Anthony Paletta is a freelance writer.
FIRE has just released their third Spotlight on Speech Codes report, and the results are depressing, as usual. Of the 364 schools whose speech policies were reviewed by FIRE, 270 earned a red-light rating (unconstitutional speech policies), 78 earned a yellow-light rating (some troublesome policies), and a princely 8 received a green-light rating (no limitations […]
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An article in Governing explores the increasing centrality of Universities and medical centers to regional economic health. It notes a 1999 Brookings Institute study that found multiple cities in which more than half of the jobs among the top 10 private sector employees were provided by universities or hospitals. Baltimore, for one: One of the […]
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The details of the suit are not entirely clear from early reports, but the 6-year suit between the Robertson family and Princeton over the alleged misuse of their endowment has come to and end in a settlement. Princeton is providing $40 million to pay the legal fees of the Robertson family, establishing a $50 million […]
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Wisdom from a candidate for the Presidency of the Harvard Undergraduate Council, from the Harvard Crimson: The Waite-Petri campaign is adopting an age-old tradition of using their platform to advocate for the abolition of the Council. There is one caveat, however. “We’re going to invite a member of the House of Hapsburg to rule the […]
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A video from the Daily Princetonian blog.
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If you weren’t aware, the annual conference of the National Association of Scholars is fast-approaching, and well-worth your time and attendance. The conference, held at the Washington Marriot January from 9th to 11th, will feature Abigail Thernstrom, Victor Davis Hanson, Richard Vedder, and the excellent folks at NAS, among others. Take a look at the […]
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Harvard’s Endowment has suffered a staggering eight billion dollar loss, or a loss of at least 22% in the last four months. That’s the worst endowment drop for Harvard in 40 years, and dwarfs most comparable recent plunges in University endowments. Read on. Given uniformly dolorous news in the financial sector, it’s encouraging to see […]
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The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has just released a new report “Metrics For Effective Governance” offering eight simple metrics for gauging “institutional success in attaining agreed-upon goals.” The key measures that ACTA suggests include: 1. Student Characteristics 2. Student Selectivity 3. Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid 4. Financial Resources and Performance 5. […]
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Amidst a climate of financial worry for many American students, the tide of amply-compensated Presidents refusing or returning portions of their salaries appears to be growing. The Daily Princetonian reports that Amy Guttman, the President of the University of the University of Pennsylvania, and her husband have made two gifts totaling $250,000 to support undergraduate […]
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If your plans for next semester were ucertain, here’s a surefire plan: NYU’s new one-credit “Intergroup Dialogues” which are “designed to foster communication among racial groups at NYU.” The sessions are to be gerrymandered, of course, according to the Washington Square News: To ensure balance, a 14-student section addressing racial issues would have seven white […]
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Lawrence Summers will be heading the National Economic Council, overcoming risible feminist accusations that his actual interest is in destroying both women and the economy. There’s one blow for good sense.
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Yes, there are cases of student councils refusing to translate progressive imperatives into University policy (less so, it seems than administrations) even, as we see today, at Brown. The Brown Undergraduate Council of Students voted against a resolution expressing support for the abrogation of Columbus Day as a University holiday by a a 21-15 margin. […]
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Listen to our podcast of John Leo and Roger Kimball discussing the new edition of Kimball’s Tenured Radicals and the state of the modern university. – Sensationalist lure: one solution involves tanks.
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The Center for College Affordability offers a great chart of the week, displaying the growth in the number of staff per student. At both public and private universities, the faculty numbers grew modestly, but were dwarfed by the change (1976 to 2006) in the increase in the number of “other professional” positions. Interestingly, private universities […]
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The Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual survey of executive compensation in Higher Education was released today, and, as usual, remarkable for its upper reaches. Median salaries at public universities increased by 7.6% in the past year, delivering such plum earnings as Ohio University’s $1,346,225 Presidential compensation, or the University of Michigan’s $760,196. Not so bad […]
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Alexander McPherson, a Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of California: Irvine, is posing a test to the power of the University of California over its faculty members. They mandated that he attend a class on sexual harassment-prevention. He refused to attend. Six weeks ago, the University withdrew both his supervision of […]
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I just noticed a recent Washington Post feature on study abroad in college. Several of the recollections are certainly worth a look. Of course, study abroad is not-at-all-trivially a money-making racket for U.S. colleges (if you haven’t heard, check out Peter Wood’s piece from last year) but several of the Post pieces offer eloquent testimony […]
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Lawrence Summers will never escape his past. In 2007, when he was disinvited from a meeting of the University of California Board of Regents due to faculty protest, opponents identified him as a “speaker who has come to symbolize gender and racial prejudice in academia..” You won’t believe what they’re saying now that he might […]
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Ivygate makes sport of the demise of the Harvard-philic 01238 magazine, and its soon-to-be-former list of top 100 graduates with a “best of the rest” list of grads. Where else to find Ted Kaczynski, Isoroku Yamamato, and Alger Hiss in the same number sequence?
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– After being offered and then denied an honorary degree by Northwestern University, Jeremiah Wright returned to speak at that institution on Friday, in a speech closed to media. The Daily Northwestern was there, and, while Wright’s remarks don’t seem to be particularly interesting, the opinions of students present clearly were. One attendee, echoing opinion […]
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“Colorado First State Not To Reject Affirmative Action”
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Brown Daily Herald: “Poll: Brunonians Think Highly Of Themselves.” Of course they do.
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The ban is now behind by about 14,000, with 90% of precincts reporting. We’ll see if the remaining 10% can change anything.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education reports (no subscription required). They provide an additional list of state referenda related to higher education. Several reveal a surprising new direction for education-financing: lotteries and taxes from casino gambling. That’s one way to do it, I guess.
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Nebraska voters have approved a ballot initiative banning affirmative action, and Coloradans may do the same. As of 7:40 AM, CNN has the ban ahead 983,546 to 970,067, with 87% of precincts reporting). There’s victory for Ward Connerly, and hopefully soon two.
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A Columbia Spectator editorial recently criticized the allocation of resources and publicity for the school’s Queer Awareness Month activities. Here’s the nub of their editorial: ..the organization largely focused on promoting events that emphasized sex over awareness. The Genderf**k party—where attendees donned only underwear—bore more of a resemblance to a raucous First Friday Dance than […]
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The Foundation For Individual Rights in Education is set to release (mid-day Friday) a compendious report by Adam Kissel on the Delaware Residential Life Program. If you haven’t followed this rank system of indoctrination (now happily suspended) the FIRE report is a comprehensive and sobering account of the roots and influences of the Delaware system. […]
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The week is full of bleak educational news. Take a look: A Forbes story, “The Coming College Bubble”, forsees a world of trouble for Higher Education’s economic fortunes: According to a September 2008 study by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, of the 504 member institutions surveyed, one-third said the credit crunch had […]
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The Political Theory Project at Brown, as well as several other Veritas Fund efforts are profiled in yesterday’s Brown Daily Herald. The piece provides a strong account of Mark Bauerlein’s efforts at Emory: At Emory University, Mark Bauerlein directs the Program in American Citizenship, which is funded by Veritas. “In terms of content, we support […]
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