Detoxifying Toxicity in American Education

The issue of toxicity in American culture runs the gamut. From sexist accusations toward men to the haughty denunciations of so-called elites of those not as fortunate, it is prevalent and problematic. Toxicity is prevalent because it seems to be pervasive in all corners of American society. It is problematic because American culture has rapidly shifted […]

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Message for UATX Polaris Project: Build Now

The University of Austin (UATX) differs from other elite universities in several ways. Yet, on many of those dimensions, UATX is similar to other individual schools. The University of Chicago is just as committed to free expression. Caltech is just as dismissive of intercollegiate athletics. UATX’s Polaris Project, on the other hand, is like nothing […]

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The Electoral College Is a Shield Against Tyranny

Having witnessed profound political changes under America’s first “Common Man” president – Andrew Jackson, Alexis de Tocqueville issued stern warnings against the “tyranny of the majority” in his otherwise glowing account of American Democracy: If liberty is ever lost in America, it will be necessary to lay the blame on the omnipotence of the majority […]

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‘Diversity Is Important?’ That Doesn’t Cut it at University of Oregon.

In today’s academic hiring process, “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) statements are a common requirement for faculty hiring across the United States.  As seen in a rubric obtained by Minding the Campus through a public records request, the University of Oregon evaluates DEI statements by awarding points to applicants based on their demonstrated “knowledge” of […]

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Plagiarism, Artificial Intelligence, and the Suicide of the Author

Postmodern philosophers once hailed “the death of the author,” which was part of their strategy to decenter meaning in texts and free culture from the tyranny of metanarratives. Meaning cannot be found in a text without discerning the author’s intentions. All such controls and stipulations should be rejected as authoritarian. Objective meaning must give way […]

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Don’t Like the Electoral College? Move to California.

The decline of civic education in this country has led to an alarming lack of understanding among young people about how our government works. Pair that failure with the leftwing voices in media, government, and academia constantly clamoring about “our democracy,” and it’s easy to see why so many young people today embrace potentially destructive […]

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Academic Fright

My street in the Upper West Side of New York City takes Halloween seriously. A week or more before the kids go trick-or-treating, our block features an abundance of ghoulishly carved pumpkins, life-sized plastic skeletons, and enough gauzy cobwebs to set the stage for a dozen Boris Karloff movies. My forays to the suburbs and […]

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Thomas Jefferson: History’s Greatest Hispanist (Part 1)

Americans think George Ticknor (1791–1871) was their nation’s first Hispanist. They’re wrong; and they overrate the intellect of the Harvard professor. Like his admirers, Ticknor had a linear and encyclopedic mind. We should be grateful—he collected and collated the major texts of the modern history of European literature. But his analysis was buggy, handicapped by […]

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AI’s Tale of Campus Ghost Folklore

Happy Halloween! The National Association of Scholars—which you should join—held its annual board meeting this past weekend in Denver. It was a delight to finally have that long-anticipated conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) with my colleagues—in person. AI is everywhere these days. It makes headlines in higher education as students turn to it for everything […]

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Borrower Defense to Repayment Should Be Abolished

The fight over student loan forgiveness has consumed most of the attention of the higher education policy world, and as a result, other policies are receiving much less attention than they should. One such neglected topic is borrower defense to repayment, which is a method of waiving repayment requirements for student loan borrowers who were […]

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Will the Marketplace of Ideas Promote Campus Free Speech?

The case for vigorous, free-wheeling intellectual debates seems to be making a comeback on today’s campuses. This awakening is particularly evident in the growth of organizations dedicated to building a robust marketplace of ideas ruled by logic and evidence, not violent intimidation. Examples include the Academic Freedom Alliance, the Committee on Open Expression, North Carolina’s […]

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Hochul Report Whitewashes Teachers Union Anti-Semitism

Editor’s Note: Below is an excerpt of the article “Hochul Report Whitewashes Teachers Union Antisemitism,” originally posted on American Spectator on October 29, 2024. It has been edited to match MTC style guidelines. The full essay can be found here.  When New York Gov. Kathy Hochul commissioned a report on the City University of New York’s rampant […]

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American Progressivism v. Racial Justice: A Collision Course

“What kind of a friend could pull a knife When it’s him or you and his kids need shoes? What kind of friend would do you in When the bomb goes off and the shelter’s his? … What kind of friend would tell you lies To spare you from the bitter truth? And what kind […]

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Confronting the Pro-Palestinian Viewpoint

Editor’s Note: Below is a short excerpt from Michelle Kamhi’s essay posted on X. The full essay delves into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly the author’s response to a friend’s pro-Palestinian viewpoint. With permission, this excerpt is crossposted here, as readers of Minding the Campus may find it valuable in addressing campus anti-Semitism and pro-Palestine protests. […]

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Students Need Not Do the Readings, Ever Again

I have always been contemptuous of professors who complain that their students aren’t doing the readings. It is easy to ensure that your students do the reading. Just cold-call them and ask basic questions about the content. My students read the first book of Plato’s Republic last week. Here are some of the questions I asked: […]

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‘Treat Everyone the Same’ Doesn’t Cut It at UMass Chan Medical School

As a medical practitioner applying for a faculty position at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Chan Medical School, it is no longer satisfactory to demonstrate a curriculum vitae of excellent merits in research and medical practice. One must also be actively involved in promoting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) to a level that penalizes individuals […]

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Your Friend, Big Oil

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by the American Postliberal on October 23, 2024. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton progressives have jumped on the climate change rhetoric to explain the disaster. Nowhere do they mention the draining of […]

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Christian Universities: Sink or Swim?

Eastern Nazarene College. Clarks Summit University. The University of Saint Katherine. What do these universities have in common? They were all private Christian colleges. And they were among the latest victims to succumb in the college closure crisis. The recent trend of faith-based university closures is troubling. Young adulthood is an incredibly formidable era, characterized […]

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The Disappearance of the Bookish Kid—and What Colleges Must Do

An article in the Atlantic about college students not reading books got a lot of circulation this month. Even at top schools such as Columbia University, undergraduates struggle with works of more than short-story length. Some of them tell their professors that in all their high school years, they never had to read a hefty book from […]

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Peace, Liberty, and Safety Is All We Really Want

On what was likely a crisp autumn day in Philadelphia in 1774—before muskets and Minutemen—the American colonies chose diplomacy. They sent a carefully crafted petition to King George III, born out of frustration and hope, as a final effort to mend a relationship that had been fraying for years. Their grievances? Numerous. Following the French […]

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