The following are higher ed-related articles of interest from October 2022. Those of most interest will be detailed in individual postings*

Yale Law School

Under increasing pressure to affirm its values, YLS issued a statement to alumni—”Yale Law School is dedicated to building a vibrant intellectual environment where ideas flourish. To foster free speech and engagement, we emphasize the core values of professionalism, integrity, and respect. These foundational values guide everything we do.”

NY Post

“Two federal judges [Judge Elizabeth Branch and Judge James Ho] have publicly said they will not hire clerks from Yale Law School because of what they view as pervasive ‘cancel culture’ at the prestigious university.”

HKS’s Education Next

Education Next reports on Kissinger’s warnings at September 2022 Council on Foreign Relations Event— “Henry Kissinger, the former national security adviser and secretary of state, is cautioning that if schools and colleges teach too negative a view of American history, it could hurt America’s ability to lead in the world.”

Wall Street Journal

When Sahar Tartak, student government treasurer, didn’t pledge allegiance (and funds) to an anti-racist organization, teachers at her New York high school went after her with inflammatory accusations reminiscent of reeducation regimes.

The following are higher ed-related articles of interest from September 2022. Those of most interest will be detailed in individual postings*

In September 2022, FIRE came out with the 2022 Free Speech Rankings. Harvard ranked 170 out of 203 schools, or the bottom 16% (University of Chicago is #1). Meanwhile, based on FIRE’s data, Eric Kaufmann put together the Viewpoint Diversity Ranking of Leading US Colleges — Harvard ranked 131 out of 159 schools, or the bottom 17%.

Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities

Ten-year blueprint for higher ed with a focus on equity. In the area of Free Speech, the authors write about the issue of trust that needs to built among those who fear being harmed by free speech. Strategies include: Convene panels to model civil, open debate; Nurture habits of discourse in the classroom; Hold formal debates; and, Promote free speech as university and societal ideal.

Wall Street Journal

After Dorian Abbot’s canceled lecture at MIT, “a working group created by the school’s leadership has recently released a report on the subject and is asking faculty to endorse some very sensible ideas” related to free expression and diversity of thought. “The MIT Free Speech Alliance is hailing the administration but also rightly demanding that the ideas in the report be put into practice.”

Times Higher Ed

Harvard alum Samuel Abrams cites FIRE’s 2022 Free Speech Rankings when he explains that “all students are being deprived of the chance to develop the skills needed to navigate a complex world of difference, trade-offs and compromise, the foundation for a successful polity” and that “those who care about the American educational system and the democratic health of the nation should be worried.”

Tablet

A must-read on the power of university administrators taking over everything from admissions to canceling professors in “star chamber-like proceedings.” Case in point re: the latter, “Harvard’s” (i.e. the administrators’) canceling of Ronald Sullivan, Roland Fryer and David Kane. Unbeknownst to outsiders, “The speed of this hostile takeover is astounding” and “parasitic on the mission of the university.”

American Freedom Alliance

Keith Whittington, Princeton professor and AFA Academic Committee member, interviews outgoing Purdue President and academic freedom advocate Mitch Daniels. Daniels provides a model for other universities, including Harvard, for creating a campus climate supportive of free speech, viewpoint diversity and academic freedom.

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is offering a course entitled Angry White Male Studies. “Like it or not, ‘the angry white male’ is a prominent figure in our cultural imagination... Where does he come from? What's he angry about? Is his anger misplaced? Is he blaming the right people? How long has this been going on? Is he a global phenomenon? And how do we move forward? This course seeks to answer these and other questions by exploring the historical background to white male anger in modern America and how it is manifested in the wider world today.”

Chronicle of Higher Ed

Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas has decided not to teach at Georgetown Law School this fall. His decision comes after students protested his presence. After the Dobbs decision, thousands of students signed a petition calling for Thomas to be removed from his position (in addition, Georgetown Law alumni wrote an open letter calling for Thomas’ removal). Despite the pressure campaign, Georgetown Law did not terminate Thomas, citing the tenets of academic freedom and freedom of expression and inquiry.

Academic Freedom Alliance

An excellent long-form interview with Wisconsin professor Donald Downs on academic freedom. Among many topics, he discusses the difference between academic freedom and freedom of speech, threats to academic freedom, the necessity for debate, and intellectual honesty.

Boston Globe

Some experts call the recent slate of college president vacancies, including at Harvard University, “a golden opportunity to diversify the highest levels of higher education…and reshape the leadership of an industry.”

Chronicle of Higher Ed

In this Race on Campus post, Adrienne Lu explains how colleges misrepresent the diversity of their campuses in brochures and other marketing materials. “Colleges have employed various tactics, from offering questionable statistics to digitally altering photographs to replace white faces with brown ones.” The practice is most prevalent in more selective schools.

Chronicle of Higher Ed

A University of Chicago professor of classics and history is the latest voice raising alarms around the firing of tenured Princeton professor Joshua Katz, arguing that it portends the death of tenure and academic freedom. “Tenure ends when the president of the university ‘personally’ finds you not to have exercised your right to free speech ‘responsibly.’”

Joseph Manson

A tenured professor in the UCLA Anthropology Department explains why he’s retiring—”the Woke takeover of higher education has ruined academic life… U.S. higher education is morally and intellectually corrupt, beyond the possibility of self-repair...” He goes on to recount the “public torment and humiliation of one of my colleagues” by “practitioners of ‘critical’ (i.e. far-left postmodernist) anthropology.”

City Journal

UATX’s director of Intellectual Foundations Program details the successful launch of UATX’s Forbidden Courses summer program. Bringing together students from leading colleges and universities, the program lived up to its name. “The disarming power of culture was palpable. Students who had learned to hold their tongues in college classrooms poured forth their souls once the cork of wariness was unstopped.”