BY HANK REICHMAN In case you missed it (I had!) check out this great reggae tribute to teachers’ strikes by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (that’s Steve Van Zandt of E Street Band and Wire fame), featuring Diane Ravitch. Last Fall Van Zandt began a Teacher Solidarity Tour, which will, I hope, continue…
BY HANK REICHMAN In the face of an avalanche of criticism, Stanford University provost Persis Drell has stepped back from a plan revealed last week to end university financial support for the highly esteemed Stanford University Press. But the reprieve may just be temporary, as Drell agreed only to provide funds for one year. The…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL The complex challenges facing colleges and universities are well known: changing demographics and consumer preferences, aging facilities, and the need to keep pace with technological advances. College closures and mergers are becoming increasingly common. But what can faculty and other colleges and university leaders — trustees, presidents, alumni and parent boards,…
BY HANK REICHMAN On Monday, April 29, I discussed The Future of Academic Freedom with host Cyrus Webb on “Conversations LIVE,” available on the web via Blogtalk Radio here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/conversationslive/2019/04/29/author-henry-reichman-discusses-book-on-academic-freedom-on-conversationslive
BY CHRISTOPHER SIMEONE Registration for the 2019 AAUP/AAUP-CBC Summer Institute is open! Join us July 25–28 at Roosevelt University in Chicago. View the complete program and reserve your spot. Summer Institute is a four-day workshop series that connects you with academic activists and develops your skills so you can make change on campus. Defend the…
BY SHERRYL KLEINMAN In late March 2019 at UNC–Chapel Hill, the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East and Islamic Studies held a conference titled “Conflict over Gaza: People, Politics and Possibilities.” The list of scholars, journalists, performers, artists, and films can be found here. On the first night of the conference, Tamer Nafar, a rapper, actor,…
BY NERISSA NELSON My campus, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, has had a tumultuous year of dealing with a budget deficit of $8 million over the next three years. It started as an announced administrative “document/plan” to cut 13 liberal arts majors, followed by a “reduced plan” to cut six majors and tenured faculty, and…
BY FRANK D. LOMONTE Headhunters for university presidential searches make their six-figure commissions by promising trustees they’ll deliver an efficient search with high-quality candidates. What they’ve delivered to the University of Colorado is a slow-motion train wreck, as president-elect Mark Kennedy struggles to salvage his candidacy after a “ready-fire-aim” search process in which trustees admit…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL It’s no secret that American colleges and universities are under stress from a variety of challenges. Unfortunately, most try to tackle these challenges individually rather than strategically, a practice that rarely results in long-term solutions. The demographic crisis confronting institutions, most acutely those that are tuition-dependent, is laid out clearly in…
BY JOHN K. WILSON The University of Massachusetts at Amherst is hosting an interesting event on May 4 called “Not Backing Down: Israel, Free Speech, and the Battle for Palestinian Human Rights.” The event will feature Roger Waters, Linda Sarsour, Patrisse Cullors, Marc Lamont Hill, Dave Zirin, and Vijay Prashad, and is being organized by…