The Chairman of the Board Speaks
The winds of change have blown through the University of North Carolina System’s Board of Governors in recent years. In a state historically dominated by the Democratic Party, the board…
Articles by Shannon Watkins
Reward Achievement: Give Credit for Advanced Placement
Using Advanced Placement (AP) courses to fulfill college requirements has long helped college students save both time and money. But there are varying opinions about the value of AP courses…
Higher Ed Reform Hits Prime Time
The movement to reform higher education is finally entering prime time. Although major news outlets have previously aired interviews and television segments about various aspects of higher education, the coverage…
Feminist Activism Masquerading as Education
The supposedly academic discipline of Women’s Studies is “an arm of the women’s movement,” according to philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers. And that movement is political; political activism is at least…
Are Black Male Athletes Failing to Graduate Because of Racism?
The relationship between participation in sports and academic performance has many faces. Most of them are happy; for instance, many studies show that high school athletes outperform non-athletes academically by…
North Carolina’s Universities Are Affordable—But There’s Room for Improvement
Each year, higher education seems to become less and less affordable: As tuition prices continue to rise, an increasing number of students leave college with crippling amounts of student loan…
Campus Feminism: The Real War on Women
At a time when the majority of American college students are female—currently 57 percent of all students—higher education’s conversation surrounding women’s rights is largely dominated by modern feminist ideology. Roughly…
Great Books Are Key for a Unified Education
The Great Books—the primary texts that include the greatest writings of Western Civilization—once formed the basis of all higher education. The highest levels of society were often closed to those…
Who’s Really Playing Politics at UNC?
Once upon a time, there was a happy, sleepy university system in which nobody quarreled. The Board of Governors rubberstamped whatever the President wanted, the legislature gladly handed over whatever…
An Ambassador of Civil Discourse
In today’s universities—and in society in general—the ability to engage in intellectually rigorous and courteous conversation can appear to be a lost art. All too often, the rule of politically…