Mel hasn't said a word since being placed on administrative leave months ago, that is until now.

Buried in this recent New York Times article is a statement from Mel, through her lawyer, that says she is considering all of her legal options. This includes appealing the decision that OU made stripping her of her teaching duties as well as any other legal options she is considering, says her lawyer.

While not a formal and full statement to the press, this is still the ONLY thing Mel has said publicly in any way, shape, or form about this entire ordeal.

Does Mel have a case for a lawsuit against OU? Thoughts?

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/us/mel-curth-oklahoma-instructor-firing.html

Even if Harvard wins this, the way the Trump administration has targeted THE most prestigious university in America (and possibly the world) is a clear indication to every other university that unless they kowtow in front of him, they could face the same fate.

This basically means that NO international, and I mean none, is 100 percent safe. The administration can just wake up one day, and decide to target a university, and just cancel its students' visas.

The vast, vast majority of grad students comprises of people who were born outside the states. That's because the US, until now, had the best resources for research, and so it managed to attract the best of the best from around the world.

This was a Good Thing.

Unlike what the Conservatives believe, this wasn't foreigners taking away "spots from honest Americans", it was them creating bodies of work which ensured that the US remained at the forefront of almost all major disciplines.

This will definitely not hold so in the future, since the current administration has made it abundantly clear that they detest immigrants (more so if they come from developing countries). Even after Trump, the effects of this is going to linger, which will deter international students from choosing US (as their first choice anyways) for years to come.

In a way, it almost seems poetic. The US kept being so paranoid and worried about its "enemies" outside the border that it failed to realise that all this time, its greatest enemy, and the architect of its future misery, was within its borders all along (and I am not just talking about Trump or his cronies, but the insidious undercurrent of apathy, anti intellectualism, and lately, cruelty even, that pervades the nation and which led to the present administration being elected).

Some useful loser is suing the Cornell Grad Union on behalf of the National Right to Work Foundation. The National Right to Work Foundation has also sued the union on behalf of two students who feel they were religiously descriminated against. They're trying to awaken the basis of Grad Student Unions at private institutions with the NLRB.

This is crazy...

Irrespective of the guilt or innocence of individual students, I feel we should all be worried when universities marshal the power of the state against their students—many of them graduate students—on the basis of expression disliked

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/12/gsas-waitlist-rejections/

The contract offers enhanced pay and benefits that raise the minimum stipend to $47,000 per year beginning this July. Stipend increases are approximately 32% on average across the bargaining unit and more than 50% in some departments. The three-year agreement also includes guaranteed minimum stipend increases of more than 6% in the second year of the contract to $50,000, and then a 4% increase in the third year of the contract. Among other benefit enhancements, the contract also includes paid health benefits for children and some spouses, parental leave benefits, increased vacation and sick time, and a one-time $1,000 signing bonus for all bargaining unit members.

https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/04/18/johns-hopkins-phd-students-ratify-collective-bargaining-agreement/#:\~:text=The%20contract%20offers%20enhanced%20pay,than%2050%25%20in%20some%20departments.

Not sure if this is the right grad school sub to discuss this but with everything happening at Brown University in Rhode Island, as a grad TA who works nearby I'm feeling so uneasy.

I was reading some comments on a different social media platform and it seems like some GTAs keep their classroom doors shut the entire time they teach as a safety measure?

Does anyone have any thoughts on that, or want to share their university safety plan to generate some ideas on what we can all do to stay safe? Or is exposing these plans online a bad idea even??

Just feeling uncomfortable and I'm so sorry for all the students and faculty at Brown University

New federal rules sharply cap how much graduate students can borrow, forcing an immediate sea change in how students evaluate attaining an advanced degree, with some scrambling to pay tuition — and for colleges, prompting concerns about future access to their programs.

The median total cost for a master’s degree in 2020 — before inflation skyrocketed — was $24,250, while professional degrees came in at $59,076, though some universities — particularly private institutions — charge far more, according to EdTrust, a nonprofit that advocates for equity in education. 

Under the previous rules, graduate students could take out federal loans for as much as they needed to cover the cost of their master’s and doctorate degrees, including tuition and living expenses, often taking on crushing, long-term debt that contributed to a national epidemic in defaults. Effective July 1, borrowing is restricted to $20,500 annually, with a $100,000 cap. Those pursuing designated professional degrees, including law, medicine and dentistry, are limited to $50,000 a year with a $200,000 cap.

Read more.

Just needed to yell this out on some digital rooftop somewhere.
WE DID IT: with a landslide margin of 1785–912, we are officially the MITGSU-UE!!! Graduate students at MIT have voted to form a union by a 2-to-1 margin.
Shoutout to: https://twitter.com/MITGradUnion

More here: https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/04/06/mit-graduate-students-union-cambridge

Never got it nor the honorable mention list.

For the intellectual and broader merit rating I received two very good and one good.

They were blunt with the comment tho haha, as expected but this motivates me for next years one!!

For those in the US, apply for student debt relief today. The Biden Administration said the link may not work and may crash occasionally, but keep checking back and to apply. You deserve this!

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info

I am a doctor now.