Politicization

Higher education’s fundamental mission is the discovery, preservation, and transmission of truth. This endeavor requires unfettered freedom of expression and conscience. The following articles expose illiberal tendencies on American campuses and highlight ways to increase the diversity of the ideas being taught, debated, and discussed on campus.

Campus Crime Problem Unlikely to Go Away

Aug 19, 1999 ·

Despite increased security, crime will likely continue to be a problem for area college campuses.

Minority freshmen enrollment at the University of Texas at Austin is near pre-Hopwood levels, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education Daily News online. Racial preferences were discontinued in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas following the 1996 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the Hopwood case.

“2 out of 3 — .00 B.A.C.”

Aug 12, 1999 ·

In 1990, Congress enacted the Student-Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act, requiring all institutions of higher education that receive federal education funds to report campus crimes and provide this information to students and staff.

NSF grant money is wasted according to recent finds.

UNC Sets Sights on New Funding Sources

May 27, 1999 ·

The UNC Board of Governer’s meeting on May 14 led to the approval of two financial “tools” that could change the way that UNC pays back construction bonds, according to Associated Press reports. The tools are included in two legislative bills that should reach the General Assembly within weeks.

Duke University’s Slow Response to Death Threats Raises Questions

May 7, 1999 ·

A barrage of hate mail, physical confrontations and death threats at Duke University has prompted suprisingly little reaction from a school that prides itself on tolerence and diversity. The trouble began when two freshmen, Berin Szoka and Jay Strader, submitted a series of op-editorials to The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper, protesting the creation of a Hindi major at Duke.

Public Acceptance of Lying Extends to the Triangle

Apr 23, 1999 ·

According to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative organization based in Washington D.C., public acceptance of lying in academe has increased in recent years. The May-June issue of AEI’s magazine, The American Enterprise, includes several articles that blame postmodern scholarship on this recent trend.

Supreme Court case has implications for N.C. universities

Apr 2, 1999 ·

A case before the Supreme Court could change the way public universities in North Carolina and across the nation allocate student-activities fees. The Justices agreed to hear a suit five law students at the University of Wisconsin brought against their school over how the university allocated a portion of the mandatory activity fees it collects. Across the country, there has been several similar cases recently concerning potential First-Amendment violations by universities in their collection and expenditure of mandatory fees.

UNC System Selects Another Chancellor in Secret

Mar 19, 1999 ·

N.C. A&T State University should learn who will be its new chancellor on Friday, March 19. As of press time on Thursday, March 18, President Molly Broad’s office had not made public the names of the four candidates for the position, except one name: Harold Martin, vice chancellor for academic affairs at N.C. A&T.

St. Augustine’s fires admissions director

Mar 12, 1999 ·

St. Augustine’s College of North Carolina made national headlines last week when it announced the firing of admissions director, Keith M. Powell. The announcement prompted the resignation of the entire admissions staff, except for a counselor who was on vacation until Monday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on March 11. Graham Watt, executive assistant to the president, said that the decline in enrollment at St. Augustine’s did not factor into the decision to fire Powell. Watt told The News and Observer on March 9 that the decision was part of a larger effort to make the college more efficient: “We talked about it as an administrative team…. It brings the whole process together. It just works better when you have people not bumping into each other and working in harmony.”

Sign of the Times, UNC-CH more Y2K ready than most

Feb 26, 1999 ·

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst announced Feb. 18 that it would shift away from using race preferences in its admissions policies. The university will instead consider socioeconomic status and extracurricular activities when deciding whether to admit students and award financial aid.

AND

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is at a comparably high level of preparedness for the computer glitch known as the “Year 2000” (Y2K) problem, the campus’s University Gazette is reporting.