Trump’s Cornell University Deal Leaves a ‘Zombie’ DEI Agenda Ready to Rise From the Dead
Cornell University’s deal with President Donald Trump, announced Friday, ended the administration’s civil rights investigations into the school — and left Cornell’s destructive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion agenda diminished, but not destroyed. What remains of Cornell’s DEI apparatus now resembles a zombie: It exists but is not quite alive. And it could yet resurrect itself. […]
The First University has Admitted to Race-Based Hiring
The University of Virginia’s interim president and Board of Visitors have been widely criticized by the left for their standstill agreement with the Justice Department, in which the university agreed, most notably, not to take race into account in admissions and employment decisions. In exchange, the Justice Department is suspending a handful of civil rights […]
From the Monthly Forum: UVA rejects Trump administration compact for preferential funding
This article was highlighted in last night’s AFSA Members Forum discussion. We hope you’ll join us for the next session to be part of the conversation. After mulling its response for a few weeks, UVA in mid-October became the fifth school to decline a Trump administration compact promising preferential treatment in return for committing to […]
At Harvard Talk, Princeton President Says Colleges Should Set Clear Time, Manner, Place Rules for Protests
Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber said at Harvard talk on Wednesday that universities should enforce clear time, place, and manner rules against student protesters — and refuse to negotiate with activists while they are violating university rules. The Princeton president’s talk, which was moderated by Harvard College Dean David J. Deming drew dozens of […]
The Push for Viewpoint Diversity Misses the Point
Much of the controversy around the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” has focused on its push for viewpoint diversity and the claim that open inquiry does not exist in our classrooms. That push builds on a long-standing conservative critique that today makes hay out of the fact that the vast majority […]
No, Heckling Is Not Protected Speech
Recent essay in these pages by Charles F. Walker posits that the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s rankings don’t actually measure the speech climate of college campuses because they penalize colleges for disruptive speech that is constitutionally protected. Walker’s argument is rooted in a number of misconceptions, not the least of which is that […]
Colleges Face a Financial Reckoning. The University of Chicago Is Exhibit A.
The school that produced Milton Friedman and 34 other Nobel Prize-winning economists is struggling to manage its pocketbook. The University of Chicago ran budget deficits for 14 years straight, spending big on new labs, dorms and technology to raise its profile and enrollment. Now it’s facing a financial reckoning. Over the summer, university leaders said […]
Harvard says it’s been giving too many A grades to students
More than half of the grades handed out at Harvard College are A’s, an increase from decades past even as school officials have sounded the alarm for years about rampant grade inflation. About 60% of the grades handed out in classes for the university’s undergraduate program are A’s, up from 40% a decade ago and […]
‘Too woke’: Former provost talks with TransparUNCy about free speech in higher ed
Former Provost Christopher Clemenssat down with Toby Posel, the co-founder of the student organization TransparUNCy, 16 days after suing the University and all 14 members of the UNC Board of Trustees, to discuss contentious conflicts in higher education and their implications for free speech. The panel took place on UNC’s First Amendment Day. The event, […]
The Ideal of the University
Philosophy Professor Jennifer A. Frey of the University of Tulsa delivered a lecture on October 21, 2025 titled “What is a University and How Can We Recover It?” as part of the James Madison Program’s Stuart Lecture Series on Institutional Corruption in America. Professor Frey explored the historical vocation of the university and the crisis […]
