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Erin Shaw and Nicole Barbaro Simovski, Ph.D
Free the Inquiry, Heterodox Academy
Excerpt: A new report from education consulting firm EAB documenting results from a survey of thousands of high school students and first-year college students shows a worrying trend for viewpoint diversity on college campuses: prospective college students are intentionally self-sorting into ideologically aligned universities.
The data reveal that 29% of prospective first-year college students reported removing a college from their “might apply” lists based on political reasons. More students dropped potential colleges for being “too conservative” or being in a Republican-controlled state than for being “too liberal.” The report also notes that higher-income students were more likely than others to remove colleges across all political reasons.
Josh Moody
Inside Higher Ed
Excerpt: Jim Ryan’s decision last month to step down as president of the University of Virginia in the face of pressure from the Trump administration drew renewed attention to the political appointees steering the public institution who will pick the next campus leader.
Multiple onlookers blamed Ryan’s resignation at least partly on the university’s Board of Visitors, which has been dramatically reshaped over the last three-plus years by Republican governor Glenn Youngkin’s appointments. Since taking office in 2022, Youngkin has stocked the board with former GOP lawmakers, Republican donors and members of the Jefferson Council, a conservative alumni group that called for Ryan’s ouster.
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.
