The recent decision by the Board of Trustees to close Sweet Briar College raises an important question. Is there a better way to coordinate the findings of ratings groups to assist colleges and universities going forward? What would have happened if Sweet Briar College had worked more closely with a better educated group of internal and external…
I came across the following list of the “Top Ten Trending Spring Break Destinations.” The folks at Kayak have compiled the list after surveying the number of inquiries made over the past few months to various travel sites. I naturally assumed that most of the destinations would be “beach towns” in Florida, and I was…
If college campuses are to be safe spaces, the goal needs to be to make them safe for everyone—even faculty. With tenure reduced and enfeebled and secret investigations commonplace, I have seen seasoned professors tremble with fear. They feel unsafe and unsupported by administrators and staff and have seen how processes meant to protect can…
McMurtry, Larry. Lonesome Dove. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. One of the most prolific American novelists of the postwar period, Larry McMurtry has explored the history and culture of the West from the frontier era to the current period. He has skillfully spun sequels and prequels from his many of his novels. Thus,…
In the post that I made yesterday to this blog, “Why Is the Future of the University Never a University?,” I included the following observation: “All realms of human endeavor can borrow profitably from other endeavors. The ways in which one industry has responded to an opportunity or an issue can often inspire parallel innovations…
In August 2014, Graeme Wood wrote an article for The Atlantic titled “The Future of College?” The tease under the headline is: “A brash tech entrepreneur thinks he can reinvent higher education by stripping it down to its essence, eliminating lectures and tenure along with football games, ivy-covered buildings, and research libraries. What if he’s…
Writing under the pseudonym “Aurora Dagny,” a Canadian activist offers four pieces of advice for those working for any sort of cause: “Embrace humility…. Question yourself as fiercely as you question society.” “Treat people as individuals. For instance, don’t treat every person who belongs to an oppressed group as an authoritative mouthpiece of that group as…
The following is the text of a statement released earlier today by the American Association of University Professors on the denial of entry to the emirate of Abu Dhabi to NYU Professor Andrew Ross. Not long after the statement was issued, news arrived of another incident involving a faculty member in Abu Dhabi. According to…