Freshman Orientation: Conform or Be Cast Out
At UNC-Chapel Hill’s freshman orientation, I learned that free speech, so fundamental to the academy, is only permitted to those who toe the "progressive" line.
Freshman Reading Choices 2015: Welcome to Groupthink U.
Unfortunately, colleges often use their summer reading programs not to help students make the leap to the higher standard of scholarship that should be demanded of them at the collegiate level, but to expose them to books that may influence them to adopt the political agenda of the left.
Critical Thinking, or the “Expectation of Confirmation”?
With so many more Americans going to college than in the past, you would think that anti-intellectualism would be a distant, rapidly fading memory. But you’d be mistaken argue Mark Bauerlein and Adam Bellow, editors of a sharp new book The State of the American Mind.
Gene Nichol’s “Poverty Fund” Is About the Politics, Not the Poverty
The reopening of UNC–Chapel Hill Law School’s Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity as the “North Carolina Poverty Research Fund” by law professor Gene Nichol shows great contempt for the UNC system Board of Governors, the state legislature, and the people of North Carolina. It also may be illegal.
An Independence Day Special: Can the Republic Survive Higher Education’s Influence?
Tomorrow is the day we celebrate our nation’s founding—and the first time that a nation was deliberately founded on reason and the rule of law instead of on accidents of history. The central question of this article is “how are the founding and related topics treated in today’s academia?” It is a matter of crucial importance, since academia’s treatment of the nation’s history and fundamental ideals influences the future.
Universities Are Not Economic Saviors, So Let’s Stop Pretending That They Are
To hear some policymakers talk, one would think colleges and universities exist mainly to enhance economic growth rather than to educate.
Why the College Board’s New Standards Would Make Teaching History Even Worse
People are right to be skeptical of the College Board’s new Advanced Placement U.S. History standards. They accelerate the trend toward making American history mainly about race, class, and gender grievances. Events are included only if they can be framed that way.
Lani Guinier Wants to Transform Higher Education
Higher education will work better for all Americans if academic theorists like Lani Guinier would stop using it for social engineering and just let each individual search for the education or training that best suits his abilities and circumstances.
The Next UNC President Should be a Reformer, Not a Caretaker
The most important decision that the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors will make this year is the selection of the next system president. Board members have an excellent opportunity to find someone willing to initiate a badly needed departure from the university establishment’s status quo.
College Is Not a Theater
I am delighted to see that Asian-Americans are speaking out against racial preferences in admissions. That stands to reason, since their children are the big losers in the racial preferences game. But they should be joined by non-Asians who understand that the purpose of college is for students to maximize their learning, not for administrators to play at social engineering.