Corporatization, Commodification, and Hyper-Politicization

BY MARTIN KICH The following two charts, which were included in an article from Brookings but taken from the sources indicated below them, suggest how closely the much-reported, mixed perceptions of higher education are connected to our hyper-partisan politics. The first chart compares the voting patterns in the 2016 presidential election and in the 2018…

Against the Wisconsin System Blueprint, For the Students

BY BOB NOWLAN One of the most egregious dimensions of outgoing University of Wisconsin system president Ray Cross’s May 7 “Blueprint for the University of Wisconsin System Beyond COVID-19”—which calls for a radical restructuring and effective elimination of the comprehensive dimension of the system’s eleven regional comprehensive universities, as well as an effective jettisoning of…

Coalition Statement: Rutgers University Must Stop the Layoffs, Protect the Vulnerable, and Rescind the Fiscal Emergency

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH AAUP-AFT Rutgers has posted this statement on its website: The Rutgers University administration has notified nearly all of its unions that it is taking the first steps toward implementing a fiscal emergency, thereby jeopardizing the futures of our 20,000-plus union members, their families, and communities throughout New Jersey.  By declaring a…

large black SUV with Minnesota license plate saying POLICE and UMPD and COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TEAM stickers

Power and Trust in the Campus Racial Climate

BY JOHN STREAMAS I have been better treated by university police than by administrators. But then, as a biracial Asian immigrant, I could pass for white. Several students of color—mostly black students but some Latinx and a few Asian Pacific and indigenous students as well—have reported to me harassment by local police. Some black male…