Islamophobia Can Be a Money Pit, Too
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH This item has been distributed by Loonwatch [http://www.loonwatch.com/], a website that tracks examples of Islamophobia and other expressions of Nativism, xenophobia, White nationalism, and hate-think: “The 2016 presidential election season has been punctuated by the implosion of the Republican party, decimated by the long nurtured hatred and xenophobia that it has…
A Long, Hot Summer on Campus
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Scott D. Miller, the President of Virginia Wesleyan University, has written a guest column for the Virginian-Pilot with the same title as this post. After providing an overview of what a university president’s summer routine typically involves, he writes: “Then there’s this summer — which to me is exceptionally hot, volatile,…
Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action in Fisher v. University of Texas
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, upheld the constitutionality of the University of Texas at Austin’s affirmative action admissions program. AAUP had joined an amicus brief in this case, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher II), supporting affirmative action. Due to Justice Kagan’s recusal from the case and with the…
Powerful Tool for Community College Transfers
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL One of the most persistent problems facing American higher education is how best to create a seamless pathway among the various higher education sectors. This is especially problematic for community college students seeking to transfer to four-year colleges and universities. For them, the transfer pathway is a bumpy one full of…
In Praise of Dick Gregory
BY HANK REICHMAN Last December, in response to the wave of student protests about racial injustice on campus, some of which advanced demands that could threaten academic freedom, I published an essay “On Student Academic Freedom.” In that essay, I wrote that student protesters have made and will again make mistakes. They will offend others…
Seeking Diversity at Yale
BY HANK REICHMAN Last fall Yale University was one of the more prominent institutions where student demands for diversity and racial justice made headlines. I previously commented at some length on the Yale events in a November post, “Racism and Academic Freedom at Yale.” In a second post a few months later I commented as…
North Carolina Republicans Take Aim at HBCUs
BY MICHAEL MERANZE The following item is reposted from Remaking the University, a blog run by UCLA history professor Michael Meranze and UC-Santa Barbara english professor Chris Newfield. North Carolina Republicans Take Aim at State’s Historically Black and Native American Colleges Although overshadowed by North Carolina’s recent HB2 (forbidding transgender individuals from using the bathroom…
President Obama at Howard University
To President Frederick, the Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, fellow recipients of honorary degrees, thank you for the honor of spending this day with you. And congratulations to the Class of 2016! (Applause.) Four years ago, back when you were just freshmen, I understand many of you came by my house the night…
America as 100 College Students
The graphic below comes from the website of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At the risk of offending both the Gates Foundation and those who can’t stand its work on education, I thought I’d post it since it displays well the great diversity of the higher education student body in the U.S., even if…