image of N95 surgical mask lying on a table next to another mask

Poll Highlights Sobering Toll of Coronavirus on Students

POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The Education Trust–West and The Education Trust–New York in May partnered with Global Strategy Group to conduct a poll on the experiences of students attending two- and four-year institutions of higher learning in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. From May 14 to 19 an online survey of 1,010 two-year, four-year,…

Good Riddance to Calbright (We Hope)

BY HANK REICHMAN Calbright College, California’s totally online community college, a target of withering faculty criticism from its inception by former Gov. Jerry Brown, may be just a few steps from a well-deserved demise.  Last week the California Legislature agreed on a state budget for 2020-21 that will eliminate all funding for the school.  The…

CAUT Statement on Anti-Racism Protests

POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The following statement was issued on June 3 by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).  The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) stands in solidarity with communities around the world protesting racism, injustice, and inequality. While the ongoing demonstrations have been triggered by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis…

AHA on the History of Racist Violence in the United States

POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The American Historical Association (AHA) has issued a statement urging a reckoning with the United States’ deplorable record of violence against African Americans, a record that stretches back centuries. The killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers stands within this sordid national tradition of racist violence. It…

Crime, Protest and a Revolutionary Era

BY HANK REICHMAN Yesterday I posted to this blog a piece that compared the current protests against police violence with the urban rebellions of prior years, especially the 1960s.  In it I wrote that “the looting, arson, and window-smashing that have marred the overwhelmingly peaceful protests . . . may have been carried out by…

Podcasts: Hank Reichman on Academic Freedom

BY HANK REICHMAN Last week I recorded a podcast with the New American Baccalaureate Project (NAB) in which we discussed academic freedom, both generally and in the context of the extraordinary developments of the past month.  It has now been posted to NAB’s website.  Here’s how they describe it: As protests spread across the US…