Why Involving Bystanders Isn’t Enough to Combat Sexual Assault Why Involving Bystanders Isn’t Enough to Combat Sexual Assault
Activists say the Obama Administration’s “It’s On Us” campaign falls short of what’s needed to end campus sexual assault.
Sep 24, 2014 / Dani McClain
Our Public Education System Needs Transformation, Not ‘Reform’ Our Public Education System Needs Transformation, Not ‘Reform’
A growing, diverse movement is rejecting market-oriented reforms in favor of education justice.
Sep 24, 2014 / The Editors
5 Books to Build a Movement for Education Justice 5 Books to Build a Movement for Education Justice
A former public school teacher and union organizer picks his favorites.
Sep 24, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Kenzo Shibata
American Education Is Leaving Our Youth With a Debt Sentence American Education Is Leaving Our Youth With a Debt Sentence
How for-profit colleges are allowing Wall Street investors to cash in, at students’ expense.
Sep 22, 2014 / Astra Taylor and Hannah Appel
To Start the Semester, Students Walk Out, Shut Down Traffic and ‘Carry That Weight’ To Start the Semester, Students Walk Out, Shut Down Traffic and ‘Carry That Weight’
Will Koch-allied trustees, state-appointed superintendents or President Obama ever listen to students?
Sep 15, 2014 / StudentNation / StudentNation
Steven Salaita, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Academic Freedom Steven Salaita, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Academic Freedom
Either neither of them have a place on college campuses, or both do.
Sep 15, 2014 / Michelle Goldberg
‘Unhiring’ Steven Salaita ‘Unhiring’ Steven Salaita
In early August, the website Inside Higher Ed reported that at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), an official offer of a tenured professorial appointment had been rescinded by a top administrative officer. That alone would have been unusual, but concerns grew after sources close to the decision-making process reported that Chancellor Phyllis Wise was responding to calls and e-mails about Professor Steven Salaita’s acerbic and emphatic anti-Israel tweets. Once scholars heard of this, protests erupted: 17,000 signatures have been gathered criticizing the decision, and 3,000 professors are boycotting UIUC. The American Association of University Professors issued a statement declaring that social media expression is private and protected speech, and that the use of “civility” as a litmus test—which the university now admits in rescinding the hire of Salaita—is unacceptable. Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! The University of Illinois board of trustees insists that “speech that promotes malice is not an acceptable form of civil argument if we wish to ensure that students, faculty and staff are comfortable in a place of scholarship.” However, the US Department of Education has determined that students’ “comfort” is not as important as free debate. There are three important issues here. First, universities are increasingly being asked to shut down criticism of Israel. Second, a review of Salaita’s teaching evaluations at his former college, Virginia Tech, shows enthusiastic appreciation of his teaching and interactions with students. Hence, the trustees’ decision is based entirely on a hypothetical potential harm to students caused by his allegedly offensive tweets. Third, the chancellor and trustees at UIUC have broken a covenant with their faculty. Faculty governance is the mainstay of the educational process. Many trustees, on the other hand, have no background in higher education; they are there primarily to safeguard and grow the endowment. What is startling about the Salaita case is that the board let its protection of the bottom line completely overshadow the university’s educational mission and hid these financial motives behind the notion of “civility.” Read Next: Noam Chomsky on the BDS movement
Sep 3, 2014 / David Palumbo-Liu
Happy Labor Day, Mom Happy Labor Day, Mom
Education reformers have left out the human dimensions of a harsh labor market where women, like my mother, were regularly punished for not being men.
Aug 30, 2014 / William Greider
Columbia University E-mail Reveals Disdain for Anti-Rape Campus Movement Columbia University E-mail Reveals Disdain for Anti-Rape Campus Movement
Students fighting to improve campus sexual assault policies face indifference—or worse—from administrators.
Aug 29, 2014 / George Joseph
From Ferguson to Miami, a Generation Demands Justice From Ferguson to Miami, a Generation Demands Justice
Michael Brown, John Crawford, Reefa Hernandez—and a national youth movement.
Aug 29, 2014 / StudentNation / StudentNation