Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
pietrosassophd.bsky.social
Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
@pietrosassophd.bsky.social
Delaware State Higher Ed Faculty | Piazza FSL Center Research Fellow |
Higher Ed Research: Student Success; Identity; Equity in Co-Curricular
#HigherEd #SAPro
HBCUs continue to conduct research and earn higher classifications, but do not recieve the same opportunities to train their doctoral students or have the best research facilities.

www.theeduledger.com/institutions...
Applications Soar to Public HBCUs Even as Funding Gaps Threaten National Competitiveness
An analysis reveals these institutions drive economic mobility and STEM talent production while operating with far fewer resources than peers.
www.theeduledger.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:53 PM
I really think that faculty need entrance and hype songs for conferences when we present papers and scholarly sessions. What would yours be?
November 10, 2025 at 1:40 AM
I was recently featured in an investigative story about fraternity housing in Canada.

thelocal.to/fraternities...
When Your Landlord is a Frat | The Local
Without enough brothers to fill their houses, some fraternities have begun renting rooms to non-students desperate for cheap rent. The results have been messy.
thelocal.to
October 27, 2025 at 1:12 PM
At this juncture, even private colleges are making excuses to backtrack from anything related to diversity.

www.star-telegram.com/news/local/e...
TCU to close departments dedicated to women, gender and race studies
Two departments will be shuttered after this year. Courses that remain intact will move under the umbrella of the English department.
www.star-telegram.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Proposed cuts to HSI funding, if enacted, will cause further harm to underrespresented student communities who will be further pushed to the margins.

azcir.org/news/2025/10...
Arizona colleges face ‘devastating impact’ after Trump slashes grant funds to minority-serving institutions
Ten community colleges and universities in Arizona will lose at least $13.8 million after President Donald Trump's administration cut discretionary funding to minority-serving institutions.
azcir.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I commend the efforts by Seton Hall, but it seems they achieved HSI status too late. They arrived to the office pizza party and all that is left is crust.

www.theeduledger.com/institutions...
Seton Hall University Achieves Historic HSI Designation
The Catholic institution’s Hispanic enrollment rises as university joins national network of Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
www.theeduledger.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:26 AM
This was inevitable as the intention is to gut DOE, but I am unsure they have any backup plans for anything to properly function.

www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...
Trump’s Latest Layoffs Gut the Office of Postsecondary Ed
College-access advocates say that TRIO and other student support services will face major disruptions as a result.
www.insidehighered.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:57 PM
This removing funding from other enrollment based MSIs is highly problematic. Many institutions use those funds for broad student success funding or other engagement initiatives which benefits students across campus. The interest convergence here is alarming.

www.highereddive.com/news/mcmahon...
Republican lawmakers ask McMahon to restore funding for Hispanic-serving colleges
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference pushed back on arguments that the programs discriminate by establishing racial quotas.
www.highereddive.com
October 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
@dcollier74.bsky.social called this. This was a worry I had which mirrors when Louisana tried to ban Librarians from joining the American Library Association (ALA).

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Under Anti-DEI Pressure, Ohio State Limits Conference Funds
The Education Department recently criticized Ohio State University’s involvement with a nonprofit that encourages people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue doctorates. Now, OSU is rethinking ...
www.insidehighered.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
The lack of capacity, proximity, and relationships for research have disadvantaged the the historical opportunities to develop a research infrastructure that allows HBCUs to compete for major research grants.

www.theeduledger.com/institutions...
HBCUs Receive Less Than 1% of Federal R&D Funding Despite Representing 3% of Universities
New report reveals persistent funding disparities as Trump administration freezes diversity-focused grants.
www.theeduledger.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
Across the country, student groups and other organizations are working to fill the gaps left behind by campus centers and programs lost to a snowballing anti-DEI movement.
Students, Alumni Rally to Keep Cut Affinity Programs Alive
Across the country, student groups and other organizations are working to fill the gaps left behind by campus centers and programs lost to a snowballing anti-DEI movement.
www.insidehighered.com
September 29, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The hazing researchers include in this story are really amazing, but you would think they would include the Piazza Center which was founded as a response to hazing death.

www.post-gazette.com/news/educati...
Penn State aimed to curb hazing culture after Timothy Piazza’s death. Some question whether it’s led to change.
Efforts in the eight-plus years since Timothy Piazza’s death haven’t necessarily led to meaningful change when it comes to hazing at Penn State, according to a university-commissioned report issued la...
www.post-gazette.com
September 28, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
The 2026 Stop Campus Hazing Act is coming. How can colleges prepare? How can families talk about hazing? Our free TV bundle helps newsrooms. Check out the VOSOT, soundbite, raw video, & log with timecodes from our Q&A with @pietrosassophd.bsky.social: bit.ly/4ninMWn

@delstateuniv.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
This is a cautionary tale. West Virginia eliminated their higher education administration programs several years ago as did Shepard. So, that state has 0 programs to prepare higher education administrators.

www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...
UNL Proposes Cutting Educational Administration Department
University leaders say they need to slash the budget. Education administration professors say it’ll sever a pipeline to education leadership roles.
www.insidehighered.com
September 25, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Hazing should never be acceptable. Colleges do not have the capacity to consistently engage in prevention.

apnews.com/article/univ...
Former student sues University of Southern Mississippi and Omega Psi Phi over alleged hazing
A former Omega Psi Phi pledge who alleges he was so severely beaten during the Nu Eta chapter’s “Hell Night” that he had to relearn how to walk is now suing the fraternity, the University of Southern ...
apnews.com
September 24, 2025 at 1:15 PM
This is unfortunate, especially because this is a nationally renowned and recognized department. West Virginia cut their higher education program too sometime ago. The entire state has no higher education/student affairs programs now.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Proposes Cutting Ed Administration Programs

University leaders say they need to slash the budget. Education administration professors say it’ll sever a pipeline to education leadership roles. https://bit.ly/42D0qCw
September 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
Make no mistake, these bans are not grounded in Texas law, but rather in hateful prejudice. Angelo State University is going far beyond what new legislation requires, enforcing what some legislators unsuccessfully tried to pass.
Under pressure from Texas government officials, Angelo State University in Texas is banning all discussion or mention of the existence of trans people along with banning the LGBTQ pride flag from campus and forced misgendering of trans people.

conchoobserver.com/2025/09/19/a...
September 23, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students.
MacKenzie Scott gives $70 million to UNCF to financially strengthen HBCUs
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students.
bit.ly
September 23, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Why did "DIverse Issues in Education" become the "EDU Ledger?"
September 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM
They will 100% villanize individual faculty or staff and probably pass additional rules like they have for corporations. However, if a white male speaks out and is racist then he will definitely get a pass.

www.texastribune.org/2025/09/12/t...
Texas legislative committees will study freedom of speech on college campuses in wake of Charlie Kirk killing
The committees were made to honor slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk and come as university faculty have come under online scrutiny.
www.texastribune.org
September 16, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
Washington Post fires their last remaining Black opinion writer @karenattiah.bsky.social over the most benign comments in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's murder...

Meanwhile Fox still has Brian Kilmeade who casually said all homeless people should be killed.

Its all unfair & unbalanced. Wake up.
September 15, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Dr. Pietro A. Sasso
We must come to terms with the fact that it was a huge mistake to leave the online world largely unchecked, and that we urgently need to deal with a fragmented, radicalized and instrumentalized reality in many countries simultaneously and take action instead of remaining in shock or relativization.
September 13, 2025 at 5:24 PM