In College Fundraising, Bigger Isn’t Always Better

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL One of the great myths about American higher education is that all colleges are wealthy. If most Americans have an mental image of a college, it’s often a bucolic bricks-and-mortar residential facility separated by rolling green lawns, entered through an impressive if forbidding-looking gate, and populated by attractive students who drive…

photo of broken tractor in field

Trump’s Early Moves Stifle Economic Engine of Higher Ed

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL In post-industrial America, the roles played by large nonprofits – especially its hospitals and universities – power the economic engines in many regional economies. What would cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Boston look like without their large educational and medical research complexes? Would other cities, such as Houston, Chicago,…

Short-term, Real-life Collaboration Sets this Experiential Learning Apart

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Many of us in higher education have long been proponents of “laboratory” initiatives in the humanities, social sciences, professional and graduate programs that translate academic learning into real world experience. These initiatives serve a variety of purposes. They make critical inquiry more pragmatic. Most colleges and universities build their academic program…

students protest speaker at Middlebury College. Photo from The Middlebury Campus

New Litmus Test for "Informed Discussion"?

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL One of the most unfortunate results of the overheated political rhetoric that consumed the presidential election, transition, and early days of the Trump presidency has been the unwillingness of either side to see the opportunity for reasoned intellectual debate with those with whom they disagree and perhaps don’t even respect. Protesters…

Faculty are Moving Pieces in College Budget Game

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL It’s enlightening to watch what issues surface when the subject of college faculty arises in the public arena. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose experience in higher education is minimal, offered her first substantive comments at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week when she called out faculty for silencing free speech:…

crowd demonstrating holding signs

New culture wars same as the old culture wars?

BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Thirty years ago, we all understood what the term “culture wars” meant. It was about Mapplethorpe vs. Helms and teaching dead white men vs. revisionist and black history. There were lines. Whichever side you were on, you knew where you stood. The battle lines changed and have morphed into something quite…