While the year 2021 wasn’t quite as tumultuous and unpredictable as 2020, the higher education landscape continues to look very different: overall enrollment continues to drop and countless institutions have … Continue reading “Reform in 2022: Our Hopes for the New Year”
The year 2020 brought changes that colleges would have never made by choice. Enrollment declines, remote classes, and dramatic employee cuts (for faculty and some staff alike) were unthinkable a … Continue reading “Reforming Higher Ed in 2021”
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from The Not-So-Great Society, published by the Heritage Foundation. Who cares that 20 students at the University of Wisconsin staged a protest in October … Continue reading “Conserve Free Speech on Campus”
The Chicago Statement, or the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression, is a 2014 statement defining the University of Chicago’s stance on freedom of speech. The statement set … Continue reading “Did You Know? More Than 50 Colleges Have Embraced Free Speech Protections”
The University of North Carolina at Asheville recently announced with great pride its plans to divest part of its endowment from investments based on “fossil fuels” (such as natural gas, … Continue reading “UNC-Asheville Should Divest Itself from Irresponsible Political Posturing”
Davidson College has an impressive academic reputation. It has a student-faculty ratio of 10:1. Nearly 90 percent of its courses have fewer than 30 students each. Its six-year graduation rate … Continue reading “Alumni Want More Free Speech and Influence at Davidson College”
Free speech on North Carolina’s campuses has come a long way in the last decade. North Carolina State University is the most recent school to earn a “green light” from … Continue reading “How NC State Became Free-Speech Friendly”
Public universities morally should and legally must uphold free speech. Unfortunately, the university where I’ve taught for 43 years has a very bad record, and matters are getting worse. The … Continue reading “The Slippery Slope of Speech Suppression at CUNY”
Last month, just before the new academic year began, the University of Chicago’s dean of students, John Ellison, sent a letter (reproduced in this piece) to all incoming students. It … Continue reading “The University of Chicago’s Support for Free Speech Sparks Opposition”
Looking back at all that happened in higher education this year is enough to make your head spin. One minute, state politicians are finally making good policies; the next, university officials are caving to irrational demands. At the other end of the spectrum, politicians are promoting policies of monumental stupidity, while the courts are making surprisingly good decisions (but not always). A majority of students favor putting extreme limits for political correctness on free speech, while an opposition is coalescing around protecting the First Amendment and due legal processes. And on and on it goes. To try to capture the spirit of 2015, the Pope Center staff identified ten of the year’s major trends and events.