New data show historically underrepresented faculty are disproportionately concentrated in adjunct roles: adjuncts now comprise roughly 40% of the professoriate and are more likely to be Black or female than tenure‑track peers, raising equity and retention concerns. At Colorado State University, faculty groups rebuked a board decision to limit the chancellor search to internal candidates, calling the six‑week timeline and involvement of the current chancellor a conflict of interest. Together, these stories highlight tensions over faculty labor practices, recruitment transparency and governance structures at institutions under political and financial stress.