San Diego, CA
Opinion: San Diego Needs to Protect Civil Society and Shared Values in Challenging Times
At Prebys Foundation, we believe in the power of community. That’s why we developed our strategic plan in deep collaboration with nonprofit leaders across San Diego County. What we heard from them was exciting.
They wanted our region to lean into its many strengths — as a border community rich in human and biological diversity, as a leader in medical research and healthcare, as a dynamic center of arts and culture, and as a proud military town that had also become a globally relevant center of innovation and entrepreneurship. Most of all, they hoped we would help this region become a place of purpose, opportunity, and belonging for everyone who calls it home.
And yet, as we move into 2025, we find our community facing a new and sobering set of challenges: federal restrictions on speech about equity and climate, freezes on long-awaited grant awards, intimidating attacks on nonprofits, restrictions and rollbacks to research and science, on-again-off-again contracts, the vilification of our fellow human beings, and real or threatened cuts to critical programs that help impoverished families, struggling students, dedicated veterans, Americans vulnerable to discrimination, established refugee and immigrant communities, and even emerging scientists.
To put it mildly, this moment is disorienting. As the boxer Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Seeing so many important organizations, programs, enterprises, and communities — not to mention vulnerable populations — taking so many blows has caused many of us to pause, reflect, and reaffirm our values.
For us in our work, those values are clear. We still believe in belonging and the idea of a San Diego that leans into its world-leading strengths by also embracing the talents, gifts, interests, and many faces of excellence of our diverse and vibrant community.
Unfortunately, values alone don’t keep the lights on. They don’t usher in the next breakthrough in cancer research or deliver meals to shut-ins or ensure that children have enough to eat or craft a work of art that might save a life or inspire a future leader. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wisely noted, “a budget is a moral document.”
The choices we make in funding — what we support and what we cut — reflect our true priorities as a society and who we are as a people. How we make those cuts—through democratic governance, open dialogue, and transparency — matters just as much.
To be clear, I don’t agree with those who see no room for legitimate disagreement about government spending, social policy, immigration, or even diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Americans do have divergent views on our best path forward, and there’s value in open debate. But when these concerns metastasize into incivility, coercion, and erasure, something is profoundly wrong, and the push-and pull of democratic dialogue becomes impossible. It’s no wonder that the majority of nonprofit leaders in America, including large numbers in San Diego, report feeling deeply dispirited.
We share their concern. Cuts to Medicaid and other lifelines that keep families healthy and stable will make Americans less healthy, our communities more stressed, and the healthcare providers we ultimately all depend on weaker. Similarly, slashing funding for medical research will slow down and eliminate new cures and new treatments that over time would touch every American family. Pretending that variables like race, gender, culture, and even language have no bearing on medicine, how patients are treated, the illnesses they suffer, or how they respond — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — will result in worse care for every single one of us.
In San Diego, the stakes are personal for another reason. Medical research and life sciences are areas where America leads the world, and San Diego and California lead America. Why would anyone want to undermine that leadership and with it one of our most important economic drivers?
Like so many places in America, much of what defines our community are the qualities of grace so easily forgotten and sacrificed in moments like this. Our rich arts and culture scene — from traditional organizations to individual artists — is shaped by the beautiful mix of cultures, peoples, and perspectives that come together in this special corner of America. The arts certainly enrich our lives here, but they also fuel our economy, feed our creativity and innovation, and foster civic dialogue in a time when we need it most. Do they also speak truth to power and sometimes offend the mighty? Sure, and that, too, is an essential part of their value in a vibrant community and a free society.
Much more could be said about this — about our young people and the opportunities they seek, their thirst for nature and art and meaning; about all the people in our midst feeling targeted by hatred, racism, and antisemitism simply because of who they are, worried about holding onto rights and freedoms they hoped were secure; about the importance of the environment to a region sitting between the desert and the ocean. The point is not to list everything that feels vulnerable now, but to underscore why this moment deserves the courageous care and exquisite attention of everyone in a position to offer it.
For our part, we are painfully aware that philanthropy cannot fill the gaps being left by federal disinvestment in our community and its nonprofit institutions. We will not pretend otherwise. We know that moral leadership is defined by two moments — when you have power, and when you don’t. No matter how dispirited leaders in our sector may feel right now, we must remember that neither situation is ever fully a given.
Alexis de Tocqueville had it right when he described this country’s civil society as a uniquely precious asset — the goodness at the heart of its greatness. He acknowledged the messiness of what were then called associations, but he asked: “What political power could ever substitute for the countless small enterprises which American citizens carry out daily with the help of associations?” His answer, perhaps even truer today: None.
A country is not a boxing match, and our civil society, along with the values of mutuality, justice, and shared interest it enshrines, should be no one’s punching bag. It is, in fact, the cure to so much of what ails us.
We remain committed to that vision. We fund work that builds a dynamic, equitable, inclusive, and healthy future for San Diego, and we will continue to do so. We will also continue to collaborate with our coalition of the willing — nonprofit and civic leaders, fellow funders, and anyone determined to strengthen our community by making it better for all of us.
Most of all, what we can and will do in this moment is stand alongside our extraordinary community as it navigates this challenging time, and we will work with it to push for the resources, freedom, support, and decency that allow it to play so valuable and distinctive a role in American society.
Grant Oliphant is CEO of the Prebys Foundation, a major independent foundation working to create an inclusive, equitable, and dynamic future for people across San Diego County. The foundation invests in excellence and opportunity across the arts and culture, medical research, health and well-being, and youth success.
Khalil Mack couldn’t wait to watch and rewatch all that went haywire during the Chargers’ 35-6 loss Nov. 16 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, he said he began dissecting the video as the team’s bus departed the stadium for the airport and a cross-country flight home.
Mack didn’t have to do it at that moment, but he was eager to learn what he could from the Chargers’ widest margin of defeat in Jim Harbaugh’s two-season tenure as their coach. He could have waited until after the Chargers’ bye in Week 12 and used it as preparation for Week 13.
But he believed it was best to begin the process of fixing all that went wrong as soon as possible, the better to prepare to face the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at SoFi Stadium and for the final five regular-season games to follow. Clearly, something was amiss in the game against the Jaguars.
There was no time to waste. So, Mack, a future Hall of Fame outside linebacker, went right to work.
It wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t fun. It was work.
“I was on the bus, I watched it on the bus on the way to the plane, and some on the plane,” Mack said earlier this week of reviewing the Jacksonville horror show. “So, just to talk through a lot of stuff and correct a lot of stuff and, yeah, looking forward to this opportunity, the next opportunity.”
What did Mack learn from his video study? How can the Chargers improve after hitting rock-bottom during their loss to the Jaguars?
“Just the details, fine-tuning the details,” he said.
No question, it would be a start for a team with a 7-4 record that didn’t play like a team with a 7-4 record against Jacksonville. The Chargers must get back in sync if they are to defeat the Raiders, as expected, and enter the toughest part of their schedule. The Chargers are 9½-point favorites Sunday.
“Fine-tuning the details,” Mack said again and not for the last time.
It didn’t matter that the Chargers are favored to win by more than a touchdown or that their reeling opponent was 2-9 and fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly after its latest defeat or that the first meeting between the teams was an easy Chargers victory. Mack believed they must get it right Sunday.
“This is no different than any other week, it’s a game we’ve got to win,” said Mack, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection over his 12 seasons in the NFL.
The Chargers’ stretch run gets more difficult after they face the Raiders. They end the regular season with games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, each opponent jockeying for better playoff position.
The Raiders were the Chargers’ sole focus this week, though, and they weren’t sure what they would see from a Las Vegas team that has lost five consecutive, including a 24-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 12. The Raiders’ only wins were over the New England Patriots in Week 1 and the Tennessee Titans in Week 6. The Chargers defeated the Raiders in Week 2.
A change in offensive coordinators, with Greg Olson taking over for Kelly, meant throwing out the game plan, according to Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. He said they would approach Sunday’s game like a Week 1 matchup, focusing more on themselves than on the opposition.
“We spent the majority of the bye week looking at ourselves and then the last part of the week we started on the Raiders,” Minter said. “Obviously, you want to be prepared for the things they like (to run). We need to know where the really good players are that they’re going to feature.”
In the final analysis, the Chargers lost the battle of the offensive and defensive lines in their loss to the Jaguars. They failed to protect quarterback Justin Herbert and didn’t apply sufficient pressure on Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence while also giving up far too much on the ground.
The Jaguars rushed for 192 yards and four touchdowns on 47 attempts.
Harbaugh said Jamaree Salyer would start at left tackle Sunday, the Chargers’ third different starter as Herbert’s blind-side protector after Rashawn Slater suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp in August and Joe Alt sustained a season-ending ankle injury in Week 9.
The Chargers also could get a boost on their defensive line if Otito Ogbonnia is sound enough to play against the Raiders. He was listed Friday as questionable to play because of an elbow injury that sent him to injured reserve after a loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7.
“Everybody cares, everybody wants to be good at their work, and that’s what I’ve seen throughout the season,” Harbaugh said of the Chargers’ mindset coming out of the bye week. “The guys came back Monday and I couldn’t have scripted it any better. Every guy was locked in.”
CHARGERS (7-4) vs. RAIDERS (2-9)
When: 1:25 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Radio: Ch. 2; 640 AM/94.3 FM (Spanish)
San Diego, CA
Former ‘Mr. Basketball’ makes name for himself with Rady Children’s Invitational showing
An unlikely supporters’ section voiced its approval for Rady Children’s Invitational Most Valuable Player Brock Harding on the way to a 74-63 TCU win over Wisconsin on Friday.
Trading the cold of Moline, Illinois — high temperature over the weekend: 33 degrees — for mid-70s outside and even hotter hoops inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion, Harding’s parents and his childhood school nurse cheered on a championship performance.
“That was such a surprise,” Harding said of being greeted by Elizabeth McLaughlin, a nurse at Jordan/Seton Catholic Schools in the TCU guard’s western Illinois hometown. “It was great getting that sense of home in San Diego.”
McLaughlin, who apologized for her voice going hoarse from rooting on the Horned Frogs, cared for Harding when he experienced migraines as an elementary school student.
“He really suffered,” said McLaughlin, who Harding knew back in school as Nurse Buffy. “But clearly, he’s doing fine.”
Harding’s been more than fine on the basketball court for a while now. He transferred to the public Moline High School from Seton and developed into a prep sensation, winning Mr. Basketball for the state of Illinois in 2023.
He’s in an elite class with past winners of the award that include former NBA MVP Derrick Rose and current New York Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson. Adding the Rady Children’s Invitational hardware to his resume, Harding joined USC’s Javian McCollum and Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn as the first three MVPs in the tournament’s history.
And while San Diego is quite a trek from Moline, Harding performed here with the same fire that earned him Mr. Basketball in his home state. He shot 6 for 9 from the floor on the way to 16 points, dished five assists and grabbed four rebounds in TCU’s championship-game defeat of Wisconsin.
His effort on Friday followed a 19-point, 12-assist double-double in TCU’s 84-80 win Thursday over reigning national champions Florida.
“With the work this team puts in, we can really accomplish anything we want,” Harding said. “We don’t have a ceiling.”
TCU showing limitless potential in San Diego speaks to how abruptly things can turn around. The Horned Frogs opened the 2025-26 campaign with a stunning, 78-74 loss to a University of New Orleans program that finished 4-27 a season ago.
UNO dramatically overhauled its roster in the offseason under the direction of hip hop mogul and new President of Basketball Operations Percy “Master P.” Miller, but the opening-night upset was shocking nonetheless. And, according to Harding, “it was a wake-up call.”
“We thought we had a good team. We knew we’d brought in a lot of good pieces in the offseason,” he said. “But if you don’t bring your all every single night, there’s other people who want to win games, too.”
TCU lost again 11 nights later on Nov. 14, but the 67-63 setback to Michigan offered a much more positive measure of what the Horned Frogs could be. TCU has since won three straight, with its two impressive performances at the Rady Children’s Invitational. Friday’s title tilt also demonstrated the Horned Frogs’ growth in the limited time since seeing Michigan, as TCU avoided letting a halftime lead slip away to the Wolverines’ Big Ten Conference counterparts, Wisconsin.
The Horned Frogs saw a double-digit-point lead whittled to just four by intermission, thanks to the 3-point shooting of John Blackwell — who scored 30 points on Friday — and savvy playmaking by former San Diego State guard Nick Boyd.
But while Boyd finished with 15 points, he was held seven points below his season average — and 21 fewer than his eruption in the Badgers’ win Thursday over Providence. Guarded primarily by Harding, the explosive Boyd was not able to get his first shot attempt off until more than five minutes into Friday’s championship.
Harding held Boyd for just six second-half points, and TCU weathered the Wisconsin onslaught to push the lead to as many as 19 points.
In addition to his impressive statistical line, Harding was instrumental in the Horned Frogs establishing the game’s physical tone. Despite standing just 6 feet tall, the guard crashed to the glass and pursued loose balls with reckless abandon, culminating in a scuffle that earned Wisconsin’s Andrew Rohde a rally-killing technical foul.
McLaughlin, who was in town visiting family and decided to cheer on the youngster from Moline, said she couldn’t help but cringe seeing someone she knew as a youngster bumping around with opponents up to a foot taller and dozens of pounds heavier. But it’s also indicative of Harding’s game dating back to his elementary school days, and a main reason he’s “the hometown star” in the Quad Cities.
“He comes back and speaks to the kids,” she said. “He’s always been that way. He’s always been a leader.”
The San Diego State Aztecs remain on track to host the Mountain West Championship Game on Dec. 5.
The Aztecs can assure themselves of the host role by winning Friday afternoon at New Mexico, which, like the Aztecs, is enjoying a resurgent season. Kickoff against the Lobos is at 12:30 p.m. PT at University Stadium and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.
The Aztecs (9-2, 6-1 MW) are coming off home wins against Boise State and San Jose State.
New Mexico (8-3, 5-2) has had a remarkable turnaround season under first-year coach Jason Eck, who previously helped turn around Idaho’s fortunes. The Lobos have won five straight games and are 5-0 at home. If New Mexico beats the Aztecs and those two teams end up as the league’s only 6–2 teams, New Mexico would host the title game. It can also host under other scenarios.
The Aztecs are enjoying a big turnaround from coach Sean Lewis’ first season, when the Aztecs were 3-9 overall, 2-5 in the MW and lost their last six games. Winning the MW title would be a nice capper as the Aztecs move into the new-look Pac-12, along with four league rivals. San Jose State will stay behind in the MW.
Several outlets and media personnel have made their picks for the Week 14 matchup. San Diego State is a 1.5-point road favorite against the Lobos and the over/under is 41.5 points, according to FanDuel.
Here’s a look at how a few prognosticators see the Aztecs-Lobos matchup playing out.
Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon is going with the Aztecs for the second straight week after picking against them three times in four games.
After simulating the outcome of the Lobo-Aztecs matchup more than 10,000 times, Dimers.com’s model gives New Mexico a 54% chance to cover the spread and a 56% win probability on the moneyline to improve to 9-3 overall. It predicts a 54% chance for the 41.5-point over/under to go under.
Bill Connelly’s SP+ model, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measurement of college football efficiency, gives the Aztecs a 62% chance of a road win against the Lobos. This is the ninth straight game Connelly’s metrics-based formulas picked the Aztecs to win.
Odds Shark’s computer predicts SDSU will win, New Mexico will cover the 1.5-point spread and the 41.5-point total will go over. It predicts the Aztecs to win 34.1-33.5, which we’ll round to 34-33.
USA TODAY’s sports betting site has New Mexico covering the 1.5-point spread and the score to go over the 41.5-point over/under.
Odds are courtesy of FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
MORE SAN DIEGO STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS
Minnesota weather: Cold Sunday, staying cold this week
Crucial Matchups That Will Decide Colts vs. Texans
Kyle Dubas or Corey O’Connor? Penguins social media team posts funny video to clear up the confusion
Small Business Saturday brings shoppers to downtown Augusta
Cavs vs Celtics: How to watch, odds, and injury report
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Rep Troy Nehls, a Trump ally, will not seek re-election as twin brother announces campaign to replace him
EU weighs Plan B for Ukraine as Belgium raises bar on reparations loan
Northwestern settles with Trump administration in $75M deal to regain federal funding
Video: Meet the Theremin, an Instrument You Don’t Have to Touch to Play
USCIS halts ‘all asylum decisions’ after DC shooting of National Guard members
-
Science1 week agoWashington state resident dies of new H5N5 form of bird flu
-
Business5 days agoStruggling Six Flags names new CEO. What does that mean for Knott’s and Magic Mountain?
-
Politics3 days agoRep. Swalwell’s suit alleges abuse of power, adds to scrutiny of Trump official’s mortgage probes
-
Ohio4 days agoSnow set to surge across Northeast Ohio, threatening Thanksgiving travel
-
Southeast1 week agoAlabama teacher arrested, fired after alleged beating of son captured on camera
-
News1 week agoAnalysis: Why Democrats are warning about Trump giving illegal orders | CNN Politics
-
Technology3 days agoNew scam sends fake Microsoft 365 login pages
-
Business1 week agoFormer Google chief accused of spying on employees through account ‘backdoor’