Brian Soucek
@brsoucek.bsky.social
Professor at UC Davis Law School, where I teach con law & civil procedure and write about academic freedom & aesthetics. Author of The Opinionated University (U Chicago Press 2025) and Permitting Art (Cabinet).
https://law.ucdavis.edu/people/brian-soucek
https://law.ucdavis.edu/people/brian-soucek
It's official publication day for The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
More info on the book here:
lnkd.in/gAux5ktY
Links in the comments to lots of places I'll soon be visiting.
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
More info on the book here:
lnkd.in/gAux5ktY
Links in the comments to lots of places I'll soon be visiting.
January 12, 2026 at 5:27 PM
It's official publication day for The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
More info on the book here:
lnkd.in/gAux5ktY
Links in the comments to lots of places I'll soon be visiting.
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
More info on the book here:
lnkd.in/gAux5ktY
Links in the comments to lots of places I'll soon be visiting.
Reposted by Brian Soucek
Great fun speaking on the #AALS2026 Hot Topic session dedicated to UC-Davis Law Prof Brian Soucek’s brilliant and timely book, The Opinionated University. I was honored to share the panel with BU Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig, UC-Davis Law Dean Jessica Berg, and U of… 1/2
January 7, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Great fun speaking on the #AALS2026 Hot Topic session dedicated to UC-Davis Law Prof Brian Soucek’s brilliant and timely book, The Opinionated University. I was honored to share the panel with BU Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig, UC-Davis Law Dean Jessica Berg, and U of… 1/2
This panel was so great: me and three amazing deans who deal with the issues in my book on the ground every single day. They all had so much insight to share.
January 7, 2026 at 9:57 PM
This panel was so great: me and three amazing deans who deal with the issues in my book on the ground every single day. They all had so much insight to share.
Reposted by Brian Soucek
Tune in to the AALS Hot Topic Program’s panel “Author Meets Deans,” moderated by @ucdavis.bsky.social Law Dean Jessica Berg. It will focus on Professor @brsoucek.bsky.social’s book “The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education.”
January 7, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Tune in to the AALS Hot Topic Program’s panel “Author Meets Deans,” moderated by @ucdavis.bsky.social Law Dean Jessica Berg. It will focus on Professor @brsoucek.bsky.social’s book “The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education.”
Reposted by Brian Soucek
@ucdavis.bsky.social Law Professor @brsoucek.bsky.social’s article, “Tax Law as Muse,” coauthored with Associate Professor Jennifer C. Lena (Teachers College, Columbia University), will receive the first-ever Art Law Scholarship Award from the AALS Art Law Section at 11:10 a.m. CT. 🎉
#AALS2026
#AALS2026
January 7, 2026 at 5:05 PM
@ucdavis.bsky.social Law Professor @brsoucek.bsky.social’s article, “Tax Law as Muse,” coauthored with Associate Professor Jennifer C. Lena (Teachers College, Columbia University), will receive the first-ever Art Law Scholarship Award from the AALS Art Law Section at 11:10 a.m. CT. 🎉
#AALS2026
#AALS2026
Reposted by Brian Soucek
2/3 at 7:30 PM | UC Davis law professor and author @brsoucek.bsky.social argues why institutional neutrality is an unattainable myth in "The Opinionated University," calling on universities to stand up for their values.
🎟️ Get tickets: buff.ly/joMhkf3
🎟️ Get tickets: buff.ly/joMhkf3
January 2, 2026 at 8:00 PM
2/3 at 7:30 PM | UC Davis law professor and author @brsoucek.bsky.social argues why institutional neutrality is an unattainable myth in "The Opinionated University," calling on universities to stand up for their values.
🎟️ Get tickets: buff.ly/joMhkf3
🎟️ Get tickets: buff.ly/joMhkf3
I wish I had written this essay. I think it's perfect.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
Opinion | The Dishonesty of the Northwestern Deal
The university claims it preserved academic autonomy. It didn’t.
www.chronicle.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I wish I had written this essay. I think it's perfect.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
Northwestern took the deal Trump has offered UCLA (but with a $75mil bribe, not $1.2 billion).
Fuck, Northwestern just caved. Reading the deal now. ( www.northwestern.edu/president/do... )
www.northwestern.edu
November 29, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Northwestern took the deal Trump has offered UCLA (but with a $75mil bribe, not $1.2 billion).
Who is better than @uchicagopress.bsky.social, who sent me a beautifully wrapped first copy of my new book! Get your copy of The Opinionsted University here: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
November 23, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Who is better than @uchicagopress.bsky.social, who sent me a beautifully wrapped first copy of my new book! Get your copy of The Opinionsted University here: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Vicki Schultz and I wrote this in 2021. For some reason I've been thinking about it lately.
www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...
www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...
Opinion | How Cuomo is exploiting public confusion over the definition of sexual harassment
As a legal matter, the sexualized definition of harassment most commonly provided and publicized is over 20 years out of date.
www.nbcnews.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Vicki Schultz and I wrote this in 2021. For some reason I've been thinking about it lately.
www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...
www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...
Another strong post from UC's Academic Senate, this time on the personally identifiable information of students, staff, and faculty that UC is (or might be) turning over to the Trump administration.
October 28, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Another strong post from UC's Academic Senate, this time on the personally identifiable information of students, staff, and faculty that UC is (or might be) turning over to the Trump administration.
Well, it’s really “we agree to follow Pam Bondi’s view of the law”
UVA Interim President Paul Mahoney announces that DOJ has agreed to drop its civil rights investigation against the University.
The “agreement” has no financial penalty and basically requires UVA to say “we agree to follow the law.”
(full agreement here federalinfo.virginia.edu/sites/federa...)
The “agreement” has no financial penalty and basically requires UVA to say “we agree to follow the law.”
(full agreement here federalinfo.virginia.edu/sites/federa...)
October 23, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Well, it’s really “we agree to follow Pam Bondi’s view of the law”
UVA agrees to "apply Civil Rights Law internally" according to the July 2025 Bondi memo, but only "to the extent consistent with relevant judicial decisions." That last part could matter, since the Bondi memo goes so far beyond what "relevant judicial decisions" hold. /1
October 23, 2025 at 1:46 AM
UVA agrees to "apply Civil Rights Law internally" according to the July 2025 Bondi memo, but only "to the extent consistent with relevant judicial decisions." That last part could matter, since the Bondi memo goes so far beyond what "relevant judicial decisions" hold. /1
What can it possibly mean to apply an “institutional neutrality” policy to the role of “Vice Chancellor Provost of Climate Science, POLICY, and ACTION”? What, is he supposed to alternate days, recycling on one and burning coal the next? It’s incoherent.
www.thedp.com/article/2025...
www.thedp.com/article/2025...
Penn community reflects on Michael Mann’s resignation, implications for institutional neutrality
Mann attributed the departure from his vice provost role to tension between his science policy advocacy work and Penn’s institutional neutrality policy. He remains a professor at Penn, and is the dire...
www.thedp.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:28 PM
What can it possibly mean to apply an “institutional neutrality” policy to the role of “Vice Chancellor Provost of Climate Science, POLICY, and ACTION”? What, is he supposed to alternate days, recycling on one and burning coal the next? It’s incoherent.
www.thedp.com/article/2025...
www.thedp.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Brian Soucek
Did you know that the UC Regents refuse to reveal the letter UCLA received from the Trump admin? Faculty requested a copy under the Public Records Act, but Regents refused, citing unidentified pending litigation. Now a judge has sided with @uclafa.bsky.social, saying UCLA must show us the letter.
Judge rules UC must publicize Trump administration settlement demands - Daily Bruin
This post was updated Oct. 14 at 11:30 p.m. A judge ruled Tuesday that the UC Board of Regents must publicize the Trump administration’s proposed settlement demands to UCLA.
dailybruin.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Did you know that the UC Regents refuse to reveal the letter UCLA received from the Trump admin? Faculty requested a copy under the Public Records Act, but Regents refused, citing unidentified pending litigation. Now a judge has sided with @uclafa.bsky.social, saying UCLA must show us the letter.
By requiring institutional neutrality except on issues that impact a university's mission, the Trump Compact for Higher Ed would put the Department of Justice in charge of deciding what every university's mission should be.
rb.gy/7gjkp8
rb.gy/7gjkp8
Trump’s ‘compact’ with universities holds a hidden danger
OPINION: By imposing institutional neutrality, the Trump administration is giving itself the power to determine our universities’ missions, UC Davis law professor Brian Soucek writes.
www.sfchronicle.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:20 PM
By requiring institutional neutrality except on issues that impact a university's mission, the Trump Compact for Higher Ed would put the Department of Justice in charge of deciding what every university's mission should be.
rb.gy/7gjkp8
rb.gy/7gjkp8
Leading universities are closing departments, freezing graduate admissions, and shutting down museum shows for being “political”, but yes @nytimes.com please tell us about how Ilya Shapiro was almost forced to give his talk on a Wednesday rather than a Tuesday at NYU.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/o...
Opinion | I Resigned as Manhattan’s U.S. Attorney. Law Schools Are Missing the Point of My Story.
www.nytimes.com
October 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Leading universities are closing departments, freezing graduate admissions, and shutting down museum shows for being “political”, but yes @nytimes.com please tell us about how Ilya Shapiro was almost forced to give his talk on a Wednesday rather than a Tuesday at NYU.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/o...
Reposted by Brian Soucek
The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
October 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
Strong statement today from UC's Academic Senate:
October 3, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Strong statement today from UC's Academic Senate:
Reposted by Brian Soucek
An important piece from Brian Soucek (@brsoucek.bsky.social), author of THE OPINIONATED UNIVERSITY, coming in January 2026.
www.salon.com/2025/10/02/w...
www.salon.com/2025/10/02/w...
When military recruiters visit, colleges must support trans students
The trans ban violates the missions of universities — and their silence is dishonorable
www.salon.com
October 3, 2025 at 5:07 PM
An important piece from Brian Soucek (@brsoucek.bsky.social), author of THE OPINIONATED UNIVERSITY, coming in January 2026.
www.salon.com/2025/10/02/w...
www.salon.com/2025/10/02/w...
Unless I'm missing something, three people were fired @tamu.bsky.social because a class syllabus expanded on this effusive description in the @tamu.bsky.social course catalog: "Literature for Children. Representative writers, genres, texts and movements." (See www.coursicle.com/tamu/courses...).
ENGL 360 - Literature for Children at Texas A&M University | Coursicle TAMU
ENGL 360 at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station, Texas. Literature for Children. Credit 0 or 3. Representative writers, genres, texts and movements. Prerequisite: Junior or senior classification.
www.coursicle.com
September 10, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Unless I'm missing something, three people were fired @tamu.bsky.social because a class syllabus expanded on this effusive description in the @tamu.bsky.social course catalog: "Literature for Children. Representative writers, genres, texts and movements." (See www.coursicle.com/tamu/courses...).
Proud to see @ucdavislaw.bsky.social making its values clear, even as the federal Solomon Amendment pressures us to allow military recruiters to violate our nondiscrimination policies. These kinds of statements were common (in fact, required by AALS) during Don't Ask Don't Tell. What's changed?
![MILITARY RECRUITMENT AT UC DAVIS SCHOOL OF LAW
In accord with the University of California’s anti-discrimination policy and regulations
of the Associate of American Law Schools (AALS), the University of California, Davis
School of Law has a Non-Discrimination Policy & Statement of Equal Opportunity
providing that:
The UC Davis School of Law Career Services Office expects employers recruiting at
King Hall to share our belief that the diversity of our students' backgrounds,
experience and interests will enrich the legal profession.
UC Davis School of Law does not make its career services facilities or services
available to employers who discriminate in the selection of employees on the basis
of ... sex, gender, gender expression, [or] gender identity.
On January 27, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the
Departments of Defense and of Homeland Security to revise their accession and
retention standards to presumptively ban service by people who are transgender,
finding that transgender status is “not consistent with the humility and selflessness
required of a service member” and with “a soldier’s commitment to an honorable,
truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.” A federal law, the Solomon Amendment, 10 U.S.C.
§ 983, denies most federal funding to a university that provides less access to military
recruiters than to other employers. For that reason, longstanding practice at King Hall,
as at other law schools, has been to grant access to miliary recruiters even when they fail
to comply with our policies.
As the U.S. Supreme Court wrote when it upheld the constitutionality of the Solomon
Amendment, “Nothing about recruiting suggests that law schools agree with any speech
by recruiters, and nothing in the Solomon Amendment restricts what the law schools
may say about the military’s policies.” Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and
Institutional Rights, Inc., 547 U.S. 47, 65 (2006). To make our position clear, we will
prominently post our non-discrimination…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bviiczzhquhhqp6btmaw3z3r/bafkreieuvqbotdrob34z3fkj74ygjqg62fe64rbip24lzemyow5os5fq44@jpeg)
September 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Proud to see @ucdavislaw.bsky.social making its values clear, even as the federal Solomon Amendment pressures us to allow military recruiters to violate our nondiscrimination policies. These kinds of statements were common (in fact, required by AALS) during Don't Ask Don't Tell. What's changed?
Reposted by Brian Soucek
Listen guys, if you're going to highlight this provision, you might also want to acknowledge the other provisions that require Columbia to restrict teaching, scholarship, and campus protest, and that limit the university's autonomy re admissions and hiring. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...
August 20, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Listen guys, if you're going to highlight this provision, you might also want to acknowledge the other provisions that require Columbia to restrict teaching, scholarship, and campus protest, and that limit the university's autonomy re admissions and hiring. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...
This:
the president does not actually have the power to fire a university president or a museum director, but if elites simply roll over under pressure, then effectively he does
June 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
This:
Reposted by Brian Soucek
BREAKING:
CASA (plaintiff in Maryland birthright citizenship case) has now filed an amended complaint seeking class certification for similarly situated individuals impacted by Trump’s EO.
www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-cont...
CASA (plaintiff in Maryland birthright citizenship case) has now filed an amended complaint seeking class certification for similarly situated individuals impacted by Trump’s EO.
www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-cont...
www.law.georgetown.edu
June 27, 2025 at 5:31 PM
BREAKING:
CASA (plaintiff in Maryland birthright citizenship case) has now filed an amended complaint seeking class certification for similarly situated individuals impacted by Trump’s EO.
www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-cont...
CASA (plaintiff in Maryland birthright citizenship case) has now filed an amended complaint seeking class certification for similarly situated individuals impacted by Trump’s EO.
www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-cont...