Did You Know? The Ignorance of College Graduates
Students are paying a higher price tag for college, but is the quality of their education also increasing, or at least staying stable? A lot of indicators suggest “no.” During…
Free Speech and Liberal Education–Two Endangered Pillars of Society
Fifteen years ago, American higher education was beset with serious problems, especially rising costs, politicization of the curriculum, the mania over diversity, and falling academic standards. At that time, however,…
Using ‘Transparency’ to Obscure: The Daily Tar Heel and UNC’s Title IX Records
“Sunlight,” Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, “is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” Few aspects of the contemporary academy more need enhanced sunlight…
Blueprint for Reform: Due Process on Campus
Blueprint for Reform: Due Process on Campus is a policy guide for state legislators and university trustees. It addresses the critical need to uphold due process rights within higher education…
The BlackLivesMattering of Higher Ed: Some Notes from the Field
When the University of Chicago English Department announced over the summer that, in response to the protests after the death of George Floyd, they would only admit graduate students willing…
Did You Know? Grad School Can Affect Whether Students Take a Class Pass/Fail
Since the pandemic, many colleges have gone from giving letter grades to offering students a pass/fail grading option for their courses. Letter grades become a passing (P), which gives students…
They’ve Got to Get Rid of Western Civ—They Have To
For ten years I served on the GRE Literature Exam committee. The exam is one of the special subject matter exams separate from the regular GRE (with math, verbal, analytical…
Without Lab Time or Facilities, Students Get Lower-Quality Education
In spring 2020, when universities went online due to COVID-19, few of them expected to be online in the fall as well. After a failed reopening of schools, courses again…
Disadvantaging Black Students with a Demand for ‘Linguistic Justice’
On August 3, the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication approved a position statement on “Black Linguistic Justice.” The statement was crafted as a set of…
Did You Know? Survey Finds Trouble in Campus Support for Free Speech
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) came out with the largest survey of students and campus life, showing the predictable divisions along class, political beliefs, and gender. However,…