Remembering Title IX Abuses
Recently, Title IX has been in the news because of the Biden administration’s promised (and, as of yesterday, delivered) rejection of much-needed Trump-era reforms. As we are approaching the 50th…
The Limits of Expertise
As a professor devoted to his college’s “pre-disciplinary” core curriculum, I was hooked by David Epstein’s title, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book is chock-full of…
Birds of Paradise: The Moral Poverty of Faculty Freedom Fighters
Carl Dobsky’s brilliant, fiery painting “Birds of Paradise” has been the focus of attention at his recent exhibitions, because it accurately and effectively captures the zeitgeist of contemporary American life.…
Connecting Degree Return-On-Investment with a Better Financing System
While some nerdy people like me thought that college was fun, and so stayed in it for life, for most people it is a chore to be completed with the…
The Public Discourse Program at UNC-Chapel Hill: Expanding Students’ Minds
Since the rise of social media, many students have gotten used to discussing difficult topics within the protection of their own echo chambers. Students are often not expected to defend…
Why Johnny Can’t Relax
Alarming rates of depression and anxiety in college students are drawing headlines. A recent study reports that 41% of college students show symptoms of depression, and nearly three-fourths have experienced…
Don’t Write a Blank Check to Your Alma Mater
When persons of means contemplate death, the question of where to leave their financial assets becomes acute. If they are higher education graduates, their former campuses have “advancement teams” ready…
Self-Identified “Compelling Interests” are Not a License to Discriminate
To what extent can a selective educational institution advantage certain racial groups in admissions decisions without discriminating against other groups simultaneously? How can said institutions balance external demands for fairness…
The Debate Over Canceling Student Loan Debt
From the earliest days of his administration, President Biden has been under pressure from activist groups and many fellow Democrats to take action to relieve students of their college loan…
Did You Know? COVID-19 Relief Funds and Campus Mental Health
Did you know that the U.S. Department of Education is encouraging colleges and universities to use their COVID-19 relief funds for student mental health programs? Over the past two years,…