Laura Helferstay
@jackerstay.bsky.social
✨ Education researcher at UVA | Connecting data + people for impactful learning ✏️ |🌱 Raising the next generation (and a little hell) with anti-fascist values | Mostly lurking - all opinions my own
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
There is no fixing this. There is no training nor reform that will mitigate this. #AbolishICE. No funding for DHS. Call/email/contact @markwarner.bsky.social and @kaine.senate.gov (if you can get through bc Kaine seems to make it as difficult as possible). #ICEoutForGood.
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com
February 1, 2026 at 12:25 PM
There is no fixing this. There is no training nor reform that will mitigate this. #AbolishICE. No funding for DHS. Call/email/contact @markwarner.bsky.social and @kaine.senate.gov (if you can get through bc Kaine seems to make it as difficult as possible). #ICEoutForGood.
I'll take that glimmer of positivity. Way to go, Cville!
Update from The Haven: “We are in awe of the generosity of the Charlottesville area community. You answered our urgent call for support and in less than 12 hours, we met our goal of $27,100 several times over!”
Our friends at The Haven just sent a message asking for donations to support over 80 community members who are homeless that The Haven and other partners have placed in hotels during this winter weather. They need to raise $27k. Please consider donating today.
www.thehaven.org/give-online
www.thehaven.org/give-online
January 28, 2026 at 3:30 AM
I'll take that glimmer of positivity. Way to go, Cville!
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
Our friends at The Haven just sent a message asking for donations to support over 80 community members who are homeless that The Haven and other partners have placed in hotels during this winter weather. They need to raise $27k. Please consider donating today.
www.thehaven.org/give-online
www.thehaven.org/give-online
Give Online — The Haven
www.thehaven.org
January 26, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Our friends at The Haven just sent a message asking for donations to support over 80 community members who are homeless that The Haven and other partners have placed in hotels during this winter weather. They need to raise $27k. Please consider donating today.
www.thehaven.org/give-online
www.thehaven.org/give-online
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
January 26, 2026 at 11:35 PM
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
the children are protesting from inside the camps. i hope they know that we hear them.
There's a prison revolt at a concentration camp in Texas in solidarity with Minneapolis:
January 25, 2026 at 12:30 AM
the children are protesting from inside the camps. i hope they know that we hear them.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
Unless they are stopped, all the worst things that Trump and the Republican Party are going to do are in the future, not the past.
This makes stopping them the highest priority for the future of human life on the planet.
This makes stopping them the highest priority for the future of human life on the planet.
January 21, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Unless they are stopped, all the worst things that Trump and the Republican Party are going to do are in the future, not the past.
This makes stopping them the highest priority for the future of human life on the planet.
This makes stopping them the highest priority for the future of human life on the planet.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” —George Orwell (1984)
January 8, 2026 at 3:32 PM
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” —George Orwell (1984)
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
No, it was a successful coup. None of the people who led it were punished, and are in fact back in power, rewarded for their efforts to break the system by running it. Donald Trump is currently the dictator he attempted to become 5 years ago, and it’s because nobody treated trying as a crime.
We must speak plainly: January 6th was an attempted coup. It was an effort to nullify millions of lawful votes and subvert the will of the American people.
January 6, 2026 at 6:26 PM
No, it was a successful coup. None of the people who led it were punished, and are in fact back in power, rewarded for their efforts to break the system by running it. Donald Trump is currently the dictator he attempted to become 5 years ago, and it’s because nobody treated trying as a crime.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
know there’s a lot going on but don’t want to lose sight of UVA trying to pass off as legitimate the president that an illegally constituted board appointed with unseemly haste in a farcical process that shut out the entire rest of the community & even in their propaganda they can’t include a POC
![UVA Today daily propaganda report,
headline
'First Coffee' launches Scott
Beardsley's first full week as
UVA's 10th president
Lede
Drawing on a tradition from his years as dean of the Darden School of Business, Beardsley hrought "First Coffee" in the Office of the… [image cuts off]
There is an image of president manqué Beardsley talking to notably few others outside the office of the president. All the people in the image appear to be extremely white](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5udoh2yruu6u2njprrhkkr3y/bafkreihkpqox3j2hxz7guv4ylgjhao5jaljlrsbcgem2xwv5dk2gk5mbpy@jpeg)
January 6, 2026 at 11:14 PM
know there’s a lot going on but don’t want to lose sight of UVA trying to pass off as legitimate the president that an illegally constituted board appointed with unseemly haste in a farcical process that shut out the entire rest of the community & even in their propaganda they can’t include a POC
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
“What do we call it when a stronger person decides to rob a weaker person because he can? It is just gangsterism. We are the most dangerous gangsters in the world today. Not in the sense of being charming rogues or alluring antiheroes. We are the bad guys.”
We Are the Bad Guys
The swaggering threat to global stability is us.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:26 PM
“What do we call it when a stronger person decides to rob a weaker person because he can? It is just gangsterism. We are the most dangerous gangsters in the world today. Not in the sense of being charming rogues or alluring antiheroes. We are the bad guys.”
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
Yes, contact your elected representatives ; then join your fellow community members this afternoon, organized by @cvilledsa.bsky.social . #HandsOffVenezuela.
January 4, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Yes, contact your elected representatives ; then join your fellow community members this afternoon, organized by @cvilledsa.bsky.social . #HandsOffVenezuela.
Took my kids' admonitions to heart and severely limited my doom scrolling to start 2026. I see the world did not similarly limit their doom output, however.
January 4, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Took my kids' admonitions to heart and severely limited my doom scrolling to start 2026. I see the world did not similarly limit their doom output, however.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
Tom is right person for this moment - someone who cares deeply about his constituents and is willing to fight for them
The Board & Executive Committee of Indivisible Charlottesville are proud to endorse Tom Perriello for Congress in Virginia’s 5th District! @tomperriello.bsky.social has shown, time and again, that he puts #PeopleBeforePolitics.
Perriello Endorsement 2026 — Indivisible Charlottesville
Our values. Our movement.
Indivisible Charlottesville endorses Tom Perriello because he shares our commitment to democracy, civil rights, and people-powered change.
www.indivisiblecharlottesville.org
December 29, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Tom is right person for this moment - someone who cares deeply about his constituents and is willing to fight for them
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
This guy got a PhD to become a university president.He got a PhD in "Higher Ed Admin" & wrote a diss./book about "non traditional presidents" aka consultant class experts who believe that faculty and students have too much say. Fullest expression of the BOV contempt for UVA &especially faculty.
Breaking: The University of Virginia's Board of Visitors named a new president Friday: Scott Beardsley, dean of UVA's Darden School of Business since 2015.
Beardsley called the selection "the honor of my life."
Beardsley called the selection "the honor of my life."
UVA board selects Scott Beardsley as new president
Beardsley, a longtime consultant, has led the Darden School of Business since 2015.
www.vpm.org
December 19, 2025 at 9:47 PM
This guy got a PhD to become a university president.He got a PhD in "Higher Ed Admin" & wrote a diss./book about "non traditional presidents" aka consultant class experts who believe that faculty and students have too much say. Fullest expression of the BOV contempt for UVA &especially faculty.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
To my mind, the speed of this search is the definition of *malfeasance.*
It was politics over the health and integrity of the university from beginning to end--from firing President Ryan to now.
The appointees have consistently put the desires of Trump and Youngkin over UVA.
It was politics over the health and integrity of the university from beginning to end--from firing President Ryan to now.
The appointees have consistently put the desires of Trump and Youngkin over UVA.
December 19, 2025 at 10:40 PM
To my mind, the speed of this search is the definition of *malfeasance.*
It was politics over the health and integrity of the university from beginning to end--from firing President Ryan to now.
The appointees have consistently put the desires of Trump and Youngkin over UVA.
It was politics over the health and integrity of the university from beginning to end--from firing President Ryan to now.
The appointees have consistently put the desires of Trump and Youngkin over UVA.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
Spanberger should remove the whole board on day 1.
December 19, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Spanberger should remove the whole board on day 1.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
The Board ignored our staff, faculty, students, and alumni ….everyone whose day-to-day life makes the University what it is.
They also ignored the Governor-Elect and the General Assembly.
They also ignored the Governor-Elect and the General Assembly.
December 19, 2025 at 11:25 PM
The Board ignored our staff, faculty, students, and alumni ….everyone whose day-to-day life makes the University what it is.
They also ignored the Governor-Elect and the General Assembly.
They also ignored the Governor-Elect and the General Assembly.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
The White House claims the vote to rename the Kennedy Center was “unanimous.” That is false. I was muted on the call and denied the opportunity to speak or register my opposition. That is not consensus. That is censorship.
December 18, 2025 at 7:42 PM
The White House claims the vote to rename the Kennedy Center was “unanimous.” That is false. I was muted on the call and denied the opportunity to speak or register my opposition. That is not consensus. That is censorship.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
The dean of the University of Virginia’s business school has emerged as the top candidate in the search for the flagship’s next president ahead of a board meeting Friday.
U-Va. board likely to name president Friday amid calls to pause search
A vote by the University of Virginia’s board would come after Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) and others urged members to halt the search until she takes office.
wapo.st
December 19, 2025 at 1:15 AM
The dean of the University of Virginia’s business school has emerged as the top candidate in the search for the flagship’s next president ahead of a board meeting Friday.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
The Americans Who Saw All This Coming—but Were Ignored and Maligned
Call them the Cassandras: the people—mostly not white and male—who smelled the fascism all over Trump from jump street. Why were they “alarmists,” and how did “anti-alarmism” become cool?
newrepublic.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:26 AM
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
This should be a crime
December 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM
This should be a crime
Based on the number of locals who seemed shocked that there was snow in the forecast today, I feel obligated to report that my 2 for 2 weather app is predicting more wintery stuff in Cville on Friday...
December 9, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Based on the number of locals who seemed shocked that there was snow in the forecast today, I feel obligated to report that my 2 for 2 weather app is predicting more wintery stuff in Cville on Friday...
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
What is wrong with you!? By what mechanism do you intend to have the Republican House vote on this?? A "promise" 🙄🙄🙄
My statement on the funding deal to reopen government, protect federal employees, and vote to protect health care:
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 AM
What is wrong with you!? By what mechanism do you intend to have the Republican House vote on this?? A "promise" 🙄🙄🙄
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
Primary all of them, man. Don't know what else to say.
November 9, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Primary all of them, man. Don't know what else to say.
Reposted by Laura Helferstay
It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life
November 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life