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A lawsuit against the Texas A&M system about its policies regarding classes on race and gender raises a consequential question for academic leaders: Who decides what can be taught in college classrooms? https://chroni.cl/4pSaamQ
‘What Are We Even Doing Here?': New Lawsuit Challenges Ban on Race and Gender Topics at Texas A&MPlaintiffs included four faculty members whose courses were canceled or not offered.www.chronicle.comVassar’s proposed $5-million settlement goes beyond back pay. If approved, it would require annual independent pay-equity audits, clearer compensation criteria, and compliance reporting — changes that could resonate across faculty governance and HR offices. https://chroni.cl/4xhPSFR
Vassar Agrees to $5-Million Fund to Settle Suit Claiming Women Were Paid LessFive female professors sued the college in 2023 alleging systemic gender-based discrimination. Under a proposed agreement, the money would be used to compensate 84 full professors.www.chronicle.comAccreditor warns Saint Michael's, Illinois Tech's layoffs come into focus, and U. of Valley Forge to close. https://chroni.cl/4xpdjNL
Enrollment Pressures Squeeze Iowa’s Public UniversitiesAccreditor warns Saint Michael’s, Illinois Tech’s layoffs come into focus, and U. of Valley Forge to close.www.chronicle.comFrom the Archives: Many professors say they’re caught in a hard place: Students are less prepared than before, but failing more of them doesn’t feel like a solution. Some have lowered expectations. Others are trying new grading systems. Is there a solution? https://chroni.cl/4fY9bNE
Grade Inflation Is Called a Crisis. The Real Problem Is Deeper Than That.Students are showing up to college with weaker skills. Colleges need them to succeed. Professors are stuck in the middle.chroni.clAt a South Carolina college, at least 86 grades were raised without faculty knowledge, according to interviews, internal documents and a system report. The case raises questions about faculty authority, student records, and retention pressures. Read the full investigation. https://chroni.cl/4xi6g9w
This College Changed Grades Behind Professors’ Backs. Then Things Got Weirder.The fallout at a South Carolina technical college has laid tensions bare.www.chronicle.comOpinion | As colleges are pressed to justify their work in economic and civic terms, Nir Evron argues for autonomy where universities protect inquiry whose usefulness cannot be specified in advance, and they teach students to see complexity where they once saw certainty. https://chroni.cl/4550YC3
Opinion | The University Is an Asylum for Troublemakers. That’s a Good Thing.Society needs a place for the contained risks of the life of the mind.www.chronicle.comOur reporter spent time at Sacramento State’s Combat U — at cage fights, boxing nights, and in conversations with students, faculty, coaches, and President J. Luke Wood — to understand why a public university is investing in combat sports. https://chroni.cl/4xexRbr
When College Gets GoryOn the campy, violent, inspiring, dismaying, downright-confusing world of Sacramento State’s Combat U.chroni.clNew: Christina H. Paxson said she will step down as the leader of Brown University. Paxson is the longest-serving sitting president at an Ivy League institution. She said she stayed past the original end of her term to help Brown navigate a federal-funding freeze. https://chroni.cl/4qdUdI5
Brown University’s President Will Step Down Next YearChristina H. Paxson, the longest-serving president in the Ivy League, will leave next year; the University of South Florida’s president earns a bonus after six months on the job; and New Hampshire’s u...www.chronicle.comOpinion | A proposed OMB rule would require senior political officials to review and approve scientific grants — a shift the authors say would upend the postwar model behind U.S. research dominance. https://chroni.cl/4bnhyRh
Opinion | Trump’s Proposed Rules for Funding Would Destroy American SciencePolitical appointees, not scientists, may soon determine who gets grants.chroni.clKwame Anthony Appiah’s supplement to the Vanderbilt/WashU report takes up literary studies. Len Gutkin reads it — alongside Gabriel Hankins’s sharper critique. Also in The Review: Alex Byrne on Carole Hooven, legacy admissions in California, and college finances. https://chroni.cl/4qd9HvX
Is Appiah’s Report Apt or Annoying?Plus: A controversial philosopher; legacy admissions; running out of cash.www.chronicle.comBreaking: The Trump administration asked colleges on Monday to commit to a list of reforms by the end of 2026. Among the changes: cracking down on protests, hiring conservative faculty members, reforming admissions, and more. https://chroni.cl/3RwdVBT
Trump Has Released a New ‘Call to Action' for Universities. 4 College Presidents Helped Draft It.Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter Monday imploring colleges to adopt a series of familiar-sounding reforms -- this time, in partnership with leaders in the Association of American Universities.chroni.clLecture-heavy courses are not going away. So, how to make them less passive without redesigning the course? One small midclass interaction — a poll, notes comparison, or revised “Any questions?” strategy — can create roughly 45 engagement points per student over a semester. https://chroni.cl/4xneXzr
Advice | 3 Ways to Liven Up Your LecturesSmall changes that can make a lecture-heavy course more engaging.chroni.clAt Sacramento State, more than 600 students take part in Combat U, a campus program built around boxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts. Its leaders see opportunity, community, and a path into a booming industry. Others ask, "how much violence should a college sponsor?" https://chroni.cl/4pMkEUG
The University Where Students Beat Each Other Up, for ScholarshipsOn the campy, violent, inspiring, dismaying, downright-confusing world of Sacramento State’s Combat U.www.chronicle.comSouthern Oregon University has cut about a third of its faculty and staff positions in three years. Leaders say shrinking further could become “a death spiral.” Their new plan tries a different path: change how a regional public university works. https://chroni.cl/4bpnkSt
What Can a Struggling University Do if It Can’t Cut Any More? Change.Instead of continuing to shrink, Southern Oregon U. is trying to shift how it functions.www.chronicle.comIn a lengthy missive to Congress, Education Secretary Linda McMahon implored lawmakers to support her efforts to wind down her own agency. https://chroni.cl/3TPUEMl
Officials Defend Dismantling of Education Dept. as Senate Advances Bill to Block ItIn a lengthy missive to Congress, Education Secretary Linda McMahon implored lawmakers to support her efforts to wind down her own agency.www.chronicle.comCU Boulder draws 70 percent of its research dollars from government. After federal cuts, the Boulder campus expects more than $60 million less for research — and is trying to build private-sector ties fast. Read what the pivot could mean. https://chroni.cl/4pOqrct
CU Boulder’s $60-Million PivotFederal money built this research powerhouse. Can private industry sustain it?www.chronicle.comThis week in Jagged Intelligence: AI grading is no longer theoretical. Professors and administrators are testing whether the tools can save time, improve feedback, and help instructors adjust their teaching. But many are raising hard questions about bias, privacy, and more. https://chroni.cl/4vZvxnK
Does AI Grading Make the Grade?Plus, the continuing debate over AI detectors.www.chronicle.comThe first day of class shapes how students see you, the course, and the work ahead. Read this practical guide for starting with curiosity, community, learning, and clear expectations: https://chroni.cl/4hIuxkh
How to Teach a Good First Day of ClassThe first day of class is crucial both for your students and for you. This guide will help you make opening day as effective as possible.chroni.clMichael Inzlicht built a career studying prejudice. Then the replication crisis led him to distrust some of his own work. In this essay, he argues that scholars and institutions should draw a sharper line between pursuing justice and determining what evidence shows. https://chroni.cl/3RkSTWP
Opinion | When Bad Research Feels GoodMy work advanced social-justice causes I believed in. There was just one problem.www.chronicle.comIn 2017, Rebecca Tuvel was an untenured philosopher facing calls for an article of hers to be retracted — and for her to lose her job. Now tenured, she reflects on public shaming, what she regrets, and why she believes the experience made her a better philosopher. https://chroni.cl/4w0zloP
Rebecca Tuvel Was Canceled. It Was the Best Thing to Ever Happen to Her.Almost a decade after the “Hypatia Affair” nearly ended her career, the philosopher reflects on public shaming and being a cautionary tale.www.chronicle.com