Sarah Lawrence College Archives — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

Campus Free Speech Needs Protection—The Question Is How

Apr 3, 2019 · Donald Downs · No Comments

Like a cannonball, President Trump has leaped into the turbulent waters of higher education free speech policy and action. Carrying through on a promise he made during a freewheeling speech he delivered at CPAC a few weeks ago, the president has issued an executive order that throws the power of the federal government into the … Continue reading “Campus Free Speech Needs Protection—The Question Is How”

The Professor Who Was Harassed for Pointing Out the Truth

Dec 14, 2018 · George Leef · No Comments

That famous line from the movie A Few Good Men—“You can’t handle the truth!”—applies more and more to the world of higher education. If you doubt that, consider the case of professor Samuel Abrams of Sarah Lawrence College. Abrams, a tenured professor of political science who admits that he “leans conservative” has been studying the … Continue reading “The Professor Who Was Harassed for Pointing Out the Truth”

The Brutal and Beautiful Art of Education Feb 28, 2020
Tara Westover and her family lived off the grid on Buck’s Peak, a mountainside in Idaho so remote that life there was anchored in “circles of perpetual change that, when complete, meant that nothing had changed at all.” Tara’s father, a Mormon fundamentalist whose family had been living on the Peak for a half-century, ruled … Continue reading “The Brutal and Beautiful Art of Education”
Did You Know? At UNC-Chapel Hill, 25% of Students Would Block Controversial Speaker Feb 27, 2020
In the spring of 2019, three professors at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill conducted a study to understand free speech and constructive dialogue on campus. The study invited UNC students to complete a survey and attend focus group interviews with members of three different politically involved student organizations. From the data, professors Jennifer Larson, … Continue reading “Did You Know? At UNC-Chapel Hill, 25% of Students Would Block Controversial Speaker”
College Climate Surveys Needed to Understand Free Expression on Campus Feb 26, 2020
In yet another window into the country’s polarized political environment, in 2017 the Pew Research Center surveyed Americans regarding their views of major civic institutions. While there were divisions in how Republicans and Democrats viewed churches, banks, and labor unions, the largest gap was reserved for “colleges and universities,” with 72 percent of Democrats viewing … Continue reading “College Climate Surveys Needed to Understand Free Expression on Campus”

Did You Know? At UNC-Chapel Hill, 25% of Students Would Block Controversial Speaker Feb 27, 2020
In the spring of 2019, three professors at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill conducted a study to understand free speech and constructive dialogue on campus. The study invited UNC students to complete a survey and attend focus group interviews with members of three different politically involved student organizations. From the data, professors Jennifer Larson, … Continue reading “Did You Know? At UNC-Chapel Hill, 25% of Students Would Block Controversial Speaker”
College Climate Surveys Needed to Understand Free Expression on Campus Feb 26, 2020
In yet another window into the country’s polarized political environment, in 2017 the Pew Research Center surveyed Americans regarding their views of major civic institutions. While there were divisions in how Republicans and Democrats viewed churches, banks, and labor unions, the largest gap was reserved for “colleges and universities,” with 72 percent of Democrats viewing … Continue reading “College Climate Surveys Needed to Understand Free Expression on Campus”
The Philosophical Force Driving the Fight to Rewrite History Feb 21, 2020
Two recent stories that dominated academic Twitter were the cancellation of the Western Art History course at Yale and the incorporation of the 1619 Project in the school curricula in Buffalo, New York and Washington DC. Though political centrists on Twitter were outraged, no one noted that those two incidents are thematically similar. Without understanding … Continue reading “The Philosophical Force Driving the Fight to Rewrite History”

The Brutal and Beautiful Art of Education Feb 28, 2020
Tara Westover and her family lived off the grid on Buck’s Peak, a mountainside in Idaho so remote that life there was anchored in “circles of perpetual change that, when complete, meant that nothing had changed at all.” Tara’s father, a Mormon fundamentalist whose family had been living on the Peak for a half-century, ruled … Continue reading “The Brutal and Beautiful Art of Education”
Did You Know? At UNC-Chapel Hill, 25% of Students Would Block Controversial Speaker Feb 27, 2020
In the spring of 2019, three professors at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill conducted a study to understand free speech and constructive dialogue on campus. The study invited UNC students to complete a survey and attend focus group interviews with members of three different politically involved student organizations. From the data, professors Jennifer Larson, … Continue reading “Did You Know? At UNC-Chapel Hill, 25% of Students Would Block Controversial Speaker”
College Climate Surveys Needed to Understand Free Expression on Campus Feb 26, 2020
In yet another window into the country’s polarized political environment, in 2017 the Pew Research Center surveyed Americans regarding their views of major civic institutions. While there were divisions in how Republicans and Democrats viewed churches, banks, and labor unions, the largest gap was reserved for “colleges and universities,” with 72 percent of Democrats viewing … Continue reading “College Climate Surveys Needed to Understand Free Expression on Campus”