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Jessica Blake
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: The Trump administration’s landmark settlement with Columbia University threatens the institution’s independence and academic freedom, higher education experts say. Many warn that the agreement marks a threat not only to higher education, but also to democracy at large.
Higher education faculty, legal experts and free speech advocates say the settlement is unlawful, pointing to the quick investigation, vague allegations and unprecedented way federal funds were retracted before Columbia had a chance to appeal. Some went as far as to compare the executive actions to past power grabs by authoritarian leaders in countries like Hungary, Turkey and Brazil.
Samuel A. Church and Cam N. Srivastava
Harvard Crimson
Excerpt: Harvard College will close its offices for minority students, LGBTQ students, and women and fold their staff and programs into a new center within the Office of Culture and Community, according to a Wednesday message from College Dean David J. Deming.
In place of the three centers, the College will establish the “Harvard Foundation” within the recently-formed OCC, under the College’s Dean of Students Office. Current staff from the Harvard College Women’s Center, Office for BGLTQ Student Life, and Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations will be reassigned to the Foundation. Roughly 50 employees worked at the three offices, including more than 15 student interns, according to archived versions of their websites.
Autumn Billings
Reason
Excerpt: Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched an investigation into Harvard University's compliance with the government-run visa program for international students and professors on Wednesday—the latest flashpoint in the ongoing feud over campus control.
In a letter reviewed by The New York Times, Rubio demanded records related to the school's participation in the Exchange Visitor Program, a program designed to promote educational and cultural exchange by bringing scholars and students to the United States for teaching and researching opportunities. "In a statement, Mr. Rubio said the investigation was aimed at verifying that the visa program does not 'compromise the national security interests of the United States,'" reported the Times.
Josh Moody
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: Columbia University has agreed to a $200 million settlement with the federal government after months of scrutiny over how it handled pro-Palestinian student protests and campus antisemitism.
The long-rumored deal was announced by acting president Claire Shipman Wednesday night. “This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” Shipman said. “The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track. Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest.”
Walter Olsen
The Unpopulist, Substack
Excerpt: Billing itself as the “Manhattan Statement,” the new manifesto was sponsored by the New York-based Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. (I was affiliated with the Institute for many years, through 2010; so far as I know I haven’t met the drafters of this document). One of its promoters has labeled it “a program of national reform.”
What is distinctive about the Manhattan Statement is not that it calls for reforming universities; others regularly call for that. In fact, many of its reforms, considered at a vague and aspirational enough level of abstraction, are neither new nor even particularly controversial. What stands out is by whom and by what means the manifesto proposes to impose the changes.
John Tomasi
Heterodox Academy
Excerpt: Last week, the Manhattan Institute issued a statement on university reform, calling on the “President of the United States to draft a new contract with the universities.” Many of the signatories hold university and faculty appointments. Two days after the statement was issued, UATX President Carlos Carvalho responded with a forceful endorsement of the statement, which has led to controversy that has already prompted the resignation of Lawrence H. Summers from that institution’s board of advisors.
The Manhattan Institute statement’s recommendations for university reform are not novel; in fact, they are similar to a number of the reforms HxA recommended last month in our Open Inquiry U Reform Agenda. But there are important distinctions between the two reform agendas that must be explicitly called out.
