Academic Freedom Doesn’t Mean Grandstanding
Earlier this summer, Harvard dean Lawrence Bobo wrote an essay for the Harvard Crimson that provoked a chorus of criticism, much of it justified. Reflecting on the post-October 7 turmoil…
Posts tagged with
“University of Chicago”
The Decline (and Fall?) of College
“A majority of Americans don’t think a college degree is worth the cost,” wrote Wall Street Journal reporter Douglas Belkin in late March. That revelation was inspired by the results…
The University of Chicago Isn’t Living Up to Its “Principles”
Much has been made of the “Chicago Principles,” formal statements by the University of Chicago concerning the institutional inclusion of opposing political viewpoints. Articulated in 2015, the principles seek to…
Go Ahead and Kill the LSAT
The legal industry, and the law academy in particular, are in a high state of contention concerning one of their most protected traditions: the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT.…
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…
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…
The Sociology of the Academic Outrage Mob
The academy seems built for public controversy because professors are encouraged to question ideas and popular beliefs. It shouldn’t be surprising that academic outrage has a long history. In the…
College Reform: Build Lifeboats to Escape the Sinking Ship
In their recent Martin Center policy brief, Joy Pullmann and Sumantra Maitra get much right about the activist professor problem in academia. These professors are dominating the profession in a…
How Affirmative Action Really Works
Even if you can’t remember his name (and who but an Indian could?), you may be familiar with Vijay JoJo Chokal-Ingam’s story as told in his recently self-published Almost Black:…
Will the Surge of Support for Free Speech on Campus Do Any Good?
Last month, PEN America, the U.S. branch of an international organization, published a strong defense of free speech on college campuses. The nearly century-old group stands for the idea that…