In Defense of a Dutiful Trustee
On November 26, The Dartmouth published a column called In Violation of a Trustee’s Duty, by Bill Montgomery of the Dartmouth Class of 1952. The article called for Todd Zywicki’s punishment or forced resignation as a member of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees because of remarks made by Zywicki while speaking at the 2007 Pope Center Conference.
Since we at the Pope Center are not privy to all of the insider information at Dartmouth, we cannot comment about all of the charges against Zywicki by Mr. Montgomery. However, we expect that the charges we know nothing about are no more substantial than the charges for which we do have knowledge, and those are completely without merit.
The High Cost of Low Tuition
The Florida legislature voted this spring to allow three universities to raise tuition well above the average for Florida’s state universities – up to 40 percent over four years for the University of Florida and Florida State, up to 30 per cent in the case of the University of South Florida. Although Governor Charles Crist had threatened a veto, he changed his mind, and tuition is going up in the fall of 2008.
When it comes to setting tuition, who is right – the legislators, following the lead of university administrators, who want significant increases in tuition — or the governor, who signed the bill reluctantly and vetoed a system-wide 5 per cent increase in tuition this fall? (Editor’s note: The legislature eventually overrode the governor’s veto.)
Campus Safety vs. Civil Liberties
The slaughter of 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech by a disturbed gunman on April 16, 2007 had an impact on the American campus similar to the impact the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks had on the entire nation. It became more than a loss of lives; it was a reminder that danger can strike at any time, and a warning shot urging a new vigilance. In the immediate aftermath, universities across the country rushed to tighten up their emergency procedures and to increase safety precautions.
Within two days of the shooting, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper initiated the formation of a task force to study the emergency readiness of local colleges. Shortly after, UNC President Erskine Bowles convened The Campus Safety Task Force to specifically scrutinize the UNC system’s preparedness. The Task Force’s final report was introduced six months later at the November Board of Governors meeting by Leslie Winner, UNC system vice president and General Counsel who chaired the commission. The Board of Governors passed the task force’s proposals resoundingly.
What “Helicopter Parents” Should Really Want
“Helicopter parents” are in the news again. These are parents of college students who don’t let go—they “hover” over their children, staying in constant electronic communication. When a problem arises, they drop down and help the students get out of a fix. At the extreme, this behavior annoys university officials, and some administrators fear that these parents are keeping their children from growing up.
Helicopter parents got a bit of a boost recently, however, from a surprising direction—a new effort by colleges to be accountable. A national survey discovered that students whose parents took an active role in their school life were more “satisfied with every aspect of their college experience,” George Kuh, director of the survey, told the Washington Post (Nov. 5).
Speaking Freely At Fayetteville State
Freedom of speech has returned to Fayetteville State University, thanks to school officials’ decision to drop an explicitly unconstitutional speech code. This change represents a victory for liberty, for students, and for the advocates of true liberalism on college campuses, which include the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
In January 2006, the Pope Center and FIRE worked together to produce “The State of the First Amendment in the University of North Carolina System”, which looked at individual UNC policies in light of their constitutionality – and found several lacking. Among them was Fayetteville State’s Code of Student Conduct’s definition of proscribed “racial harassment”:
Hate Slandering Hoaxes? So Do We!!!
The scene was the George Washington University campus in the heart of Washington, D.C. The event was focused on a highly sensitive subject likely to stir passions: it was called Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a national event initiated by controversial author-activist David Horowitz. The event’s co-sponsor was a national organization for conservative students, the Young America’s Foundation (YAF).
The posters advertising the event were crude and offensive. They said, “Hate Muslims? So Do We!!!”
At first glance, it appeared as if the posters were indeed the work of the YAF. The only clue that the posters were part of a deception to discredit them was in the fine print, and subtle to boot: “Brought to you by Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness.” That is, it was the only clue if you accept the premise that conservatives are by nature racist, and not clever enough to hide it.
Otherwise, people not prejudiced against conservatives could have guessed, from the clownishly exaggerated racism displayed, what the posters really were – a political hoax intended to smear conservatives.
Still Needed: An Honest Discussion on Affirmative Action
How important is a college degree from a prestige school? Many believe that having such a degree is extremely important – a virtual guarantee of success in life. The higher education establishment works hard at propounding the idea that without a college degree, a young person’s life will be one of almost Hobbesian misery. The elite institutions go a step further and portray themselves as the essential training grounds for the nation’s leaders. If you accept those views, the destiny of the nation is largely shaped by who goes to college and where.
In his new book Color and Money: How Rich White Kids are Winning the War Over College Affirmative Action, Peter Schmidt has swallowed those ideas hook, line, and sinker. That isn’t surprising for a reporter who has been immersed in higher education for many years. Schmidt writes, “In modern American society, many of us assume – or at least desperately hope – that the people in leading positions in government, business, and the professions are our best and brightest….How do we decide who deserves such status? Generally, we rely on academic credentials. We entrust the task of identifying and training our best and brightest to our elite higher education institutions….”
Admissions Standards Suggested for Entire UNC System
The University of North Carolina moved a step closer to setting system-wide minimum admission standards at the Board of Governors meeting on October 11. Speaking at a policy session, Harold Martin, senior vice president for academic affairs, proposed to the board the following minimum criteria for entering freshmen in 2013: a 2.5 grade point average in high school and a minimum SAT score of 800 (out of 1600 total) or ACT score of 17 (out of 35).
Today, although each university campus sets its own admission standards, there is no statewide requirement, and some campuses in the UNC system have none. If approved by the Board of Governors in January, initial standards would start in the fall of 2009 with a 2.0 GPA and 700 SAT or 15 ACT, and increase incrementally until the 2013 levels are achieved. Martin added that the chancellor would always have the right to waive requirements for a maximum of 1 per cent of students.
Budget a big victory for Bowles, Easley
When the North Carolina General Assembly approved the final budget for the 2008 fiscal year in July, it was clear that the state’s education sector was a big winner. Lawmakers had approved a state budget that called for $1 billion more education spending than last year.
It’s that kind of spending that makes Gov. Mike Easley and UNC President Erskine Bowles quite happy. Both came away as big beneficiaries, having shepherded their specific spending proposals and persuaded lawmakers to fund their plans. For taxpayers, of course, the spending was more of a mixed bag, and a costly one.
In all, the 2008 budget came in at $20.6 billion. UNC makes up 12 percent of the budget, receiving a $2.6 billion total appropriation. The community college system received just under $1 billion, $938 million. Total education spending, when the K-12 Department of Public Instruction is included, was $11 billion. These figures do not include significant capital expenditures that will be funded by bonds that do not need voter approval.
More teachers, less smoking
Legislators finally placed an end to the eight-month legislative session on Aug. 3 after approving the state budget and pushing through some final pieces of legislation.
In all, more than 500 bills may become law from this session. The final number depends on how many Governor Mike Easley will veto. He has 30 days from the end of the session to decide about the nearly 200 bills still on his desk. Any bill Easley does not act on in that time frame will be automatically enacted into law.
Of those bills, only a handful concern higher education in North Carolina, and those primarily focus on procedural changes to programs currently in existence. A few bills do create new programs or initiatives with the state’s higher education systems.