Reform in 2022: Our Hopes for the New Year
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…
Three Ways to Teach Students How—Not What—to Think
How do we teach students how to think rather than what to think? If the latest election cycle showed us anything, it’s that parents care deeply about what their children…
Judge Rules for UNC in Admissions Case
In 2014, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed suit against the University of North Carolina. Its complaint argued that the university had engaged in intentional discrimination on the basis of…
Chipping Away at Critical Theory’s Dominance of Higher Ed
I was recently invited to visit the second National Conservative Conference in Orlando, the first in-person conference of this movement, since its birth in 2019. I had the opportunity to…
Are Summer Reading Assignments Indoctrinating Freshmen?
Often, incoming freshmen receive their first university assignment before the school year even begins: the summer reading. Many institutions see the summer reading assignment as an opportunity for new students…
Did You Know? NC Voters Reject Discrimination and Special Preferences
Discrimination is unpopular with voters. That’s good news. Last month, the John Locke Foundation released new polling data revealing that North Carolina voters would support an amendment to ban discrimination…
Woke Universities are Rousseau’s Children
In early October, Bright Sheng, a professor of music at the University of Michigan, played the 1965 rendition of Shakespeare’s Othello for his undergraduate class. The film starred Laurence Olivier,…
Survey Says: Davidson College Should Mend Its Ways
One of higher education’s most enduring enigmas is the continued support given by relatively traditional donors to their rapidly radicalizing institutions. This deep division between the beliefs of important donors…
UNC School of Medicine’s Quiet “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” Revolution
In May, the UNC School of Medicine revised its Guidelines for Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion. Now, faculty seeking promotion must tout their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. One sample…
How Short-term Thinking on Race Has Caused Long-term Problems in Higher Education
Editor’s note: This essay is based on a talk given by Gail Heriot on October 29, 2021, for the Martin Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ladies and gentlemen, if you’re…