Week 31
Aug 18-22, 2025 - Keep going on
Hello friends,
The days just keep going on and so must we.
Cook a little. Clean a little. Walk the dog. Breathe. Remember. All I’ve got is a rough beginning to offer you, but it’s a start.
This was Week 31, let’s keep putting one foot in front of the next.
What’s happening now
In a fractured and confusing decision yesterday, the Supreme Court granted the administration an emergency stay that allows NIH grant terminations to go forward. In brief, the Court agrees that the overarching anti-DEI motivation for cutting research funding is likely unlawful, but overruled the grant reinstatements I celebrated in Week 22. Although this latest ruling is not the final word, and it only deals with something like half of roughly $4.37 billion in total research funding losses, it holds troubling news about jurisdiction. This decision splits the question of the overarching policy from its impacts, redirecting fights for the funding to the Court of Federal Claims, which means expensive, years-long fights with little hope of reinstatement.
Classes are starting again for many universities. I don’t fully know what to make of reports of record-setting enrollments, at the same time as a decline in international student arrivals and less interest in American programs. I am curious, and we could have interesting conversations about ongoing recovery from peak-COVID years or the limitations of various methods and proxies for estimating numbers (e.g. maybe arrivals are lower because international students didn’t leave this summer, for fear of difficulty returning). But those macro-level conversations risk missing the deeply personal . I’m thinking of all of you who are going to be trying to learn and teach in the coming months.
I’m also thinking about everyone who is safe as Hurricane Erin moves offshore. That was our first hurricane of the season, and I’m grateful it wasn’t worse. Next week will mark twenty years since Katrina devastated New Orleans, and I’m thinking about how storms may be natural, but the disasters they leave behind are of our own making.
What’s next & what to do
Keep going on. And not for a lack of other options, because we can’t imagine doing anything else, but because we know it makes a difference.
One of the ideas I’ve been developing lately in my workshops is about perceived self-efficacy - the belief that we have the ability to do the things that matter to us. It matters in many ways, but I’m thinking specifically about willingness to try. When coping is hard, and trying may be dangerous, I want to understand what shapes our decision to step into the arena. It helps me to know that there are four kinds of information that shape our expectations of our own ability: past performance, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological feedback.
As I step back into the world next week, I’ll be drawing on each of those things. I’ll honor my own story and the stubborn tenacity I pair with a smile. I’ll remember my Dad, his inexorable work ethic, and his unwavering commitment to fight for what’s right, without question or pause. I’ll listen to the friends and loved ones who believe in my work, and I’ll trust my heart(rate). I hope you can do the same. The world needs us.
Life is precious, even this painful season of disaster and stupidity. Keep holding on. Keep moving forward.
Liz
As ever, thanks for reading & thinking with me. Please share it with your people. Meeting the Moment will always be free, but if you want to contribute ⤵️
If this email was forwarded to you, hi. This newsletter is my part of an ongoing conversation among friends and colleagues who’ve had a rough week. Every Friday night, I share two or three pieces of news that feel most important to those of us who care about science and higher education. I try to offer a helpful way to think about the problems in front of us, and at least one useful thing to do. If you like what you see ⤵️