Lost in the Bureaucracy
There is a particular kind of confusion almost every student has experienced on a college campus. You need help with something: financial aid, advising, housing, a form, or a deadline.…
Bans on “Divisive Concepts” Risk Stifling Speech
The growing (though not unanimous) acknowledgement that academia has lost public trust may be increasingly uncontroversial. But identifying remedies to repair that broken trust is proving to be much more…
Suicide on Sociology Row
No state matches Florida in higher education reform. Its landmark Senate Bill 266, passed during the 2023 legislative session, abolished DEI offices. It also requires general education reform in state…
Restoring a Right at Risk
Universities play—or should play—a critical role helping the next generation of teachers, legislators, judges, and voters understand how to live together in our constitutional republic. For many students, they represent…
Rewriting the Rules of Accreditation
Shortly before Donald Trump’s second inauguration, I summarized for the Martin Center the possible reforms to collegiate accreditation his administration might adopt. I divided these conservative reforms into three broad…
Harvard Medical School Tries Healing Itself
Harvard Medical School (HMS) has just released the Report of the HMS Open Inquiry Working Group, which contains detailed recommendations for restoring liberty to the school. These recommendations, if put into…
The Intifada Targets Campus Leadership
The leadership of the “Student Intifada,” the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), has escalated its war against normalcy and decency in academia. Its incrementalist approach to taking over…
Readying UNC for Another 250 Years of Civic Life
I have always found it inspiring that the University of North Carolina was chartered in 1789—during the same legislative session that ratified the American Constitution. The demands of citizenship were…
A Tale of Two Reports
A point that has generated much discussion is the decline in confidence in and support for higher education. Over the last ten years or so, the percentage of Americans who…
Restoring General Education
Education experts have written many excellent books and articles in recent years and made insightful presentations covering a range of important topics – admissions, curriculum, pedagogy, administration, and accreditation. The…