This  is the second episode  of the limited series AAUP Presents: Academic Freedom on the Line. Our guest Dr. Stephanie Hall is a leading expert on college accountability and the for-profit higher education industry. Her research and advocacy in these areas have been instrumental for federal and state legislation, congressional oversight, and federal agency action. We ask her what the Department of Education is for, why the right perceives it as a threat, and how the right uses “polarizing” language to obfuscate its attacks on civil rights. 

CDAF host Vineeta Singh is joined for this episode by  Hall and Barrett Taylor. Dr Hall began her more than 20-year career in education as a middle and high school teacher in Atlanta and then Brazil. She has spent the past decade focused on policy issues including the governance of education policy and institutions, teacher education policy, undergraduate pathways, and workforce development, most recently as the senior director for higher education policy at the Center for American Progress (CAP). Prior to CAP, Dr. Hall worked with the Century Foundation and the University System of Maryland office of Academic and Student Affairs. Barrett Taylor is professor and coordinator of the higher education program at the University of North Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between universities and their environments, with particular attention to state politics and policy, the organization of academic work, and institutional inequality. 

Links:

• Stephanie Hall: What Will Happen to Your Student Loans if Trump Closes the Department of Education? | Teen Vogue
• Dear Colleague Letter
• Legal threat to Section 504 sets precedent for civil rights attacks, advocates say 
• CDAF Fact Sheet on Antisemitism Executive Order 
• Stephanie Hall: Invasion of the College Snatchers 
• Stephanie will be on stage at ASU GSV next month discussing and debating the oversight of higher ed. 

UPDATE from May 23, 2025: Educators and Unions Unite to Challenge Trump Attempt to Dismantle Department of Ed