On June 24, 1968 (I know the date thanks to Wikipedia), I walked from the Capitol in Washington, DC to the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) headquarters at 14th and U with a bunch of SCLC activists. Only three of us on the small march were white and I was just a sixteen-year-old kid. By…
There is something to be said for how the selection process works in American higher education. Within a decentralized system offering both public and private opportunities, there are various levels of selectivity, sticker prices, and public subsidies both to students and institutions – in principle, something for everyone. Some opportunities start with bold ideas, like…
The Center for Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s law school has been eliminated by the Board of Governors. As the AAUP noted in a statement opposing this move, “centers must be free to sponsor curricular and extracurricular programs and provide services to the public across the broadest…
Earlier this month, Dr. Patrick T. Harker, President of the University of Delaware, wrote an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer expressing his views of the American university and the faculty of the University of Delaware. His op-ed is available at: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20150205_Universities_must_adapt_to_meet_student_needs.html After an open meeting of the membership of the University of Delaware chapter of AAUP,…
Tenured and tenure track faculty share a (broken) system with adjuncts. We are all connected in this system of higher education. It’s time we believe it and start acting that way. Because today is National Adjunct Walkout Day, I said some things on Twitter last night. What follows is the recap, with a few links…
When 24/7 cable news channels were introduced, it seemed as if the great promise of television as a tool to educate the citizenry was about to be realized. Some optimistic prognosticators envisioned day-long series of reports like those presented on Edward R. Murrow’s See It Now or CBS’s 60 Minutes. Perhaps those prognosticators should have…
In November of 1990, I was in Togo’s capital city, Lomé, finishing up the paperwork for the close of my Peace Corps service. A friend and I, as we usually did in the morning when we were in the city, had found a street stand serving coffee, bread and eggs to people who would eat…
The following statement was issued today, February 24, by the American Association of University Professors. A media release may be found here. This statement from the national office of the American Association of University Professors is sent on behalf of the local AAUP chapters at University of North Carolina institutions and the statewide North Carolina…
Colleges are usually at the forefront of radical politics [The word “radical” suggests extreme and abrupt change driven by ideological rather than practical concerns. These days there is much more political radicalism on the Far Right than anywhere on the Left], but when it comes to their own privileges they become feudal empires [Loaded language…
Patricia Arquette is being slammed from both the Left and the Right for her comments during and after her acceptance speech for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. From the Left, the criticism has come largely from other disadvantaged groups who feel that her focus was too narrowly on women’s issues,…