Articles

Jan 16, 2006 · Shannon Blosser

Gasper out at Halifax CC

WELDON — Halifax Community College President Ted Gasper was fired Friday following allegations of impropriety including using college resources on political efforts, especially those of former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance of North Carolina.

Gasper had been placed on administrative leave since September while an investigative committee looked into the political allegations as well as other allegations that dealt with the way he ran the college. His personal secretary, Faye Pepper, was also placed on leave while the investigation was ongoing.

Jan 12, 2006 · Greg Lukianoff

UNC Should Pay Closer Attention to the First Amendment

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson wrote in the landmark case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) that “if there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.” His words were a ringing affirmation of the freedoms of conscience and expression that are central to American liberty.

Unfortunately, however, the notion that the government may not dictate what people may express or believe about controversial subjects has remained hotly contested. Those in power inevitably find it convenient to restrict expression or even dictate matters of conscience in order to ensure a more “just,” “fair,” or “orderly” society or organization.

Today, rules and regulations that restrict expression or dictate matters of conscience are often found at college or university campuses—including at the 16 schools that comprise the University of North Carolina System. As public institutions—agencies of the State of North Carolina—the universities in the UNC System are legally bound to uphold the First Amendment rights of their students and faculty. Unfortunately, they are failing miserably.

Jan 11, 2006 · Shannon Blosser

Campuses restrict free speech

RALEIGH – Most University of North Carolina campuses are “failing miserably” in upholding the First Amendment rights of students and faculty, and speech-limiting codes at 13 campuses could be overturned in court, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy and The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

Thirteen University of North Carolina campuses have speech code policies that limit free speech, according to the report, the findings of which were announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

The report should serve as a warning to the UNC system that, should it be sued over the policies, it would lose in court, said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE’s interim president, who co-authored the report with Samantha Harris, a FIRE program associate.

Jan 10, 2006 · Martin Center Staff

Inquiry Paper No. 23 The State of the First Amendment in the UNC system

FIRE’s Report on the State of the First Amendment in the University of North Carolina System serves to educate the public about the rampant abuse of First Amendment rights within the UNC System, and to put North Carolina’s public colleges and universities on notice that it is unlikely—if not impossible—that most of the policies discussed in the report could survive a constitutional challenge.

Jan 5, 2006 · George Leef

How Do We Get Students Ready for College?

A lament frequently heard by college professors is that many incoming students are not ready for college-level work. Even though what passes as “college-level work” isn’t what it used to be at many institutions, professors still report that their students struggle with reading, writing, and basic math. (Lest one think that such laments are only heard at unselective, fourth-tier schools, Patrick Allitt’s book I’m the Teacher, You’re the Student, which recounts Professor Allitt’s difficulties in teaching American history at Emory University will serve as an antidote.) The question is, what can be done about this problem?

In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Charles B. Reed (chancellor of the Cal State system) and Kristin Conklin (a program director at the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices) address that question.

Jan 4, 2006 · Shannon Blosser

NCPA

RALEIGH — North Carolina Press Association officials said Tuesday that the organizations will not sue the University of North Carolina system for failing to comply with the state’s Open Meetings Law even though the NCPA was “deeply troubled” by the search process in September.

The notification came in a letter by Rip Woodin, president of the NCPA, to UNC Board of Governors Chairman Brad Wilson. The letter was written on behalf of the NCPA, The News and Observer of Raleigh, The Charlotte Observer, The Associated Press, and the North Carolina Broadcasters Association.

Dec 29, 2005 · Jon Sanders

The Top 10 Nuttiest Campus Events in N.C. 2005

The holiday season is full of traditions. Reporters scour stores looking for toys that could kill your kids. Lawyers’ offices fill with activist atheists upset that some poor soul wishes them “Merry Christmas.” And the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy compiles its annual top 10 list.

Dec 22, 2005 · Shannon Blosser

Universities get “F” in intellectual diversity

A new study released by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) shows that colleges and universities are not taking an active role in improving intellectual diversity on campus. It also found that 49 percent of college students surveyed say that professors inject their political views into the classroom.

The findings are part of the report “Intellectual Diversity: Time for Action” that was released this month by ACTA and authored by Dr. Barry Latzer and Dr. Jerry Martin. In it, the authors look at the intellectual diversity climate in American higher education today. They also examine the perception students have about teachers who attempt to discuss politics in courses other than political science or government where they might be appropriate.

ACTA’s study comes just a few months after 30 institutions and organizations signed a statement on academic freedom issued by the American Council on Education. That statement indicated a commitment to principles of intellectual diversity and academic freedom should be welcomed on college campuses.

Dec 15, 2005 · George Leef

Can We Measure the Educational Value of College?

The fall semester has recently concluded at many colleges and universities. Some students have now completed the necessary credit hours and received their diplomas. That is the tangible evidence of having gone to college and for most it serves the purpose of satisfying the B.A. degree requirement that so many employers now insist upon.

Has the college experience, however, given the students more than just a piece of paper attesting to their having completed enough credits to qualify for a degree? Are they better at thinking and writing than when they entered? Unfortunately, we don’t really know.

Former college president Richard Hersh writes in the afterword to his recent book (co-edited with John Merrow) Declining by Degrees, “to date, we have no measures of the cumulative result of an undergraduate education.” While it may seem to be perfectly clear that some graduates (for example, the kid who knocks himself out in a pre-med curriculum) derive an enormous benefit from their studies and others (for example, the scholarship athlete who never takes a remotely challenging course) are educationally no different than on their first day as freshmen, we just don’t know.

Dec 14, 2005 · Shannon Blosser

Dialogue sought on higher education

RALEIGH — The U.S. Department of Education has appointed a commission that will engage in what U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings termed a “national dialogue” about the role of higher education in the 21st century. The 18-member Commission on the Future of Higher Education, including professors, university presidents, business leaders and government officials, will release a report next year.

Spellings said she hopes the commission will not only find ways to improve higher education but also ways for higher education to meet the needs of an increasingly global economy. The commission is expected to release its recommendations to the public in August.