Commentary: Reforming American Higher Education: Intended and Unintended Consequences

May 30, 2023 1 min read

By Todd J. Zywicki
Minding the Campus

Excerpt: Identifying the problems does not answer the more important question: what is to be done? What practical, real-world policy responses are available that might arrest, then reverse, the decline of modern American higher education? And, equally important, what policy proposals will not have unintended consequences that will actually make matters worse?

Consider, for example, the origin text of the modern academic reform movement, William F. Buckley’s God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom” (1951). To say that the ideas Buckley critiqued are still prevalent on modern American campuses would be an understatement. Less appreciated is that Buckley’s proposed reform—electing CEOs to the board—has likely exacerbated rather than reversed this trend.

Click here for link to full article

Leave a comment


Also in National Free Speech News & Commentary

US Department of Education Announces Investigations of Five Campuses

February 04, 2025 1 min read

Jennifer Ruth 
Academe Blog 

Excerpt: Yesterday, the Department of Education announced investigations into Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, explaining that “widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported” at these five institutions.

Given the confusion that reigns in and over higher education today, it’s worth trying to think this through a bit.

Read More
Diversity officers and professors sue to block Trump’s DEI orders

February 03, 2025 1 min read

Julian Mark 
New York Times

Excerpt: A coalition of professors, diversity officers and restaurant worker advocates filed a federal lawsuit Monday in a bid to block President Donald Trump’s executive orders that target diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the U.S. government, the private sector and academia, alleging that he exceeded his authority in issuing them.

Read More
Commentary: A new era of government censorship has dawned

January 31, 2025 1 min read

Catherine Rampell
Washington Post

Excerpt: Amid all the noise, an eerie hush is spreading across America. Companies, scientific researchers and Trump critics are clamming up as the MAGA movement ushers in a new era of government censorship.

On Day 1, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” This might have sounded like banal lip service, reaffirming commitment to the First Amendment. In reality, it was the start of an Orwellian effort to root out wrongthink from government ranks and the private sector.

Read More