The News for 11/15/25
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We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, November 15th.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Friday that a University of Kentucky professor is now suing UK after it reassigned him and launched an investigation into him in July following comments he made related to advocating for the dismantling of Israel as a nation-state. The lawsuit filed in federal district court Friday by the tenured professor, Ramsi Woodcock, said his suspension “violates his First Amendment right of freedom of expression and his right to procedural due process,” discriminates against him, threatens the principles of the U.S. government, and degrades UK’s quality of education.
Woodcock said he was blocked from teaching two courses this fall and it’s caused a chilling effect within UK’s College of Law, preventing students and other faculty from speaking out. He said, “The problem here is that the university is abusing anti-discrimination structures that were put in place to address real problems of discrimination in order to engage in political persecution of speech,” alleging that UK’s investigation into him is unprecedented and that he was suspended because the administration “disagrees with the content” of his views on Israel and Palestine. The American Association of University Professors sided with Woodcock when he was reassigned this summer, according to the Herald-Leader. More on this story, including UK’s response, is available at kentucky.com.
Also in higher education news, the New York Times reported Thursday that the Texas A&M University System Regents have voted to restrict speech around race and gender in its classes. Texas A&M will now “ban advocacy of race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity.” Texas A&M had previously fired a lecturer for teaching a course that recognized the existence of nonbinary gender, a move that led the president of Texas A&M to step down in September.
Meanwhile, the New York Times also reported on Friday that Indiana University removed a professor from teaching a graduate course in Social Work because she showed a graphic to her class citing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan as an example of covert white supremacy. The professor, Jessica Adams, was removed after a complaint was filed under a new Indiana state law adopted last year that reflects efforts by IU officials to conform to the Trump administration’s priorities, the Times said. As we previously told you about on the show, Indiana was also the university that abruptly shut down the print edition of its student newspaper last month after 158 years. The recent moves have caused concern among faculty and supporters of academic freedom, according to the Times.
In other news, the federal government shutdown ended this week after 43 days when eight Senate Democrats defected and voted with the Republicans to reopen the government despite not receiving any major concessions that would have prevented the price of healthcare premiums from increasing dramatically next year, according to the Associated Press. Polls show the government shutdown was politically hurting Trump more than the Democrats, leading many on the left, including The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart on Monday, apoplectic at the Democrats for caving, alleging that the entire shutdown was for nothing and “I can’t f—ing believe it.”
Finally tonight, Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Linda Blackford wrote Tuesday about the U.S. Supreme Court declining an attempt by former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to overturn same-sex marriage in the United States. Blackford said that Davis and her team of lawyers are expected to try to delay paying out the $360,000 in damages that a jury ordered her to pay to plaintiffs who sued her for denying their marriage licenses. Davis herself has been married four times and has been challenging the law since 2015. Blackford said, “Here in Kentucky, I think there’s a majority of people who are tired of hearing about Kim Davis. Ten years is a hell of a long 15 minutes of fame. She needs to pay the bill and go home.”
And that’s… the news.