Century1956Jul 26, 2023
Sheril Kirshenbaum

Multiple bright, young scientists I know have told me they will not be applying to jobs in TX & FL.

Faculty friends at institutions in these states have shared they are having trouble recruiting new students & concerned about what they could be accused of.

Having spent years working at UT Austin where I loved our weird & welcoming community, I’m deeply troubled watching things fall apart. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/25/texas-a-m-professor-opioids-dan-patrick/

Texas A&M suspended professor accused of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in lecture

The professor, an expert on the opioids crisis, was placed on paid administrative leave and investigated, raising questions about the extent of political interference in higher education, particularly in health-related matters.

The Texas Tribune
Jul 25, 2023 at 9:03pmMetatext
Show threadyour auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Jul 25, 2023
@Sheril have a scientist friend in FL who has been trying to leave for a while now. there's a mass exodus.
Show threadturminderxJul 26, 2023
@blogdiva @Sheril of course there is an exodus. Without the crazy republicans the place was an absolute shithole. Now I guess it is a very hot and swampy version of Gilead.
Show threadCoach Pāṇini ®Jul 25, 2023

@Sheril
Maybe the powers-that-be in those states view bright young minds questioning reality as the dangerous and deeply troubling thing they would like to have less of.

If so, this is all going exactly to their designed plan.

Show threadchiasmJul 25, 2023
@Sheril Yeah that IS chilling!!
Show threadJenny FxJul 25, 2023
@Sheril I was at an architecture college fair here in NYC and UT School of Arch were offering decent scholarships. I said even so, I wasn't that comfortable with my son going to Texas and the faculty at the table were like 'Yeah, we get that.'
Show threadGabriel Adrian SamfiraJul 25, 2023
@Sheril Nice dictatorship they have there.
Show threadSimple ManJul 25, 2023
@Sheril Why would any black athlete play for any university there?
Show threadMxhradJul 26, 2023

@SimpleMan @Sheril

Same with Florida? Why would a star black athlete go to school in a state that will teach them the benefits of slavery? #boycottFlorida

Show threadseqastianJul 25, 2023
@Sheril But that’s exactly what these laws are designed to do? Scaring young people (liberals) away is the last card they can play to keep getting elected. No matter the cost.
Show threadAlyson DeckerJul 25, 2023
@Sheril I’m really concerned we are going to start to see similar trends in the aerospace industry- which has been based largely in Texas and Florida.
Show thread🏳️‍⚧️ OwynJul 26, 2023
@alysondecker @Sheril The thing is, there's nowhere else for those folks to work. NASA has a few facilities in places like Maryland, but the big research hubs are in TX and FL. People in this industry basically have no choice but to live there, or give up on their dreams.
Show threadAlyson DeckerJul 26, 2023
@hadeantaiga @Sheril and I think more will give up on their dreams or go work for private companies in Cali, Washington, and Colorado if they don’t feel safe in Texas or Florida.
Show threadludiusvoxJul 25, 2023
@Sheril I ain't applying in NY and Cali. Feed the fire 🔥🥵🚒, you guys live in your 2 million dollar shacks and drive through all that traffic. If the employers won't go remote then they won't go.
Show threadPyperkubJul 25, 2023
@Sheril Realize also, that for the best and brightest from outside the US who want to come here to study, the stories from Florida and Texas make Afghanistan look like a better place to study than the US...
Show threadSecret SquirrelJul 25, 2023
@Sheril As a middle aged scientist, I certainly wouldn't. My first offer was a university in FL. Kinda glad I didn't, even though the faculty there were great.
Show thread@other95Jul 25, 2023
@Sheril Was recently mentoring a female student who was deciding on which graduate school to attend. We definitely had discussions on which states to avoid.
Show threadNullRegisterJul 26, 2023
@Sheril I have been told the same by very sharp academics on the market
Show threadWoolfhoundJul 26, 2023
@Sheril the vigor with which Texas is destroying its future is really something to see. I’ve lived here nearly 20 years and would actively discourage anybody I know from moving here. That was not the case just 5 years ago.
Show threadMxhradJul 26, 2023

@Sheril

... and they shouldn't. I've never even considered jobs in red states. I don't want far right politicians deciding science and medical care for me. I'd rather get paid less, taxed higher and have higher cost of living than work in a fascist state.

Show threadAlex WildJul 26, 2023
@Mxhrad @Sheril Hi from Texas! I’m taxed more here than I was in either California or Illinois. We don’t even have that going for us.
Show threadCanageekJul 26, 2023

@Sheril I applied for a job at UT Austin early in the year, but decided not to reapply when they started the search over as Texas is to scary for a trans couple right now

Edit: I also didn't apply for a job at a university in Florida because it's even more scary them Texas. I just forgot about it because it was such a fast write off.

so I'm passing on two of the usually about five jobs in my field that are posted per year

Show threadCanageekJul 26, 2023
@Sheril (Not sure if I'm bright or young, but this makes total sense to me)
Show threadJohnMasheyJul 26, 2023
@Sheril
~15 years ago I was visiting Austin for conference & to lecture at UT, had dinner with ex-CA friend. I commented on article in local paper that I said could have been written in Bay Area, not TX. He said Austin was not really in TX, just surrounded by it…. Although having seen political district maps…
Show threadJoe ❌👑Jul 26, 2023
@JohnMashey @Sheril I think they chopped Austin into four or five pieces so all the districts would be mostly Republican suburbs.
Show threadJohnMasheyJul 26, 2023
@not2b @Sheril
Yes, here's the current map:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_delegations_from_Texas#/media/File:Texas_Congressional_Districts,_118th_Congress.svg
United States congressional delegations from Texas - Wikipedia

Show thread🏳️‍⚧️ OwynJul 26, 2023
@Sheril I absolutely refuse to work in TX or FL unless it is for one very specific job opportunity with one specific group: NASA. That is the ONLY reason I would ever move to those horrible states.
Show threadLiberalTalkingPointsJul 26, 2023
@Sheril
The GOP constantly trips over the 1A on their way to the altar where they worship the 2A
Show threadHannes BoekhoffJul 26, 2023

@Sheril Reading the story, I was aghast how deeply fear has crept into the minds of students and Deans alike in Texas for simply speaking up. The „Land of the Free“? Where just one call denigrating a renowned Professor is enough to shatter a hard earned career to pieces?

If simply listing facts and figures and consequences of political decisions is enough to loose your job, one can come to the conclusion that this is „suppression by fear“. Especially at universities, this is highly alarming.

Show threadEddie Harmon-JonesJul 26, 2023
@Sheril I was a professor at Texas A&M for approximately 7 years and this kind of "attitude" around the place was one of the main reasons I left several years ago.
Show threadMaybeMyMonkeysJul 26, 2023
@Sheril my guess is corporations are have similar issues retaining and recruiting and will pull out of Texas
Show threadCTJul 27, 2023
@Sheril Cannot possibly blame them. Quite sad.
Show threadToni M.Aug 27, 2023

@Sheril

When reading the full article (worth while), you feel like being caught in a world as described by the author Kafka.

I never believed this could turn real, but obviously it does.

B.t.w. is Kafka already banned in the US?

Asking for a friend.

P.S. if not, it’s definitely a must to do so.