A bill making its way through the South Carolina legislature may have a tremendous impact on the state’s public higher education system. And if successful, it may prove as a model for other states looking to get a handle on their hard-to-control higher education systems. House Bill 4522—the “Cancelling Professor Tenure Act”—will end tenure for … Continue reading “The Bell Tolls for Tenure?”
Women outnumber men in higher education at record levels. According to enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse, women comprised 59.5 percent of college students at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year. Men only made up 40.5 percent of college students. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, this enrollment gap between men … Continue reading “Did You Know? Large Enrollment Gap Between Men and Women”
Although many colleges and universities today claim to be dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion, their policies and practices often violate those principles. Among the most common types of violations are single-sex programs for women and girls, which exclude men and boys. Such violations are pervasive through the University of North Carolina System, as described … Continue reading “Bridge to Discrimination: Decades of Gender Bias in the UNC System”
Under the Constitution, the federal government has no power over education, including arrangements that colleges make for student housing and expectations for their conduct on campus. Furthermore, the First Amendment protects religious institutions’ freedom to speak and operate according to their beliefs. Nevertheless, College of the Ozarks has just filed suit against President Biden and … Continue reading “A Christian College Sues to Protect Its Values Against the Federal Leviathan”
As a lecturer in the humanities, I have had the privilege and challenge of moderating discussions of controversial topics, often based on literary texts. Over the past two years, the number of students self-censoring or not speaking when a topic is seen as “not for them” has increased dramatically. Instead, many of them visit during … Continue reading “Addressing Masculinity in Higher Ed”
In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 209 by an impressive 56-to-44 percent majority. Prop 209 amended the state’s constitution to prohibit the granting of preferences based on race or gender. It inaugurated a series of campaigns, led by businessman and University of California Regent Ward Connerly, that by 2006 had established similar prohibitions in 10 … Continue reading “Whither Race-Neutrality in California?”
The academy seems built for public controversy because professors are encouraged to question ideas and popular beliefs. It shouldn’t be surprising that academic outrage has a long history. In the past, scholars could find themselves in trouble, like Galileo, who defended Copernican astronomy and then proceeded to attack Pope Urban VIII, a position so unpopular … Continue reading “The Sociology of the Academic Outrage Mob”
Rape is an appalling crime. Its perpetrators deserve criminal prosecution and lengthy imprisonment upon conviction. Yet the discourse on sexual assault at American colleges and universities in the past few years has fueled a backlash. Until the recent revelations of #MeToo, colleges have dominated the discussion of sexual misconduct in America. (This focus is misplaced, … Continue reading “Title IX Is an Insult to Victims of Sexual Assault”
A day after an internal email by a Google employee was leaked to the press, a combination of ideological intolerance and scientific illiteracy led Google to fire James Damore for “perpetuating gender stereotypes.” On the day he was fired, Quillette.com published several brief essays by academics on the science of sex differences, mostly vindicating his … Continue reading “From College Indoctrination to Corporate Intolerance”
The discipline of English is already in trouble, but there is more to come.