Higher-ed personnel moves this week highlighted competing pressures on staffing and institutional viability. Austin Peay State University reinstated a tenured theatre professor and agreed to a $500,000 settlement after an early termination tied to a controversial social-media repost; the professor has returned to class and the university issued a regret statement. Separately, Martin University — Indiana’s only predominantly Black private institution — announced closure after years of enrollment decline, debt and an accreditor dispute. The contrast underscores two ongoing sector risks: reputational and legal exposure tied to personnel actions, and the rising incidence of small-college insolvency amid demographic and funding shifts.