On March 28, 2022, Stuart Schmill, Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced the school’s plan to restore the consideration of standardized … Continue reading “Rescuing “Virtue and Talents” Amidst the War on Tests”
The University of Pennsylvania was an excellent school when I was an undergraduate there in the mid-1960s. The politics were polyglot, reflecting an era when the professional classes and even … Continue reading “The Long Decline of the University of Pennsylvania”
I have long been fond of saying that there are colleagues for whom I would be delighted to vote if they sought my support for service on a university committee, … Continue reading “A Frenemy on the Left: Robert Boyers on The Tyranny of Virtue“
Are you a freshly-minted Ph.D. holder interested in becoming a tenure-track computer science professor at UNC-Chapel Hill? First, you’ll have to submit a “diversity statement” describing your “commitment to diversity.” … Continue reading “From Hiring to Admissions, Universities Seek Ideological Conformity in Applicants”
Often, incoming freshmen receive their first university assignment before the school year even begins: the summer reading. Many institutions see the summer reading assignment as an opportunity for new students … Continue reading “Are Summer Reading Assignments Indoctrinating Freshmen?”
To the editor: Excellent piece on diversity offices. They are both unnecessary and damaging to a university’s proper mission. They are unnecessary because universities have survived quite well without them … Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: Diversity offices are unnecessary”
It is hard to fathom the extent to which American colleges and universities have been taken over by Critical Theory, race-based or not. One good indication is that French and … Continue reading “Sensitivity by Proxy”
Most businesses and the general public had a brutal year in 2020—perhaps with the notable exceptions of Zoom and toilet paper manufacturers. Universities suffered as well, with enrollment drops and … Continue reading “The Trouble with Faculty Hiring Booms in a Politicized Time”
Macalester College is a small (2,000-plus students), highly regarded, and very selective liberal arts college in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is proud of its liberal reputation and international outlook, and … Continue reading “Macalester College: Liberal Arts or Monoculture?”
Academic postmodernism is no stranger to the idea that classical Enlightenment values such as reason, equal treatment, and individual agency should be cast aside for the sake of racial and … Continue reading “Identity Politics Versus Basic Logic: Should Colleges Offer Affirmative Action for the Female Majority?”