Weekly Briefing: College-Football Secrets

The pandemic emphasized the complicated decision making that surrounds the sport. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( [logo] [Read this newsletter on the web](. Keeping football deliberations quiet. [image] Photo illustration by The Chronicle, Photos from Getty This isn't a story that tells you how the pandemic changed us, or speculates about the lasting mark it will leave on colleges. [You can read that story here](. Instead, this is a story about how the pandemic emphasizes complicated realities that already existed in higher ed, like college football. Before the fall-2020 football season, college leaders had to decide whether to play games during the pandemic. Big Ten officials faced public pressure to play. Last week, The Washington Post [reported on emails]( that showed, among other things, that under such pressures, administrations were nervous about discussing Covid-19 and its consequences via email because the messages could be made public. Rebecca M. Blank, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, suggested moving deliberations to a Big Ten conference portal that would be exempt from public-records law. Blank [has since apologized]( for suggesting the portal to Mark S. Schlissel, president of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Michigan told The Chronicle in a prepared statement that Schlissel regularly provides emails and other documents, as required by Michigan's Freedom of Information Act. "In this case President Schlissel was discussing with fellow presidents the status of the pandemic on those campuses and ideas about how to navigate the novel, shared challenge — Covid-19. While the suggestion was made, this conversation was not moved to the Big Ten portal." It's unclear whether other conversations were held on the portal, but things changed after the leaders' email exchanges. In September, facing pressure from fans and President Donald J. Trump, the Big Ten went back on its decision not to play the season. Still, the leaders' impulse to shield their conversation from the public shows how important and potentially volatile football can be in the Power 5 conferences. And their deliberations highlight that some leaders would rather defend their decisions than expose the conversations that got them there. Before Covid-19, football was already an intense topic for colleges in the Power 5. Fans want winning teams, and leaders face intense financial pressure to mount good ones. Add a global pandemic to the mix, and sparks can fly. There's more to college football than the money. Colleges have a stated goal to educate students, but many campuses also want to provide traditions and entertainment, like Saturday-night football games, outside the classroom. That's a complicated contradiction to wrestle. After the protests over racial equity last summer, some college presidents also feel pressed to prove that their football directives align with their institution's values on diversity and equity. And they may face concerns that colleges profit off of unpaid players, many of them Black, in a pandemic. [Read Jack Stripling's story on how college football looms large in the pandemic.]( Are you ready to re-enter the world? It's been [a little over a year]( since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. On Thursday night, President Biden said he hoped Americans could gather safely by Independence Day. The year is flying by, and that date will be here sooner than we think. I want to know: Is there anything about going back to "normal" that makes you nervous? Maybe going back to hard pants instead of sweatpants has you weary? Are you hesitant about working in person again? Your commute? Tell me your worries and you may see your responses in a future briefing: fernanda@chronicle.com. Paid for and Created by Chapman University [Rise of the Resistance]( Motivated to investigate and address one of the world’s biggest health risks, Chapman University researchers are seeking breakthroughs to mitigate deaths due to antimicrobial resistance. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( Subscribe to The Chronicle The Chronicle’s award-winning journalism challenges conventional wisdom, holds academic leaders accountable, and empowers you to do your job better — and it’s your support that makes our work possible. [Subscribe Today]( Lagniappe. - Learn. This week was the one-year pandemic anniversary. [Here's what 75 artists have done]( or made in that time. (The New York Times) - Read. In 2011 an earthquake and tsunami destroyed 548 homes in the village of Kesen. Most who survived left, except 15 residents. [Some]( those residents found that rebuilding a town with an aging population is complicated and often yields dead ends](. (The New York Times) - Listen. Craving hearing other voices besides your family's or your own? Miss your neighborhood watering hole? [Here's a playlist]( complete with an ambient-noise generator, to hold you over until you can safely experience the real thing. (I Miss My Bar) - Watch. Language nerds, this is for you. A dialect coach explains [different U.S. accen]( and where they are commonly used. ("Figures of Speech" by Wired, on YouTube) Cheers, —Fernanda This Week‘s Top Reads THE PANDEMIC [The Impossible Conversation]( By Sarah Brown [image] Pandemic-era cuts have provoked a painful fight over one small college’s future. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( THE PANDEMIC'S TOLL [How One Campus Nearly Doubled Its Black Faculty]( By Beckie Supiano [image] The pandemic has frayed nerves and exposed our tattered safety net. Can this researcher make people see the connection? A POST-COVID CHILL [Is This the End of the Romance Between Chinese Students and American Colleges?]( By Karin Fischer [image] For years, Chinese students poured onto American campuses, but the influx could be slowing. It’s not just the pandemic. Job Announcement Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Music opening at Lawrence University of Wisconsin. [Visit jobs.chronicle.com]( for more details. Paid for and Created by UC San Diego [Return to Learn]( Guided by three pillars: risk mitigation, viral detection and intervention, UC San Diego’s Return to Learn program utilizes a proactive communication campaign coupled with a comprehensive suite of monitoring, testing and notification tools. Faculty Diversity What Colleges Need to Do Now The growing racial-justice movement has led colleges to rethink diversity on many fronts, including in their faculty ranks. 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