In a stunning and welcome development on the eve of a scheduled court hearing on Monday, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced today that “a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been agreed upon by Amherst County Attorney Ellen Bowyer, Saving Sweet Briar, Sweet Briar College and the Office of the Attorney General outlining a plan…
I rarely post items to this site that don’t deal pretty directly with higher education, leaving such posts to my entertaining friend Marty Kich and others perhaps more worldly than I. But today I thought I might post something about the case of Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP leader from Spokane, Washington, who stepped down after…
On March 3, President James Jones of Sweet Briar College shocked the small women’s college’s faculty and students by announcing that the school would close its doors on June 30. Seniors would be allowed to graduate, but all other students would be compelled to transfer elsewhere. Faculty members were provided vague promises of assistance, but…
On June 2, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, held a hearing on “First Amendment Protections on Public College and University Campuses.” The subcommittee received testimony from four witnesses: Greg Lukianoff, President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE); Kim Colby,…
The following statement signed by 22 scholarly associations was released on June 11. It is consistent with the position of a resolution passed unanimously by the AAUP’s annual membership meeting on June 13. The American system of higher education is the envy of the world. It’s not perfect; few things are. But at a time…
Chancellor Rebecca Blank of the University of Wisconsin-Madison shared the following message by email with faculty on June 9 ahead of an emergency meeting of the Faculty Senate. The message was also posted on a web page maintained by the University and devoted to budget issues. As we prepare to meet, I want to again…
A colleague at San Diego State University recently sent the following email message to other CSU faculty members. I thought it worth sharing more broadly. June 6 marked the anniversary of President Kennedy’s 1963 Commencement Address at San Diego State University (then San Diego State College). During the Commencement exercises, JFK was awarded an honorary…
The following is the text of a statement released yesterday by Chancellor Rebecca Blank of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. It is encouraging that the Chancellor pledges consistency with AAUP policies. It remains to be seen, however, whether or not Wisconsin politicians will permit that. Chancellor Blank’s reference to AAUP should remind us of the…
The following statement was published yesterday (June 3) and as of this morning had acquired 361 signatures [UPDATE: As of the next morning (June 5) the number of signatories had climbed to 459. The additional names, however, have not been added to the list that follows the text of the statement]: We write as fortunate…