Biden’s draft Title IX rule would allow the single-investigator model. Should it?
"Despite these flaws, the Biden administration is poised to once again allow colleges to use single-investigator frameworks. Last month, the U.S. Department of Education introduced a draft Title IX rule that would pull back the regulation mandating that institutions hold live hearings to adjudicate sexual misconduct cases. Instead, colleges could devise their own systems within the draft rule’s confines, which could be a version of the single-investigator model. " - Higher Ed Dive, 7/5/22
Calling It Quits
"While clear data are elusive, there is emerging evidence that institutions are seeing greater-than-usual faculty turnover. According to Inside Higher Ed’s 2022 Survey of College and University Chief Academic Officers, 19 percent of provosts say faculty members are leaving at significantly higher rates than in the past. Sixty percent say they are leaving at somewhat higher rates. (The percentages were larger for questions about staff turnover.)" - Inside Higher Ed, 7/5/22
What the Biden administration’s new rules for charter schools say
"The Biden administration is moving to overhaul the federal Charter School Program with new rules finalized last week that make it harder for for-profit organizations to win taxpayer money and require greater transparency and accountability for grant applicants....Charter school supporters strongly objected to a draft set of rules released earlier this year, saying they seemed intended to kill the program outright, which the Education Department denied." - Washington Post, 7/5/22
Hillsdale Leader’s Slurs of Teacher Preparation Stoke Tennessee Controversy
"Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee has come under fire from teacher groups and education leaders in his state for sitting by as the president of Hillsdale College—who is advising him on education policy—referred to teachers as being trained 'in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges.'" - Inside Higher Ed, 7/5/22
Fourth of July Brings Warnings of Our Civics Problem
"A Rasmussen Reports survey released over the Fourth of July weekend finds that only 27 percent of people believe the Founding Fathers would consider the United States a success, down from 34 percent a year ago. A stunning 53 percent now say the Founding Fathers -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, among many -- would view America as a failure." - National Review, 7/4/22
Can Western Cultural Literacy Make a Comeback?
"Perhaps then we can get back to what Llosa sees as the truest, noblest calling of culture—nourishing our souls while examining the big questions. Despite our vast scientific and technical knowledge, Llosa argues, 'We have never been so confused about certain basic questions such as what are we doing on this lightless planet of ours, if mere survival is the sole aim that justifies life, if concepts such as spirit, ideals, pleasure, love, solidarity, art, creation, beauty, soul, transcendence still have meaning and, if so, what these meanings might be?'" - American Greatness, 7/4/22
The National Academies Have Abandoned the Sciences
"The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently held an event titled: 'Structural Racism and Rigorous Models of Social Inequity.' The two-day conference seemed less of a workshop, as was advertised, and more of a struggle session against enemies of 'equity.' The main takeaway from this event was that we must implement critical race theory (CRT) into every facet of science. This conclusion was not drawn from inference. Throughout the conference, multiple speakers advocated explicitly for the use of critical race theory. By doing so, however, one must ask: Have the National Academies abandoned the sciences altogether?" - American Greatness, 7/3/22
Supreme Court Decision Advances Educational Freedom
"Last week, the Supreme Court delivered three decisions that have the Left in a snit of epic proportions. On Friday, the Court decided there is no constitutional right to an abortion, and threw Roe v. Wade into the trashcan. The prior day, the justices made clear that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense. And on Tuesday, in Carson v. Makin, the Supremes asserted that if a state subsidizes private education, it cannot disqualify religious schools." - American Greatness, 7/3/22
Former Georgetown Tennis Coach Sentenced to More Than 2 Years in Varsity Blues Case
"A former Georgetown University head tennis coach who pleaded guilty last fall to accepting bribes to help prospective students gain admission to the school was sentenced Friday to more than two years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts. The sentencing of the coach, Gordon Ernst, 54, of Chevy Chase, Md., and Falmouth, Mass., to 30 months represented the harshest punishment issued so far in the federal investigation known as Operation Varsity Blues, which has focused on the payment of bribes by wealthy parents in order to have their children admitted to elite colleges." - New York Times, 7/2/22
In trainings, Florida tells teachers that religion belongs in public life
"New civics training for Florida public school teachers comes with a dose of Christian dogma, some teachers say, and they worry that it also sanitizes history and promotes inaccuracies. Included in the training is the statement that it is a 'misconception' that 'the Founders desired strict separation of church and state.'" - Washington Post, 7/2/22
In “What Is It about Liberal Arts,” (Minding the Campus, 26 September), I recounted the “incidentism” that is driving the powers that be at Hamilton College to the creation of a Cultural Education Center at the behest of social justice activists. Trustees meetings have just concluded; a faculty meeting occurred yesterday. What have we found out from the powers that be?
President Joan Hinde Stewart on 6 October: “As Trustees arrived at Buttrick Hall for the Saturday meeting, student members of the Social Justice Initiative presented them with copies of a petition with 371 signatures. The key point was a proposal for a cultural education center. Chairman A.G. Lafley told the students that he is strongly committed to inclusiveness and that their ideas will be considered as the strategic planning process moves forward. Board members commented on the politeness and demeanor of the students.”
From the Hamilton College Website, 6 October:
“Members of the Social Justice Initiative, a Hamilton College student organization formed in 2007, presented copies of a petition with approximately 370 signatures to members of the college’s Board of Trustees as they arrived for their quarterly meeting on campus Saturday, Oct. 4. The key point was the students’ proposal of a cultural education center.
The chairman and vice chairman of the Board, as well as the president and other Board members, spoke briefly with the students prior to the meeting in Buttrick Hall. Chairman A.G. Lafley told the students that he is strongly committed to inclusiveness and that their ideas will be part of the consideration set as the strategic planning process moves forward. Board members commented on the politeness and demeanor of the students. Lafley also held an open hour with students on Thursday, Oct. 2, and several members of the SJI talked with him then about a cultural education center.
It was the second recent Board weekend when the students had direct conversations with trustees about their sense of what is needed on campus. In March, members of the Social Justice Initiative were invited to meet with the Board’s Committee on Student Affairs.”
From the results of yesterday’s faculty meeting:
In the midst of the worst economic crisis in our lifetime, both the president and the dean announce that one of the most “salient” issues for Hamilton’s board of trustees is the establishment of the Social Justice Initiative’s Cultural Education Center.
As one of my distinguished colleagues put it, It’s as if “our colleagues are [content] rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”