Most Read New Yorker Blog Posts of 2015

  “The Blame for the Charlie Hebdo Murders,” by George Packer (January 7th) “Unmournable Bodies,” by Teju Cole (January 9th) “I Switched to a Standing Desk, So Now You Should, Too,” by Tom O’Donnell (February 25th) “Did John Roberts Tip His Hand?” by Jeffrey Toobin (March 4th) “Scientists: Earth Endangered by New Strain of Fact-Resistant…

ACCJC’s Appeals are Denied!

If you’ve been following my frequent posts on the controversies involved the Accrediting Commission for Junior and Community Colleges (ACCJC) and the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), you’ll recall that last month I reported at length on a meeting of the National Advisory Commission for Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) attended by California community…

Literally a Niche Industry

When I came across an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on a university course on sex-toy design, I assumed that it was a gimmicky topic to increase student interest in a standard course. I could not have been more wrong. Here are some of the highlights of the article, written by Tom Major:  …

Presidential Residences, Outside of Ohio, Part 1

University of Alabama     Auburn University   Boise State University   Brandeis University   University of California   Chicago State University   University of the Cumberlands   Dartmouth College   University of Dayton   University of Delaware Note: I recognize that the University of Dayton is in Ohio. In a previous post, I included…

A Modest Proposal

AAUP President Rudy Fichtenbaum just called my attention to what he called “the best opinion piece I have read in the Chronicle [of Higher Education] in years.”  Written by Douglas Anderson, professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University, “Clear the Way for More Good Teachers” is indeed essential reading.  But the modest but brilliant proposal…

So, You Think That Your University Has Administrative Problems . . .

Even if your college or university has suffered from excessive administrative in-fighting, I doubt that it has come anywhere close to match the following situation, reported in the Bangkok Post in Thailand:   “Assumption University is once again engulfed in chaos due to factional infighting over who has the right to be the university’s rector.…

Bigotry and Academic Freedom at Wheaton College

  Wheaton College officials are moving to fire tenured professor Larycia Hawkins because she made comments deemed too pro-Muslim by the administration. Hawkins’ trouble began when she announced that she would be wearing a hijab in solidarity with Muslims in the wake of Donald Trump’s call for banning Muslim immigrants. She declared, “I love my Muslim…