Trump’s university data demand threatens equality
President Donald Trump recently signed an order forcing colleges to hand over their admissions data. On paper, it’s about “fairness.” In reality, this could seriously threaten diversity in higher education.
Affirmative action was created to help level the playing field for students who have faced generations of discrimination, especially Black, Latino and Indigenous students. Without it, the admissions game often favors wealthier white applicants through legacy status, when a student’s family ties to a school boost their chances, or expensive test prep courses.
Trump’s plan doesn’t clearly say how the government will decide if a school is breaking the rules, which leaves plenty of room for politics to play a role. Supporters claim this is about transparency. But honestly, when you only shine the spotlight on programs meant to help underrepresented students, while ignoring the ones that give advantages to the privileged, you’re not leveling the field. You’re tilting it.
If this order stands, we could see fewer students of color on college campuses, and that’s not “fair” for anyone who believes in equal opportunity.
Midland school Confederate name debate divides town
Five years ago, the Midland Independent School Board in West Texas voted to drop the name “Robert E. Lee High School” because it honored a Confederate general who fought to keep slavery alive. The school became Legacy High and many in the community, especially Black families, felt proud of the change.
Now, a new school board wants to bring the Lee name back. They say it’s about school pride and tradition, not the Confederacy. With President Trump in office, you can tell how people are emboldened to make such decisions. You can’t separate Robert E. Lee from what he stood for during the Civil War. Bringing back that name signals, whether intended or not, that the pain tied to our history matters less than nostalgia.
Schools are more than buildings. Their names tell young people what a community values. For Black students, seeing the name of a Confederate leader over the front door could feel like being told their history and their worth don’t matter as much.
Supreme Court faces same-sex marriage crossroads
Ten years after Obergefell v. Hodges guaranteed marriage rights to same-sex couples, the Supreme Court may now consider dismantling it. The case stems from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on religious grounds. She now argues that her First Amendment rights should shield her from liability and that Obergefell was “egregiously wrong.”
Davis’s petition arrives amid a wave of anti-LBGTQ measures across at least nine states, many explicitly urging the Court to reverse Obergefell.
Overturning marriage equality would not just strip legal recognition from millions of couples; it would signal that rights once granted can be revoked when political winds shift. This would undermine the very principle of equal protection under the law.
And once the country extends rights equally, the just measure of justice is to keep them.
