Apr 30, 2025
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Charles H.F. Davis III about
the increasingly repressive conditions on university campuses,
particularly in the context of Columbia University's caving
in to federal pressures under the thumb of Trump’s
administration. We explore the broader implications of these
concessions at the expense of liberalized notions of intellectual
and academic freedom, student activism, and the role of
universities as sites of political struggle.
Dr. Davis highlights the historical and
ongoing repression of student activism, particularly
pro-Palestinian movements, and critiques the legal and
institutional frameworks that perpetuate these violences. We also
delve into the limitations of liberalism in fending off fascist
infringement and the active participation of universities in
maintaining these structures of domination. We also touch on the
historical collaboration between Zionist organizations and U.S.
universities, the erosion of diversity and inclusion initiatives,
and the broader implications for the future of higher
education.
Dr. Charles H.F. Davis III is a third-generation educator, organizer,
and artist. He is a faculty member in the Center for the Study of
Higher and Postsecondary Education and director of the Campus
Abolition Research Lab at the University of Michigan. His research
and teaching broadly explore the racialized consequences of higher
education on society, including the role of colleges and
universities in limiting the life-making possibilities of Black and
other racialized communities.
Edited/produced by Aidan Elias, music as always is by Televangel
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Longer bio:
Dr. Charles H.F. Davis III is a third-generation educator, organizer,
and artist committed to the lives, love, and liberation of everyday
Black people. Dr. Davis is a faculty member
in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education
and director of the Campus Abolition Research Lab at the University
of Michigan. His research and teaching broadly explore the
racialized consequences of higher education on society, including
the role of colleges and universities in limiting the life-making
possibilities of Black and other racially minoritized communities.
Dr. Davis has produced nearly three dozen
scholarly publications, which have been cited in amicus curiae
brief to the Supreme Court of the United States and included as
expert testimony before the California State Assembly. He is
co-editor of Student Activism, Politics, and Campus Climates in
Higher Education (Routledge) and author of the forthcoming Campus
Abolition and Police-Free Futures on Johns Hopkins University
Press.
For his intellectual contributions, Dr. Davis been nationally-recognized by the National
Association of Student Personnel Administrators, as a 2020 Emerging
Scholar by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, a recipient of the
National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, a
2024 Inductee to the Martin Luther King, Jr. College of Ministers
and Laity’s Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College and, most
recently, was named a Senior Fellow at the Center on the Developing
Child at Harvard University. At the institutional level, Dr.
Davis’ teaching and service have been
recognized as the 2023 recipient of the John Matlock Cornerstone
Award for his contributions to the success of African American
students at the University of Michigan and the 2024 Diversity,
Inclusion, Justice, and Equity Award at the U-M Marsal Family
School of Education.