Ed Dive
The conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation recently released a proposal that seeks to more deeply codify the Trump administration’s higher education agenda with even narrower restrictions. The model bill proposes such measures as prohibiting the creation of any programs, policies, or offices dedicated to DEI; requiring institutions to immediately terminate or suspend individual visa holders if the federal government has revoked their immigration status; ordering institutions to publish data on program outcomes and consider consolidation, discontinuation, or enrollment limitation for programs with a job placement rate below a certain threshold; and even placing institutions on the hook for paying off a portion of federal student loan debt for students who fail to graduate on time.
The Number of International Students Applying to U.S. Colleges and Universities Is Dropping
Source: Inside Higher Ed
According to new data released by the Common App, the widely used college admissions platform, applications to U.S. colleges and universities from international students are down by 10 percent. This directly correlates to the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies, which have included revoking visas and approving fewer visa applications since 2025. This follows a 13 percent decrease in international student enrollment for the 2025–26 academic year.
Reflecting on this state of affairs, Carlos Pineda, a PhD student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, contends in an op-ed for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian that these policies not only limit access to education but, combined with the administration’s attacks on DEI, also make international students in the United States more vulnerable, especially those from Global South countries.
Whistleblower Claims Trump Predetermined Discrimination Probe Outcomes
Source: The EDU Ledger
After the Department of Justice launched several anti-Semitism investigations at Ivy League universities, including Harvard, Brown, and Columbia, a former DOJ civil rights attorney is alleging that the administration had already predetermined the outcomes, regardless of the evidence. In fact, just recently, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit against Harvard, finding no basis for a Title IV discrimination claim. However, before the investigations were even complete, the administration had already frozen funds to the universities and pushed some of them to settle. Critics, including the judge in the Harvard case, have called the investigations a front to weaken the targeted universities, motivated by political differences.
Resources and Suggestions for Diversifying Faculty and Staff
Source: Times Higher Education
A new piece compiles resources and details suggestions for how colleges and universities can diversify their faculty and staff to enrich students’ academic experiences and better reflect society. While acknowledging that the recent attacks on DEI and the dismantling of affirmative action present additional challenges, the contributors nevertheless contend that progress is possible if _ are committed to the principles of diversity. Suggested changes include advice on establishing inclusive hiring practices, creating more inclusive opportunities for research and teaching, fixing the pipeline for minority scholars to access academic careers, and better navigating the ways universities discuss diversity.
Interested in contributing to TIE?
Email Fatima (fmohie-eldin@ala.org) at Choice with your idea.
Header image is a detail of This is Harlem by Jacob Lawrence. Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. © 2021 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. For more information, click here.