The Public Accountability Initiative Partners with the Student Debt Campaign to Document the Dubious Schemes through Which U.S. Corporations Are Generating Profits from Public Higher Education

This announcement may be somewhat dated, but it is the first that I have seen it. I think that everyone should be aware of it, even if your institution is not participating. And it is possible that they may still be looking for institutions to participate. _________________________ Kick Wall St. Off Campus! Investigation & Research…

Kenyon College Students Dress Up as Ghosts, Look like Klansmen, and Issue Apology

If anything characterizes the current period, it may be that when prominent people behave badly, they typically issue apologies that, at best, come across as half-hearted. Either the regret being expressed is undercut by persistent notes of self-justification, or the apologies seem very calculated attempts to mitigate the personal consequences, rather than the public impact,…

Two Cases of Plagiarism by Politicians

The following piece was written by my former student and friend Mike Lamm. Mike is a reporter for the Decatur Daily Democrat. _________________________ In the summer of 1987, a young, brash Delaware senator by the name of Joe Biden was attempting to become the youngest American since John F. Kennedy to become president of the…

What Links a Birth in Montana, the Kennedy Assassination, and the Spanish Civil War

What follows is a circuitous reflection on the thin line between significance and meaninglessness, between fateful conjunctions and complete coincidences, between public history and political “truths,” between personal histories and the burden of expectations A Montana couple recently celebrated the birth of their child, born on November 12 at 2:15 in the afternoon. The birth…

A Local Election of Note

In the recent off-off-year elections, the national media was understandably focused on the gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey and the mayoral contest in New York City. But, although it has received almost no national attention, a school board election in a suburban community in Ohio may have as many implications as those more…

Where Were You When Kennedy Was Shot?

Over the last fifty years, this question has become a cultural cliché—and a much longer lived cliché than most.  But, as we have now celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination, it seems poignantly obvious that that cliché will continue to have currency only for a few more decades, until the last of those who…

Administrative Bloat–with Ohio’s Public Universities Providing the Illustration: 2012 Update

■ Gordon Gee, Ohio State 2011: Total Compensation, $1,992,221: Base Salary, $814,157; Bonus Pay, $296,786; Deferred Compensation, Set Aside, $881,278. Rank among Public University Presidents in the U.S.: 1. 2012: Total Compensation: $1,899,420; Base Salary, $830,439. Rank among Public University Presidents in the U.S.: 3. His compensation declined marginally, but he dropped three places in…

Tips for Navigating Corporatized Colleges and Universities

Guest blogger Jeanne Zaino is professor of political science and international studies at Iona College. In his provocative and deeply depressing The Last Professors Frank Donoghue warns that corporate logic has taken over the academy.  His findings are confirmed by Andrew DeBlanco who, in his award winning College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be not…