If you want to see one example of why a new populism has emerged in American universities in the last 10 years, take a look at a statement issued last week by the Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The incapacity of the experts and professionals who wrote the … Continue reading “Faculty in Denial about Own Role in Decline of Humanities”
North Carolina just added a new layer of meaning to its motto, First in Flight. This time the state is the first in the nation to get campus free speech off the runway. The North Carolina Campus Free Speech Act lofts the idea that college students and invited speakers have a right to express … Continue reading “Are North Carolina Universities Biased? Look at What Students Are Reading”
“‘Diversity and inclusion’ is the moral benchmark of our time… Every corporation, college, and government agency, along with a growing number of bowling leagues and bait-and-tackle shops, has an Office of Diversity and Inclusion.” So says William Voegeli in a recent article. And so says the University of California at Los Angeles, whose campus-wide Vice … Continue reading “Diversity and Inclusion of Identity Groups Often Means Uniformity and Exclusion of Ideas”
If a university were to state that it will not hire people applying for a faculty position because of their race, sex, or religion, that would be clearly illegal. No school would dare to disregard applicants simply because “people of their kind” were not wanted. But what about an applicant’s philosophy and political beliefs? Can … Continue reading “Can Public Universities Practice Ideological Discrimination?”
Editor: The following piece is adapted from a talk delivered by Stanley Kurtz at a Martin Center event in Wilmington, North Carolina on May 18, 2018. First, I want to express my gratitude to Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest and his staff, the General Assembly, and the people of the state for the passage of House … Continue reading “Implementing the North Carolina Campus Free Speech Act”
After months of clashes with angry students, the university decided that the young professor it hired had to go. From the day of his first class on campus, protesters had disrupted his lectures. Police had to clear angry students out of the room each day. Officials feared for the professor’s safety and appealed to students … Continue reading “Princeton Prof Thinks Free Speech Is in Serious Trouble”
The movement to reform higher education is finally entering prime time. Although major news outlets have previously aired interviews and television segments about various aspects of higher education, the coverage seems to be reaching an all-new level. Last month, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson announced a month-long series dedicated to answering the question “is college worth … Continue reading “Higher Ed Reform Hits Prime Time”
The supposedly academic discipline of Women’s Studies is “an arm of the women’s movement,” according to philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers. And that movement is political; political activism is at least as fundamental to women’s studies as its academic components. As it says in the National Women’s Studies Association’s Constitution, the underlying goal of women’s studies … Continue reading “Feminist Activism Masquerading as Education”
Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on faculty roles in higher education. Part I by Fabio Rojas is here and Part III by John Wilson is here. One of higher education’s enduring questions is about the proper role of faculty. The debate is growing hotter, as increased activism by some faculty … Continue reading “Defining Faculty Roles: Scholarship Only, Activism on Your Own Time”
The college campus is increasingly a focal point for shaping social norms, largely a result of rising college attendance; only five percent of the generation that came of age in the 1930s were college graduates, as opposed to roughly a third of millennials. Sometimes, however, this shaping is not always an improvement. In recent years, … Continue reading “The Dictatorship of the Offended”