Category: Higher Ed

Not Leadership Material? Good. The World Needs Followers. – The New York Times

Whatever the colleges’ intentions, the pressure to lead now defines and constricts our children’s adolescence. One young woman told me about her childhood as a happy and enthusiastic reader, student and cellist — until freshman year of high school, when “college applications loomed on the horizon, and suddenly, my every activity was held up against the holy grail of ‘leadership,’ ” she recalled. “And everyone knew,” she added, “that it was not the smart people, not the creative people, not the thoughtful pe

Source: Not Leadership Material? Good. The World Needs Followers. – The New York Times

Free Speech On College Campuses | WNPR News

I recently appeared on a Connecticut NPR segment about Free Speech on College Campuses

A recent Gallup poll of college students found that a majority of students think that colleges shouldn’t restrict speech on campus just because some political views are controversial or unpopular. But lately, disruptive protests of controversial speakers have again brought the issue of free speech front and center.

Source: Free Speech On College Campuses | WNPR News

Arizona lawmakers Propose Banning Courses on Race

Proposed legislation against “divisive” courses or events at public colleges and universities in Arizona alarmed scholars in that state and elsewhere before the bill reportedly died a quick death Tuesday. The bill was prompted by a course on white studies at Arizona State University and came after a spate of controversies involving scholars of race, many of them white, commenting on white people.

Source: Arizona lawmakers’ failed ban on ‘divisive’ college courses highlights new criticism of white studies

Christi M. Smith Discusses new book about effort to create integrated colleges after the U.S. Civil War

I do think there are a number of concerning parallels and many lessons for our current moment. By the end of the 19th century, a rather chaotic array of colleges and universities had developed into an organizational field with a shared logic: to compete against an ever-increasing number of colleges, types of education should be matched to particular groupings of people as a means to attract donors. Characterized in broad strokes, this resulted in a segmented system of higher education by race, class and gen

Source: Author discusses book about effort to create integrated colleges after the U.S. Civil War

Thurgood Marshall College Fund defends accepting Koch Donation

The Center for Advancing Opportunity is being established in Washington, D.C., to act as a coordinating body and grant administrator. Three HBCUs will be selected in the future to host research centers. The number of on-campus research centers could grow if they’re successful. But mechanisms have not been developed for deciding which institutions receive research centers, which professors receive funding or which students receive scholarship money.

Source: Thurgood Marshall College Fund defends accepting Koch money

University of Southern California creates new Center on Race and Equity

“In the immediate aftermath of the protests at Mizzou and Yale, there were days when the phones were ringing almost nonstop,” Shaun Harper, the center’s executive director, said. “We were getting so many calls from leaders asking, ‘Can you come and do a climate study?’ Spending four days on a campus interviewing hundreds of people is intense. It was getting to the point that we were exceeding our capacity.”

Source: University of Southern California creates new Center on Race and Equity

Why it’s important to talk about successful black and Latino boys

Hardworking” is the most common word the teens interviewed for the report used to identify themselves. For them, success was defined not just by grades and college but the ability to help their families and the people around them.

Source: Why it’s important to talk about successful black and Latino boys

Presidents draw fire for postelection comments

“One of the key tenets of higher education is based on asking the important questions, and that means we have to be willing to work through the tough discussions to find common ground,” Valerio Parrot said. “I do think this is a place where faculty and administrators can set the stage and bring together the various options across campus and show through their leadership how you agree to disagree and still work together.”

Source: Presidents draw fire for postelection comments

Divisions in My Dorm Room – The New York Times

As a student at New York University and the daughter of a civil servant at the United States Department of State, I am familiar with political unrest and its potentially disastrous outcomes in the arms of ignorance and hysteria. I did not hold any particularly strong opinions about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. If I had voted, however, I would have picked Mr. Trump. I was focused on school. I had no idea that a few days later I would be dismissed as a “Trump supporter” and a person of “privilege” who “reflected an us versus them mind-set” in an essay by my college roommate in this publication — an essay that would go viral and change my life.

Source: Divisions in My Dorm Room – The New York Times