EDUCATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday [3-21-19] that addresses campus free speech as well as other higher education issues, according to several sources familiar with the White House’s plans. Trump said earlier this month he would issue an executive order ‘requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research dollars.’ But it’s not clear how the policy set to be unveiled on Thursday would work. Trump, who previously threatened to withdraw federal funding to the University of California, Berkeley, has said he wants ‘very costly’ penalties for schools that don’t ‘support free speech.’ At the CPAC speech where he mentioned the executive order, he brought to the stage Hayden Williams, a conservative activist who was punched in the face while recruiting on the UC Berkeley campus for the conservative youth group Turning Point USA. The White House said Trump would sign an executive order and make ‘remarks on improving free inquiry, transparency and accountability on campus’ on Thursday afternoon in the East Room. Among those invited to the White House event is Kristan Hawkins, who is the president of Students for Life of America. Hawkins said her group has met twice with Vice President Mike Pence to tell him about the times their activists have been shut down on college campuses.”
–Michael Stratford, “Trump set to sign executive order on campus free speech,” Politico, March 20, 2019 10:11 pm