Higher Ed
What’s happening in higher education.
The SAT Isn’t What’s Unfair
In this piece, the writer argues, “The SAT doesn’t create inequalities…It reveals them. Throwing the measurement away doesn’t remedy underlying injustices in children’s academic opportunities, any more than throwing a thermometer away changes the weather.”
Closing the Racial Academic Achievement Gap
Creswell asks (and answers): Who is responsible for closing the racial achievement gap? In a powerful piece that implicates universities in perpetuating inequities, Creswell puts the responsibility to achieve on individuals. According to Glenn Loury: “Wonderful essay. Should be required reading everywhere!”
Test Scores Count Again at MIT
“The attack on merit and achievement has gained steam as more American universities have abandoned standardized test scores as an admissions requirement. So congratulations to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
The Campus Courage Crisis
New England Board of Education
Vitale dissects the idea of “courage” in today’s outrage culture, juxtaposing the Yale Law School protesters to UVA’s Emma Camp.
We are reinstating our SAT/ACT requirement for future admissions cycles
MIT’s Dean of Admissions announces that MIT is reinstating the SAT/ACT requirement, citing the tests’ ability to predict academic preparedness.
A Message From Yale Law School’s Dean Gerken
Dean Gerken sent a strong message to YLS students, staff, and faculty regarding protests that disrupted an event hosted by the Federalist Society student group with the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Free speech doesn’t mean hecklers get to shut down campus debate
Dean of Berkeley Law and Chancellor of the University of California at Irvine decry recent campus incidents aimed at silencing viewpoints.
Resistance is rising to colleges’ race and sex discrimination
An attorney documents a marked increase in Title IX and Title VI violations in higher education and an increase in lawsuits.
The College-Admissions Process Is Completely Broken
Selingo argues that the current application process is in desperate need of an overhaul: “While piles of applications and an ultra-low acceptance rate are certainly marks of popularity [Harvard accepted a record low 3.19% this year] , these things are in truth indications of a poorly designed system in need of long-overdue improvements.”
Mob Rule and Cancel Culture at Hastings Law School
Ilya Shapiro recounts the mob shutting down his March 2022 talk at Hastings Law School: “I’ve given more than 1,000 speeches in my career, and I’d never been protested—until March 1, when dozens of students shut down my event.”
Faculty Oppose “Ethnic Studies” Requirement for UC System Admissions
The University of California system is proposing a political indoctrination course as a prerequisite for admission. Faculty wrote a letter in opposition.
America's Largest System of Higher Education Proposes Political Litmus Tests
National Association of Scholars
In March 2022, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office announced a policy proposal that would formally establish '“DEI competencies” as a condition for promotion, tenure and evaluations.
The Takeover of America's Legal System
A groundbreaking piece on how the legal system in America is at risk of becoming “a totalitarian nightmare.” For anyone in the legal profession, or anyone interested in the future of American democracy, this piece by Sibarium is must-read.
Yale Law Students for Censorship
A recent protest by Yale Law School students prompted a Senior Judge to write a letter asking fellow judges to reconsider rewarding protesters with clerkships. The WSJ ed board warns, “Judge Silberman’s letter should, if nothing else, warn these students that there may be consequences for becoming campus censors.”
Hundreds of Yale Law Students Disrupt Bipartisan Free Speech Event
When the Federalist Society chapter at YLS hosted a bipartisan panel on civil liberties, more than 100 law students disrupted the event, attempting to drown out speakers and intimidate attendees.
Is Self-Censorship Taking Over Universities?
In this Future View, students from various universities discuss self-censorship.
‘An Elaborate New Decorum Has Crept In’
Senior Editor Gutkin interviews David Bromwich, English professor at Yale, on politics, manners, and the therapeutics of identity in universities today, 30 years after publication of Bromwich’s Politics by Other Means: Higher Education and Group Thinking.
Campus Free Speech Can’t Survive Cultural Change
In response to Emma Camp’s NYT op-ed, David French writes that when it comes to protecting free speech, the First Amendment is necessary, but not sufficient—”A nation that values free speech should protect both the law and the culture of free speech…a nation that turns its heart away from free speech and open debate is a nation that will eventually change its laws. The First Amendment can’t protect free speech all by itself.”
I Came to College Eager to Debate. I Found Self-Censorship Instead.
“I went to college to learn from my professors and peers. I welcomed an environment that champions intellectual diversity and rigorous disagreement. Instead, my college experience has been defined by strict ideological conformity.”
Heterodox Academy Campus Expression Survey Report
HxA released its 2021 Campus Expression Survey measuring the extent to which college students feel comfortable or reluctant discussing various topics on campus.