BY HANK REICHMAN Recently a minor brouhaha has emerged over the “Chicago Principles,” shorthand for the University of Chicago’s 2015 “Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression.” The Principles have been endorsed by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and several dozen universities, but dismissed as a “marketing ploy” by others. Then,…
BY HANK REICHMAN In an opinion piece posted today on The Hill, Varsha Koduvayur, a senior research analyst specializing in Gulf States issues at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute, argues that the Matthew Hedges affair “should be a wake-up call for universities.” Hedges is a British researcher who last…
BY HANK REICHMAN Lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of laws that require government contractors to disavow a boycott of Israel seem to be proliferating — and that’s a good thing. A week ago I posted about a challenge to such a law in Arkansas by a newspaper barred from running advertising from a state university if…
BY HANK REICHMAN On December 5, the University of Mississippi Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution to reaffirm the university’s commitment to academic freedom. The move came in response to growing concerns about the commitment of the administration and the chancellor to the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, formulated jointly by…
BY RACHEL IDA BUFF When the chancellor donates his $50,000 raise to the University Food Pantry, They put out a spread. It’s delicious. Everyone gathers to eat it. The shelves are full. Since there is no more food insecurity among students, They are free to focus on learning. When the chancellor donates his $50,000…
BY HANK REICHMAN According to a report by Bloomberg News, U.S. outstanding student loan debt reached a record $1.465 trillion last month, more than double the $675 billion outstanding in June 2009. “The Bloomberg analysis found that loans issued about six years ago have the highest cumulative loss percentage compared to any other year since…
BY HANK REICHMAN The following is the text of a statement released yesterday by the Canadian Association of University Teachers. The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is giving a failing grade to a free speech policy developed by Ontario’s colleges without any consultation with faculty. “The colleges’ so-called free speech statement is a classic…
BY SUSAN E. RAMLO Now in my twenty-fifth year of teaching at a public urban university in the Midwest, I research subjective viewpoints mainly using a somewhat obscure, eighty-year-old methodology that has been gaining popularity. Q methodology (Q) is unique in its ability to scientifically study divergent viewpoints in a way that distinguishes and describes…
BY HANK REICHMAN Last week I posted a piece on this blog reporting on a legal challenge filed by the Arkansas Times against a state law requiring government contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel. Now a similar law is being challenged in Texas by a children’s speech pathologist who has worked for the last…
BY JEFFREY SOMMERS The following open letter to the chancellor, provost, and faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) is reposted by permission from the blog of the UWM AAUP chapter. Jeffrey Sommers is Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Global Studies at UWM. Dear Chancellor Mone, Provost Britz, and Colleagues, I could…