BY HANK REICHMAN At their spring meeting May 10, the 22 members of the Board of Governors of the Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges (FACCC) took a unanimous vote of no confidence in the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. It was only the second such vote in the organization’s 66-year history, the last…
BY HANK REICHMAN Earlier this week I discussed The Future of Academic Freedom with Patricia Raskin, host of the Internet radio show “Positive Living” on voiceamerica.com. To listen to this interesting conversation go to https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/114836/fiona-citkin-how-they-made-it-henry-reichman-academic-freedom/57810 You can also listen to the discussion as a podcast on iTunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/henry-reichman-academic-freedom/id421428770?i=1000437359914
BY HANK REICHMAN Nestled in the Rocky Mountains north of Salt Lake City, Utah State University (USU) is known for its agriculture, education and space research programs. In 2008, the Charles Koch foundation gave USU $25,000 every year for one “Koch professor” and the same stipend for each of four “faculty junior professors.” The agreement…
BY HANK REICHMAN In case you missed it (I had!) check out this great reggae tribute to teachers’ strikes by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (that’s Steve Van Zandt of E Street Band and Wire fame), featuring Diane Ravitch. Last Fall Van Zandt began a Teacher Solidarity Tour, which will, I hope, continue…
BY HANK REICHMAN In the face of an avalanche of criticism, Stanford University provost Persis Drell has stepped back from a plan revealed last week to end university financial support for the highly esteemed Stanford University Press. But the reprieve may just be temporary, as Drell agreed only to provide funds for one year. The…
BY HANK REICHMAN On Monday, April 29, I discussed The Future of Academic Freedom with host Cyrus Webb on “Conversations LIVE,” available on the web via Blogtalk Radio here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/conversationslive/2019/04/29/author-henry-reichman-discusses-book-on-academic-freedom-on-conversationslive
BY HANK REICHMAN Last year the AAUP’s Committee on Government Relations released a report, “Campus Free-Speech Legislation: History, Progress, and Problems,” which concluded that campus free-speech laws and academic freedom are “false friends.” Nevertheless, such legislation continues to advance in several states. Especially troubling is a proposal that has moved out of committee in the…
BY HANK REICHMAN When I saw the headline this morning on Inside Higher Ed, “Another Speaker Unable to Appear at Middlebury,” I immediately thought, “Haven’t those students learned that shutting down speakers is not only wrong but counter-productive?” Two years ago Middlebury students famously shouted down conservative speaker Charles Murray and a faculty member was…
BY HANK REICHMAN Scholars from Singapore and around the world, including several prominent American professors, have expressed concern over the Asian city-state’s proposed legislation against internet ‘fake news’, which they say could have unintended consequences for academic freedom and research. Such a precedent could lead to “even wider restraints on global scholarly research and knowledge…