BY AARON BARLOW It’s been a bad year. Not just for higher education. And not just at it winds down. The coming 2018 does not bode well for American colleges and universities. For one thing, the Janus case against agency fees (when unions can assess non-members for fees as a result of gains and benefits…
BY HANK REICHMAN George Ciccariello-Maher, associate professor of politics and global studies at Drexel University, has resigned his tenured position. In an announcement on Twitter posted today, Ciccariello-Maher wrote, “after nearly a year of harassment by right-wing, white supremacist media outlets and internet mobs, after death threats and threats of violence directed against me and…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Two Items from Ohio This is a summary of the findings in a report by Policy Matters Ohio on student debt in in the state: –Ohioans have higher rates of indebtedness and default than residents of other states. –People of color, women, low-income people and seniors struggle most with debt. Loan…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH The following is an excerpt from an article from the Far-Right media service Newsmax: “People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again,” the president posted on Twitter on Christmas Eve. “I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Between the Tweetstorm that is the Trump presidency and the maelstrom of GOP legislative politics, a lot of domestic news and even more international news is going largely unnoticed and even unreported in the U.S. These three small items caught my attention today. Reuters has reported that this past week in…
BY HANK REICHMAN Leaders of the City University of New York Professional Staff Congress, a joint affiliate of the AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers, and the Rutgers University AAUP-AFT were among fifteen people arrested yesterday at a demonstration in New York protesting the Wall Street funders of the Republican Tax Bill, approved later…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL In a thoughtful commentary on Philly.com recently, Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joe Torsella, offered an insightful perspective on Pennsylvania’s #1 national ranking for most college debt per student, a dubious distinction. The level has reached $35,000 at graduation, or roughly the price of a fully loaded, full–sized new car. It’s a growing…
BY HANK REICHMAN Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos delivered a commencement speech at the University of Baltimore yesterday, sparking protests from students, faculty, and members of the community. According to the Baltimore Sun, “Several dozen graduates slowly rose in protest as she spoke. First, two women in the front row — including one whose graduation…
BY PATRICIA MCGUIRE Patricia McGuire is President of Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C. In 2010 she was the recipient of the AAUP’s Alexander Meiklejohn Award, given to an American college or university administrator or trustee, or to a board of trustees as a group, in recognition of an outstanding contribution to academic freedom. At…
BY HANK REICHMAN Add Kennesaw State University president Sam Olens to the list of college and university executives hired in secret and departing under a cloud not long after. Last week Olens submitted his resignation amidst a growing scandal over his handling of a political protest by five cheerleaders, who took a knee at a…