Debt Relief Heads to Supreme Court
"The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the Biden administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans for eligible Americans is legal. ... Oral arguments in the case will be held in February as part of the court’s current session; meanwhile, the injunction remains in place, according to the court’s announcement Thursday." – Inside Higher Ed, 12/2/22
An American Law School, Then and Now
"50 years ago, I was a first-year student at the University of Texas School of Law. Then, it occupied about the same place in the hierarchy of American law schools that it does now: not at the very top but in the top 10 percent. Yet it is a profoundly different school today." – James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, 12/2/22
Can ‘Dirty Money’ Pollute Climate Scholarship?
"Higher education climate and sustainability initiatives have proliferated in recent years, buoyed by eager donors with deep pockets and aspirations of averting climate catastrophe. This renaissance is also reigniting a debate over the consequences of accepting funding for climate research from fossil fuel companies ... " – Inside Higher Ed, 12/2/22
Applying to College, and Trying to Appear ‘Less Asian’
"Asian Americans are a hugely diverse, complicated group, and students don’t fit into cookie-cutter stereotypes. But in the high-stakes competition for spots at elite colleges, in which so much of an applicant’s life must be boiled down to 500 or so words, many Asian American students are acutely aware of what not to be." – New York Times, 12/2/22
As enrollment falls and skepticism grows, some colleges are cutting prices
"Bright fall hues and neatly manicured lawns frame redbrick buildings and a white wooden church steeple on a peaceful New England main street with a view of the White Mountains in the distance. It’s an unlikely setting for a high-stakes gamble that could help drive dramatic change to a contentious issue: how, and how much, Americans pay to get a higher education." – Washington Post, 12/2/22
Grand Canyon U Loses Lawsuit Against Education Department
"A federal district judge in Arizona ruled Thursday that the U.S. Department of Education acted lawfully when it denied Grand Canyon University’s request to be considered a nonprofit institution under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965." – Inside Higher Ed, 12/2/22
Biden's gender transition proposal cements school-to-clinic pipeline
"In July, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a proposal for new rules under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. If passed, the rules would, among other things, ramp up the pressure on school districts to adopt policies that will facilitate students’ gender transitions, even without the knowledge or consent of their parents." – Fox News, 12/1/22
Naval Academy Withholding Diplomas from Unvaccinated Midshipmen, Lawmakers Say
"Representative Greg Steube (R., Fla.) blasted the U.S. Naval Academy on Thursday after one of his constituents claimed she has been told she needs a Covid-19 vaccine to graduate. 'Think about spending four years of your life in college and then not even being able to get a degree for the work that you’ve done,' Steube said ... " – National Review, 12/1/22
Michigan State trustee resigns over transparency, Title IX concerns
"Michigan State University trustee Pat O’Keefe resigned Wednesday, alleging a lack of transparency around the way the board and university handled personnel and Title IX cases. In his resignation letter, O’Keefe raised concerns over the university’s choice to fire Sanjay Gupta, who was dean of its business school before being ousted after allegedly failing to report a sexual misconduct incident." – Higher Ed Dive, 12/1/22
Colleges Turn to Segregation to Solve Racial Ills
"What was once discarded as an embarrassing remnant of the Jim Crow era has now become de rigueur on college campuses, returning in the form of 'affinity groups,' racially separate housing arrangements, and segregated theatrical performances." – National Review, 12/1/22
Just to clarify: Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a separate institution. The President of Pomona College would have no say in the hiring of the CMC dean.
My alma mater. Ranked #1 US college/university by Forbes this year. Under no circumstances should Oxtoby accede to the mob. Pomona has the 5th largest endowment per student. Ill-advised actions could jeopardize alumni support.
Compared to what some student groups are demanding, this doesn’t really seem all that bad. A few rainbow unicorns, and, of course, lost of things that will cost some money, but much of what they want is provided by other expensive schools of Pamona’s caliber.
Diversity and inclusion officer-it’s getting pretty standard
Increased funding for mental health-I am personally quite ambivalent about campus mental health, especially now that so many insurance plans cover private mental health. Campus mental health center staff are university employees. Ask the University of Oregon how that one is working out. Still, beefing up mental health services on campus is pretty routine.
Counselors trained in gay and trans issues-setting aside my personal grievance that this fails to acknowledge that bisexuals are a distinct category (tee hee!!), I think it would be very easy to find gay/trans-issue trained counselors who would be happy to work at a university
Half of all tenure-track faculty positions going to underrepresented groups: Not. Going. To. Happen. And it it is not a realistic demand. The only caveat is that there are so few tenure track job offers these days that it might be easier than I think. But in any case, hiring should not be constrained by demands that are so divorced from reality.
Native American Studies department-Personally, not a big fan of “studies” departments, but this is pretty par for the course at expensive liberal arts colleges
Student representation at Dean of Students hiring-when appropriately managed (representatives are vetted, not so much for opinions as for professionalism and leadership potential, student voice is not over-represented), this is just good practice, and an educational opportunity for students
President meeting with people-again, just good practice, and an educational opportunity for students
So this is it, then? The domino effect, one university after another falling as it capitulates to the demands of a bunch of spoiled, narcissistic “victims”?
Pathetic.