Dave DeWitt
@davedewitt.bsky.social
WUNC editor. Politics and Higher Education.
"People are all saying that this is, pardon my French, that it's f---ed up. And what's f---ed up about is what I already said – that the board of trustees, their job is to endorse, to trust the long procedures and the expertise of other folks."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
Q&A: Professor denied tenure at UNC-Chapel Hill speaks out
Dr. Kiran Asher is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of Massachusetts.
www.wunc.org
May 19, 2026 at 7:58 PM
"People are all saying that this is, pardon my French, that it's f---ed up. And what's f---ed up about is what I already said – that the board of trustees, their job is to endorse, to trust the long procedures and the expertise of other folks."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
"The Bennett College National Alumnae Association's conduct has and continues to cause irreparable injury to Bennett College and to its business, reputation and goodwill."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
Bennett College files federal complaint against alumnae association
The federal trademark infringement complaint claims The Bennett College National Alumnae Association (BCNAA) is illegally capitalizing on its name, logo, and reputation.
www.wunc.org
May 7, 2026 at 12:40 PM
"The Bennett College National Alumnae Association's conduct has and continues to cause irreparable injury to Bennett College and to its business, reputation and goodwill."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
“This institution doesn’t mind if you’re picked off one by one.” Professors at UNC schools say the new public syllabus policy will make them targets. #ncpol #nced #unc
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
Faculty Under Attack: How the public syllabus policy is seen as the latest weapon against academia
Faculty across the UNC System are expressing increased concerns that their safety is at risk following the new UNC System policy that all class syllabi be posted in an online database.
www.wunc.org
February 26, 2026 at 12:19 PM
“This institution doesn’t mind if you’re picked off one by one.” Professors at UNC schools say the new public syllabus policy will make them targets. #ncpol #nced #unc
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
From @batkinson2501.bsky.social A late-week, right-before-the-holiday policy change: (it's official) public university professors must post syllabi.
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
It's official, North Carolina professors will have to publicly post syllabi
UNC System President Peter Hans' decision puts North Carolina in league with other Southern states like Florida and Texas, which legislatively mandate syllabi to be public records.
www.wunc.org
December 20, 2025 at 4:53 PM
From @batkinson2501.bsky.social A late-week, right-before-the-holiday policy change: (it's official) public university professors must post syllabi.
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
Reposted by Dave DeWitt
President Donald Trump endorsed Phil Berger on Wednesday night, choosing his candidacy over that of Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page in the Republican primary to represent North Carolina's 26th Senate District.
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
President Donald Trump endorses Sen. Phil Berger in NC's highest-profile legislative primary
The Trump endorsement is highly coveted in competitive Republican primaries.
www.wunc.org
December 11, 2025 at 2:17 AM
President Donald Trump endorsed Phil Berger on Wednesday night, choosing his candidacy over that of Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page in the Republican primary to represent North Carolina's 26th Senate District.
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
"I've seen a lot less Black students and that's something that really challenges – not only mine – but everyone's as Black students sense of belonging here."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
Two years on from Supreme Court decision, Black students feel less welcome at UNC-Chapel Hill
Two years after the US Supreme Court outlawed race conscious admissions, Carolina's incoming classes have had 25% fewer Black students. After administrators eliminated DEI support programs, students w...
www.wunc.org
December 5, 2025 at 2:32 PM
"I've seen a lot less Black students and that's something that really challenges – not only mine – but everyone's as Black students sense of belonging here."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
Wonder how this will play with the customers who bought (or will think of buying) a Subaru from Rick Hendrick in south Durham.
www.wbtv.com/2025/11/17/h...
www.wbtv.com/2025/11/17/h...
Hendrick Motorsports Technical Solutions sold dozens of SUVs to ICE, records show
The $2.25M contract was for 25 Chevrolet Tahoes
www.wbtv.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Wonder how this will play with the customers who bought (or will think of buying) a Subaru from Rick Hendrick in south Durham.
www.wbtv.com/2025/11/17/h...
www.wbtv.com/2025/11/17/h...
He didn't mention it specifically last night in his segment on public media, but @wunc.org was a source on John Oliver's show back in 2022. Help support public media at johnoliversjunk.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:25 PM
He didn't mention it specifically last night in his segment on public media, but @wunc.org was a source on John Oliver's show back in 2022. Help support public media at johnoliversjunk.com
Duke University President Vincent Price makes rare remarks on the school's "strategy of silence" (as reported by the Duke Chronicle)
snwrks.co/2eqfhg
snwrks.co/2eqfhg
Price calls terms of Trump’s compact ‘highly problematic,’ declines to take public stance
Price said Duke does not intend to comment publicly on whether it will accept or reject the compact and told faculty members its strategy of “silence” is intentional.
snwrks.co
October 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Duke University President Vincent Price makes rare remarks on the school's "strategy of silence" (as reported by the Duke Chronicle)
snwrks.co/2eqfhg
snwrks.co/2eqfhg
Reposted by Dave DeWitt
Censored from a transgender valedictorian's graduation speech in Fayetteville: The line "transgender people are facing new levels of violence each day, and the voices of transgender children are being overlooked."
www.wunc.org/term/news/20... #ncpol
www.wunc.org/term/news/20... #ncpol
'We won't be silenced': Cumberland County School Board attorney censors transgender valedictorian's high school graduation speech
Gray Byrd had submitted a speech responding to the prompt "striving to excel" — part of the school motto — that included the line "transgender people are facing new levels of violence each day, and th...
www.wunc.org
June 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Censored from a transgender valedictorian's graduation speech in Fayetteville: The line "transgender people are facing new levels of violence each day, and the voices of transgender children are being overlooked."
www.wunc.org/term/news/20... #ncpol
www.wunc.org/term/news/20... #ncpol
Duke Univ. Pres Vincent Price: “We are being forced to reduce the scope of our activities and spending in order to sustain excellence in our core missions.” youtu.be/9vv9zkoDZwE?...
An update from President Vincent Price on Duke’s strategic realignment process
YouTube video by Duke University
youtu.be
June 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Duke Univ. Pres Vincent Price: “We are being forced to reduce the scope of our activities and spending in order to sustain excellence in our core missions.” youtu.be/9vv9zkoDZwE?...
Brendan Rosenblum is one of the Jewish students who held up the American flag a year ago. He had water and food thrown at him and found himself mischaracterized by right-wing media outlets: "No one was there to get honored with a party."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
How their lives changed: Student activist who became symbol for patriotism reflects on year since UNC pro-Palestinian protest
In a two-part series, student activists reflect on their lives one year since UNC-Chapel Hill Polk Place protest. UNC student Brendan Rosenblum was one of the fraternity brothers who held up the Ameri...
www.wunc.org
April 30, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Brendan Rosenblum is one of the Jewish students who held up the American flag a year ago. He had water and food thrown at him and found himself mischaracterized by right-wing media outlets: "No one was there to get honored with a party."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
Laura Saavedra Forero was pinned under barricades, arrested and charged, doxed, and had her Morehead Scholarship taken away. Even with everything that’s happened, she says she would not change a thing: “This is the only morally right thing for me to do."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
How their lives changed: Student activist who lost prestigious scholarship reflects on year since UNC pro-Palestinian protest
In a two-part series, student activists reflect on their lives one year since UNC-Chapel Hill Polk Place protest. UNC student Laura Saavedra Forero shares her personal journey in activism leading up t...
www.wunc.org
April 30, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Laura Saavedra Forero was pinned under barricades, arrested and charged, doxed, and had her Morehead Scholarship taken away. Even with everything that’s happened, she says she would not change a thing: “This is the only morally right thing for me to do."
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
More Than 180 Academic Leaders Condemn Trump ‘Overreach’... including presidents at Duke, Warren Wilson, Davidson, Carolina Christian College... and not a single UNC system chancellor. #ncpol www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/u...
More Than 180 Academic Leaders Condemn Trump’s ‘Overreach’
The statement came a day after Harvard University sued the administration over its decision to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding, following the school’s refusal to submit to a list of dema...
www.nytimes.com
April 22, 2025 at 7:00 PM
More Than 180 Academic Leaders Condemn Trump ‘Overreach’... including presidents at Duke, Warren Wilson, Davidson, Carolina Christian College... and not a single UNC system chancellor. #ncpol www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/u...
Conservative stalwart Art Pope says about the Trump Tariffs: "I think President Trump and his administration are acting in good faith. I think they're very wrong. And the economy, the real world of price increases and lost jobs, will show that." #ncpol
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
Art Pope: Trump tariffs mean ‘there are not good times ahead’
Art Pope, a leader in the North Carolina Republican Party, criticizes Donald Trump's tariffs.
www.wunc.org
April 8, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Conservative stalwart Art Pope says about the Trump Tariffs: "I think President Trump and his administration are acting in good faith. I think they're very wrong. And the economy, the real world of price increases and lost jobs, will show that." #ncpol
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
"I don't think there's any real desire in our caucus to hear that particular bill," Speaker Destin Hall says about bill filed Monday that would greatly restrict abortions in North Carolina.
From @byadamwagner.bsky.social and Mary Helen Moore. #ncpol
www.wunc.org/2025-04-08/h...
From @byadamwagner.bsky.social and Mary Helen Moore. #ncpol
www.wunc.org/2025-04-08/h...
House Speaker Hall: Bill seeking to ban virtually all abortions in NC will not advance
Members of the NC House Freedom Caucus filed legislation that would ban access to abortion in most cases, including those where a woman is a victim of rape or incest.
www.wunc.org
April 8, 2025 at 10:08 PM
"I don't think there's any real desire in our caucus to hear that particular bill," Speaker Destin Hall says about bill filed Monday that would greatly restrict abortions in North Carolina.
From @byadamwagner.bsky.social and Mary Helen Moore. #ncpol
www.wunc.org/2025-04-08/h...
From @byadamwagner.bsky.social and Mary Helen Moore. #ncpol
www.wunc.org/2025-04-08/h...
The UNC-Chapel Hill School of Civic Life is having some issues.
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Resignations, Disagreements With Dean Roil UNC Civics School
UNC professors who supported the initiative when others derided it are resigning and denouncing its leader. It’s an ironic turn for a civil discourse school.
www.insidehighered.com
March 18, 2025 at 12:16 PM
The UNC-Chapel Hill School of Civic Life is having some issues.
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
10/10 on this story in the @ocracokeobserver.bsky.social No notes. Pulitzer should be in the mail for this photo caption alone: "This pizza didn’t fare well during transfer from bobbing boat to the ferry." #Ocracoke
ocracokeobserver.com/2025/03/07/f...
ocracokeobserver.com/2025/03/07/f...
Ferry stuck in Big Foot Slough shoal for 12 hours
The M/V Silver Lake hits the shoal in Big Foot Slough in the Pamlico Sound just outside Ocracoke. Photo: C. Leinbach By Connie Leinbach Passengers from Ocracoke to Swan Quarter Thursday afternoon o…
ocracokeobserver.com
March 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
10/10 on this story in the @ocracokeobserver.bsky.social No notes. Pulitzer should be in the mail for this photo caption alone: "This pizza didn’t fare well during transfer from bobbing boat to the ferry." #Ocracoke
ocracokeobserver.com/2025/03/07/f...
ocracokeobserver.com/2025/03/07/f...
Didn't expect to read this in an ESPN story about how UNC landed Belichick: "(Thom) Tillis hung up the phone and immediately called Phil Berger..." "...the push to land Belichick all started with the politicians." #ncpol
www.espn.com/college-foot...
www.espn.com/college-foot...
Power struggles, senators and the chaotic pursuit of a legend: How North Carolina landed Bill Belichick
North Carolina's hiring of Bill Belichick was the stunner of the college football year. Here's how the Tar Heels pulled it off.
www.espn.com
March 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Didn't expect to read this in an ESPN story about how UNC landed Belichick: "(Thom) Tillis hung up the phone and immediately called Phil Berger..." "...the push to land Belichick all started with the politicians." #ncpol
www.espn.com/college-foot...
www.espn.com/college-foot...
Many of the members of NC's Congressional delegation have either changed their public stances on Ukraine since Trump/Vance berated Zelensky, or they are laying low.
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
What North Carolina's Members of Congress think about Ukraine, Trump and Zelensky
A rundown of where North Carolina's Congressional delegation stands on Ukraine, as of Monday, and how those views may have changed after Friday's contentious meeting between Trump and Zelensky.
www.wunc.org
March 4, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Many of the members of NC's Congressional delegation have either changed their public stances on Ukraine since Trump/Vance berated Zelensky, or they are laying low.
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
www.wunc.org/politics/202...
Reposted by Dave DeWitt
NEW from ME: a Social Security office in Macon County (Franklin) appears to have been targeted for closing by Elon Musk's DOGE.
DOGE website says Franklin’s Social Security office to close
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been eager to propose federal budget cuts that purport to save taxpayers money, but as the proposed cuts trickle down to the neighborhood level — li...
smokymountainnews.com
March 3, 2025 at 9:21 PM
NEW from ME: a Social Security office in Macon County (Franklin) appears to have been targeted for closing by Elon Musk's DOGE.
One week ago, NC Senator Thom Tillis called Putin a "cancer" and the "greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime." No comment from Tillis yet on today's events in the White House. #ncpol
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
thehill.com
February 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
One week ago, NC Senator Thom Tillis called Putin a "cancer" and the "greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime." No comment from Tillis yet on today's events in the White House. #ncpol
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
Firing young professionals and falsely accusing them of "failing to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment” is incredibly cruel. Whatever your political leanings, who cheers this kind of thing?
www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...
www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...
From 17 to 7 left standing: Trump cuts gut Florida archaeologists, Parks Service staff
A sudden loss of jobs at the National Park Service has some terminated archaeologists rethinking a life of public service.
www.tallahassee.com
February 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Firing young professionals and falsely accusing them of "failing to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment” is incredibly cruel. Whatever your political leanings, who cheers this kind of thing?
www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...
www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...
UNC System President Peter Hans writes in this letter to the US Senate that it is "my honor and pleasure" to recommend Linda McMahon to be the Secretary of Education #ncpol
February 13, 2025 at 7:24 PM
UNC System President Peter Hans writes in this letter to the US Senate that it is "my honor and pleasure" to recommend Linda McMahon to be the Secretary of Education #ncpol