In 2021-22, I had the privilege of being in the original Heterodox Academy Writers Group (WG), which gathered HxA members eager to write for public audiences about higher ed. The members of the WG, coming from a wide range of disciplines and working at a variety of universities, met regularly online to give each other feedback about ideas that were brewing or that they’d just put on paper.

Within minutes of sharing a draft, a WG member would find at least two or three WG members on their document, making constructive suggestions. Whether a writer shared their draft at 8 a.m. on a Monday or midnight on a Saturday, someone would be there pushing the author to defend their argument more carefully, suggesting citations, and often giving an encouraging compliment.

We had the kind of free-flowing intellectual conversations that people saddled with full-time jobs and family responsibilities often look back on nostalgically as something enjoyed late at night in their college dorm rooms. Our discussions had an intimacy to them. We trusted one another with our raw, unpolished ideas and occasional rants. It was an atmosphere some of us lacked in our own academic departments at our respective universities. I think it’s fair to say that this trust spurred our intellectual growth and willingness to take risks.

This week, I found myself reflecting on those connections with a heavy heart. Our group lost Alex Small, the brilliant physicist from Cal Poly Pomona, who had been an integral part of the WG. His passing from brain cancer left a void that I have trouble describing.

The productivity of this group has amazed me. You may have seen Justin McBrayer’s “Diversity Statements Are the New Faith Statements,” Colleen Eren’s “The Problem with Disabling”, Bryan Gentry’s “Disagreeing to Agree,” Michael Strambler’s “A Universal Perspective is Key to Diversity and Equity in Schools,” Kimberlee Josephson’s “A Brief History of Corporate Social Responsibility,” or Alex Small’s “Whom Would Jesus Cancel?” These were just some of the essays written by just some of the members of that first HxA WG.

The OG WG was also an incubator for many other ambitious projects. For example, Andrew Hartz founded the Open Therapy Institute, which includes fellow WG members Michael Strambler and Larry Amsel as Senior Advisors, and Natasha Mott launched a podcast called Neoacademia. Several WG members collaborated on academic papers, such as the article on reflexivity statements in research, “Positionality and Its Problems,” by Jukka Savolainen, Patrick Casey, Justin McBrayer, and Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle. Colleen Eren went on to become a Research Fellow at HxA’s Segal Center for Academic Pluralism. And me? I ended up working for HxA itself.

Many of us met in person for the first time in June 2022 at the HxA conference in Denver. It turned out that some were taller than expected. Despite our terms in the HxA WG ending around this time, we continued to meet, calling ourselves the post-HxA Writers Group. The post-HxA WG continues to this day.

The WG never got to meet Alex in person. He couldn’t join us in Denver back in 2022, but he was looking forward to attending the June 2024 HxA conference in Chicago. He had even scouted live music and other fun for the WG to enjoy together. Alex was also to be on a panel I had organized about evidence-based teaching strategies. When he told us about his diagnosis, and wound up not being able to make the trip to Chicago, one member of our group collected donations and sent Alex a gift from us.

Despite never meeting Alex in person, I felt close to him. He had trusted me to read a work of fiction he was drafting–a witty takedown of academia, of course. And although he was a physicist whose most cited academic article is called “Quantum information processing using quantum dot spins and cavity QED,” and I was a sociologist more concerned with the quantum of compensation in the gender-segregated labor force, we shared a passion for fighting encroachment on open inquiry, a mutual disdain for groupthink, and love of clever puns.

The ability to connect and collaborate across various lines of difference is often touted as a skill people need for their workplaces or for a democratic society. But the WG—one of the many ways HxA brings academics together—taught me that these exchanges are rewarding for the experience of genuine connection, trust, and love. The WG reminds me of what’s best about academia: curiosity, generosity, the desire to understand new ideas, and a passion for contributing to something bigger than ourselves.

The work we’ve done was only possible because of the bonds we formed along the way. As we mourn the passing of Alex Small, I want to send Alex, if he can read this, and all the members of the OG WG my gratitude and love.