Scholars and department chairs warned this week that Black-studies programs nationwide face systematic erosion: states and universities have paused programs, stripped general-education designations, and pulled teaching assistantships in response to recent legislation and political pressure. Speakers at an emergency forum hosted by Columbia’s Institute for Research in African American Studies detailed concrete examples: the University of Texas dissolved a prominent department, the University of Louisville suspended its Pan‑African Studies doctoral track after Kentucky’s HB 4 eliminated DEI programs statewide, and Florida’s SB 266 stripped course designations. Faculty described the coordinated effect as “anticipatory compliance” by institutions seeking to avoid political conflict. Department leaders cautioned that moves to pause or defund Black studies risk long-term loss of expertise, training pipelines, and scholarly infrastructure. Legal and governance specialists say the developments will likely spawn litigation and mobilize national academic networks to defend curricular autonomy and program funding.