We have noted the proliferation of Facebook ads from supposed experts on how to get into high-profile colleges. Yours truly also has a suggestion. Before submitting your college application essay, check for typos. Apparently, the ostensible UC-Berkeley expert advertising above doesn't bother to check.
Source: https://fb.watch/IpYZOd8mSz/.
From Inside Higher Ed: The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Maryland... over its law allowing certain undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates. Maryland is the 13th state the DOJ has targeted for such policies. “This Department of Justice is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise that illegal aliens will not obtain taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment over our own citizens,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a DOJ news release.
Undocumented students in Maryland can qualify for in-state tuition if they meet certain criteria, including attending and graduating from a Maryland high school, enrolling in college within six years of high school graduation, and providing proof they or their legal guardians filed state taxes for two years while the student attended high school. They also need to sign an affidavit promising to apply for permanent residency within a month of becoming eligible...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/07/17/doj-sues-maryland-over-state-tuition-noncitizens.
Governor Newsom announces appointments 7.22.2026 [Excerpt]
...Scott Galloway, of Gulf Stream, Florida, has been appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Galloway founded Section in 2019 and has served on the faculty of NYU Stern School of Business since 2002. Galloway was the Founder and Chairman at L2 from 2010 to 2019. He was the Founder of Red Envelope, where he held multiple positions from 1997 to 2008, including Chairman and Director. Galloway was the Founder of Prophet Brand Strategy, where he held several positions from 1992 to 2002, including Chairman and CEO. He served as a Member of the Board of Directors for the New York Times Co., a Board Member of Urban Outfitters, a Board Member of Panera Bread, and a Board Member of Berkeley Haas. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from University of California, Los Angeles. This position requires Senate confirmation, and there is no compensation. Galloway is a Democrat...
Source: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/07/22/governor-newsom-announces-appointments-7-22-2026/.
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From Politico: ...Galloway, a Democrat, has written prominently about issues of loneliness and isolation facing young men, which Newsom, a likely presidential contender, has sounded the alarm about. The governor last year signed an executive order aimed at addressing a rise in suicide rates and disconnection among young men and boys in the state. A professor of marketing at NYU, Galloway has founded several companies in the consulting and digital research fields, and served on the board of directors for Urban Outfitters, Panera Bread and The New York Times.
Galloway has been somewhat critical of higher education, arguing on a Chronicle of Higher Education podcast in March that some elite universities are making a “concerted effort to sequester supply” by hiking tuition and artificially keeping enrollment low, suggesting that such schools should lose their tax-exempt status. But he praised the UC as one of the systems “doing God’s work” to expand access by expanding first-year class sizes and summer and night classes.
Galloway, who lives in Florida, received his bachelor’s degree in economics from UCLA and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He has given to both schools — $12 million for students pursuing non-traditional pathways and $4.4 million to UC Berkeley for a fellowship for students from immigrant families.
Full story at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/22/newsom-appoints-podcaster-scott-galloway-uc-board-regents-01008165.
From Wikipedia: Galloway was born in San Diego and grew up in Los Angeles, California. His father was a Scottish immigrant to the United States who worked as a sales executive. His mother, a Jewish immigrant from London, England, worked as a secretary... Galloway teaches brand management and digital marketing to second-year MBA students. Much of his research concerns big tech, including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Apple, which he refers to as "The Four" or "the Four Horsemen". His first book, The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, was released in 2017 and analyzes the big four's peculiar strengths and strategies, novel aspects of their economic models, tactics of expansion, as well as resulting social and individual consequences.
In September 2018, Recode and the Vox Media launched Pivot, a weekly news commentary podcast co-hosted by Kara Swisher and Galloway. In February 2020, Galloway launched The Prof G Show, a weekly podcast answering listener questions on business, money, and technology. On September 28, 2021, CNN announced that Galloway would be a host on its CNN+ streaming platform, but the platform went off the air shortly after launching.
In 2022, Galloway's weekly newsletter No Mercy/No Malice won the Webby Award and Webby's People's Voice Award for best business, news and technology websites and mobile sites...
Full story at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Galloway_(professor).
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Galloway interviewed in The Free Press: ...I think Trump is president because of failing young men. If you look at the three groups that pivoted hardest from blue to red, 2020 to 2024, you start with Latinos and people under the age of 30. And the reality is, for the first time in our nation’s history, a 30-year-old isn’t doing as well as his or her parents were at 30. They’re 24 percent less wealthy than people under the age of 40 were 40 years ago. Meanwhile, my generation is 72 percent wealthier than we were 40 years ago. The majority of our economic policies are nothing but an elegant transfer of wealth from the young to the old. So they’re fed up, and all they know is they’re not doing well, so they just want change.
And then the third group, and the most interesting one, that pivoted hardest from blue to red, was 45- to 64-year-old women. And my thesis is that they’re mothers. A lot of women in the United States will vote for whoever they perceive is best for their husbands and their sons. And when your son is in the basement playing video games and vaping, you don’t give a shit about the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine. You just want change.
Struggling young men are always the fire that moves. People will come along, tell them their economic problems are the fault of immigrants, or that women’s ascent is responsible for their descent. Radical jihad has always leveraged failing young men, right? Fight for us and die, there’s 12 virgins waiting for you. ISIS took sex slaves and gave them to their soldiers as part of their military strategy.
The natural state of being is an unchecked economic system where you don’t redistribute capital. A small number of men are really talented, really fortunate, inherit wealth, and they get to engage in Porsche polygamy and have a disproportionate number of mating partners. And the bottom 90 percent of men have fewer and fewer. That rage or dissatisfaction can be channeled into unproductive means.
The greatest innovation in history wasn’t the iPhone or vaccines; it was the American middle class, and it wasn’t an accident. Seven million men returned from war in uniform. They were fit. We put a bunch of money in their pockets to make them economically viable, which made them more attractive to women. This led to huge household formation, a baby boom, productive, loving households. Then they brought non-whites and women into this prosperity through great social progress, great legislation. We decided to transfer opportunity and money back from the most fortunate into the American middle class, but that is not the natural state of being.
If you don’t figure out policies that create forward-leaning investments in technology and education and give young people a fighting chance, you’re just going to have an unstable society. You’re going to return to the natural order of a small number of people having all of the opportunities, which just creates instability. In some ways, I think we’re returning to what has typically been the natural order of economies for the last several thousand years...
Full interview at https://www.thefp.com/p/scott-galloway-on-the-mating-crisis.
Yours truly did file an appeal. We will see...
This blog continues Dan Mitchell's blog concerning UCLA and UC originally at:
https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/
starting July 23, 2026.
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| Technically jousting memos rather than dueling, but, hey, horses are involved. Or, since it's horses, should I have said "hay"? |
Memo 1:
A Statement from Rocko DeLuca, Director of Athletics
7-13-2026
Today, UC Davis released the findings of an independent audit examining the evaluation and transition of our equestrian program. I fully supported the university pursuing this review, and I want to share directly what it means and what it doesn't, from my perspective as the Director of Athletics.
Six months ago, the university's decision to discontinue varsity status of our NCAA Division I equestrian program disappointed many student-athletes, alumni, parents, and supporters. That disappointment was real and understandable. As with any complex and multi-faceted decision, it is also understandable that some people disagreed with the decision itself.
What followed, though, went well beyond disagreement. I, along with members of our Athletics leadership team and other university officials, have been repeatedly and very publicly harassed, accused of dishonesty, of manipulating financial information, and of taking this difficult action in bad faith or devoid of sympathy. My integrity, and the integrity of colleagues who have given years of service to this institution, have been called into question. My own family has been threatened and harassed, through acts that go far beyond expressing professional disagreement.
The independent audit found no evidence of misconduct, misrepresentation, or premeditated motives in how the decision was made, and it concluded that the allegations of intentional falsification were unsubstantiated. It did identify opportunities for us to strengthen financial reporting documentation, improve oversight of ancillary fundraising activities, and more carefully review consultants' scope in future engagements. I fully support those recommendations. Continuous improvement is part of the job.
What matters most to me in the audit's findings is this: the decision was made through established university processes, based on a full review of budget-reduction options presented to campus leadership. After that comprehensive review, and taking into account all impacts, discontinuing the varsity status of equestrian was determined to be the option that best met our required $1M budget reduction target. The audit confirms that the decision was reached honestly, through the right process and was the result of a collaborative process with and the backing of university leadership.
The last six months have taken an enormous toll on so many devoted UC Davis employees, current student-athletes and coaches, on me and on my family. I understand that public leadership brings scrutiny, criticism, and difficult questions. I have never objected to good-faith disagreement; it is part of the responsibility of serving a public institution, and it can make it better.
But some actions went far beyond disagreement. Personal threats, intimidation, repeated visits to my home, and efforts to involve family members in a university decision crossed a line that should matter to everyone in our community.
In addition, images from my personal social media — showing my daughter with UC Davis cheerleaders at home games — were used to suggest that I elevated our STUNT program for her benefit or for her potential future involvement at UC Davis.
That allegation is entirely false.
My daughter has been a patient at Shriners Children's for much of her life, and her condition has never allowed her to participate in sports — let alone something as physically demanding as cheerleading. There is never a reason to bring families into professional matters, and those who weaponized a false assumption to repeatedly use online, on campus, and in public meetings should be ashamed.
As we move forward, I hope this experience reminds us that accountability and compassion are not competing values. We can ask hard questions, advocate passionately, and disagree strongly while still treating one another with dignity. That is the standard UC Davis Athletics will continue to uphold.
The independent review has now reiterated the original facts. My hope is that this clarity allows our community to move forward based on facts, respect, and a shared commitment to UC Davis.
I am grateful to the Athletics staff, campus colleagues, coaches, student-athletes, alumni, and friends who continued to lead, support one another, and represent this university with professionalism throughout these past several months.
I believe deeply in the future of Aggie Athletics. While the last six months have been difficult, they will not define us. What will define us is the standard we continue to uphold – accountability, transparency, resilience, and confidence in UC Davis Athletics.
Source: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/7/13/a-statement-from-rocko-deluca-director-of-athletics.aspx.
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Memo 2:
Vindication or Validation?
The Long-Awaited Audit Raises More Questions Than Answers
(Sacramento, CA) — Nearly two weeks after UC Davis' promised deadline, the university released its audit regarding the elimination of the Division I Women's Equestrian program.
While the report's release is appreciated, it is important to understand what it does — and does not — address.
Far from providing the unequivocal vindication described in Director DeLuca's accompanying statement, the audit identifies clear deficiencies with the Athletic Department's financial reporting, fundraising oversight, and consultant review processes — the very systems relied upon to justify eliminating the program. The audit and corresponding statements also leave many of the questions most important to stakeholders unanswered.
First, this was a compliance audit, not the independent forensic investigation that student athletes, families, donors, alumni, and legislators have requested since they were blindsided by the university's January 9 decision. The compliance audit's scope is significantly narrower than expected.
The audit did not examine Title IX concerns, false and misleading recruiting practices, or the assumptions underlying projected STUNT costs. It reviewed only two external communications despite months of internal e-mails and public statements alluding to predetermination regarding the program's elimination. Even its review of fundraising was limited, with auditors expressly acknowledging that a comprehensive assessment fell outside the scope of their work and would need to be addressed in a future audit.
The audit also identified several significant process failures within UC Davis Athletics, including inadequate documentation supporting NCAA financial reporting, insufficient oversight of fundraising activities, and consultant analyses that relied upon financial information not intended for internal budgeting decisions. The report recommends improved documentation, stronger validation procedures, clearer oversight, and more rigorous review of consultant assumptions and methodologies before they are relied upon in decision-making.
These are not minor administrative recommendations. They are acknowledgements that financial and oversight processes relied upon during one of the most consequential athletic decisions in recent university history were insufficient and require corrective action.
Perhaps most notably, the audit acknowledges that Collegiate Consulting relied on NCAA financial data intended for external reporting rather than internal budgeting decisions. The audit concludes that the consultant's assumptions and methodology should have been validated against the university's own accounting records before being used to support a major strategic decision. This is significant because Collegiate Consulting's analysis portrayed equestrian as costing substantially more than comparable calculations now suggest, yet that analysis was repeatedly cited to justify eliminating the team. Questions about the consultant's analysis have been at the center of stakeholders' calls for a broader independent review. In April, stakeholders of the team released the initial findings of an independent review conducted by OSKR, an economic and accounting firm, which challenged the financial assumptions used to justify the program's elimination.
If that report served as independent support for eliminating a Division I program, stakeholders deserve to know why its assumptions and underlying financial inputs were never validated before the decision was made.
The university now recommends new procedures to ensure consultant assumptions, methods, and financial inputs are carefully reviewed before being relied upon in the future. This is particularly significant because Collegiate Consulting's analysis portrayed equestrian as costing roughly twice as much as comparable calculations now suggest. The university has effectively acknowledged that the consultant's report relied on inaccurate financial inputs, yet that same report was repeatedly cited in support of eliminating the team. Moreover, the financial figures used by the consultant were also reflected in Athletics' own analyses and public representations regarding program cost and the same budgets and financial data that Collegiate Consulting relied upon in their report justifying the program’s elimination.
The report further asks stakeholders to accept its conclusions without releasing the detailed financial analyses, calculations, schedules, and supporting documentation necessary for independent review. In effect, the university is again asking the public to trust an opaque process that the audit itself says lacked sufficient documentation, review, and oversight.
Transparency requires more than assurances — it requires factual information.
Finally, the audit does not address one of the central concerns raised throughout this process: not simply whether certain budget figures could be reconciled, but how those figures were presented to jus fy elimina ng the program. It does not evaluate repeated public claims that equestrian was among the university's most expensive sports or had the highest cost per student-athlete, nor does it examine whether those comparisons accurately reflected the underlying financial data and provided appropriate context. Those concerns are even more significant now that the university has acknowledged errors in the financial information relied upon by its consultant and reflected in NCAA reporting data. Those claims played a major role in shaping public opinion and decision, yet they remain largely unfounded and unexamined.
The university has consistently maintained that this was a financial decision. Yet, supporters offered to explore funding solutions, including an endowment or bridge funding that could sustain the program for two to four years and provide current student-athletes and recruits an opportunity to complete their collegiate careers or transition in an orderly manner. Despite those efforts, the university declined to pursue those discussions.
Ultimately, the audit answers far less than the university suggests. While it identifies problems and deficiencies in financial reporting, fundraising oversight, and consultant review processes, including the use of inaccurate financial information in analyses that helped support the program's elimination, it leaves many of the questions that prompted calls for independent scrutiny unresolved. Rather than putting this matter to rest, the report reinforces why an independent external investigation remains necessary. The university must also release the financial analyses, calculations, and supporting documentation used to justify this decision; not another statement and message that took weeks to create by a PR department.
The university may consider this matter resolved. For those still seeking the evidence behind the decision, it remains anything but.
Source: UCD-EQ_Audit-response-statement.pdf.
From Inside Higher Ed: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security... scrapped a long-standing policy that allowed international students to stay in the U.S. until they finish their program of study. The new rule will limit their stay in the country to just four years unless they receive an extension, as well as restrict students’ ability to change majors and institutions once they’ve arrived. International education leaders and experts have argued that four years is not enough time for a significant number of students to complete their degrees; almost all Ph.D. programs are longer than four years, while the average undergraduate takes more than four years to complete their bachelor’s degree. Additionally, students pursuing optional practical training, the work authorization for F-1 students following their graduation, typically stay in the U.S. more than four years.
But the government has argued that the old policy known as duration of status allowed students to stay in the U.S. indefinitely without having to interact with immigration officials, leading to overstays and national security concerns. According to DHS, 2,100 international students who entered the country on an F-1 visa between 2000 and 2010 are still in the country with F-1 status. DHS officials did recognize in the final rule that students could take longer than four years to complete their programs of study, but they argued the change is “intended as a law enforcement and screening tool to assess whether a student is maintaining normal academic progress and eligibility for F-1 status.” ...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2026/07/16/trump-administration-finalizes-limits-student-visas.
We have noted the proliferation of Facebook ads from supposed experts on how to get into high-profile colleges. Yours truly also has a sugge...
