Category: Education (higher ed)
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Kalven Principles for UVa?
by James A. Bacon Five years ago, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan took to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter to comment upon the horrific murder of 11 Jews in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh by a white nationalist. “This kind of hate and violence goes against everything this country…
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Does UVa Need to Charge Higher Tuition to Keep Pay Competitive?
by James A. Bacon The Ryan administration notched up two big wins in the University of Virginia Board of Visitors meeting Thursday and Friday. It pushed through 3% tuition increases for the next two academic years and it framed the budgetary debate to its advantage. Rather than engaging in a wide-ranging discussion of how UVa…
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Insufferable and Dangerous Nonsense in Academia – Antisemitism Sector
by James C. Sherlock I read this morning in the latest issue of Chronicle of Higher Education a particularly smarmy article by a Keith E. Whittington. He is, among other things, “professor of politics at Princeton University and founding chair of the Academic Committee of the Academic Freedom Alliance”. Good to know. He addressed in…
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VCU Undergoes Intensive Self-Examination
by James A. Bacon As students gravitate to degree programs in business, engineering, and health professions with better defined career paths, Virginia Commonwealth University is asking some fundamental questions. The intensive self-analysis could result in the merger of struggling departments or the creation of entirely new ones. “The question is, are we positioned to serve…
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part Four – Chronic Absenteeism, Social Promotion, VTSS and UVa’s Ed School
by James C. Sherlock There is a rule: nothing else schools do will matter much for kids who are chronically absent. In Charlottesville, it is the Black children who dominate the chronic absenteeism statistics. Their SOL performance validates the rule. The process for preventing and dealing with chronic absenteeism within the school system is so…
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Fear and Loathing of Youngkin’s Higher Ed Policy
by James A. Bacon In early October Governor Glenn Youngkin asked Attorney General Jason Miyares for a formal opinion on a seemingly innocuous question: whose interests are members of Virginia’s public university governing boards supposed to represent? Miyares responded that the “primary duty” of the boards of visitors is to the commonwealth, not to the…
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Everyone Loves Free Speech… In Theory
by James A. Bacon Governor Glenn Youngkin outlined yesterday his vision for colleges and universities in Virginia as bastions of free speech and intellectual diversity where people come together to devise solutions to society’s most pressing problems. “How do we ask serious questions and foster informed debate so we can get to answers?” he asked…
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part Two – Black Students
by James C. Sherlock What drew me to this story is the fact that Black students in Charlottesville City Schools (CCS) have suffered to a degree unequaled elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Keeping in mind the domination of Charlottesville and its schools by the University of Virginia and its School of Education and Human Development discussed…
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“Who Exactly Is the University of Virginia Protecting?”
by James A. Bacon A week ago The Jefferson Council publicly questioned the decision to withhold publication of the investigation into the University’s failure to prevent the Nov. 13, 2022, mass shooting. We were particularly perplexed by who made the decision to delay release of the report until after the trial of the defendant, Christopher…
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part One – Bad things Happen
by James C. Sherlock In the relationship between Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, very bad things have happened to Charlottesville and continue to do so. I have developed a working thesis on that relationship. The city is at the mercy of the University by virtue of the latter’s wealth, influence, and power in Charlottesville…
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Tuition as Engine of Wealth Redistribution
by James A. Bacon When Congress adjusts the tax code to promote income redistribution between the rich and poor, a debate plays out in the national media. When universities adjust their tuition to promote income redistribution, by contrast, the process is so shrouded in secrecy that the public has no idea it’s occurring. That process…
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UVa Picks Baltimore City Schools CEO to Feature in “Exploring New Frontiers for K-12 Systems Transformation.” Seriously.
by James C. Sherlock I try to keep up in the field of education. That led me to read “Exploring New Frontiers for K-12 Systems Transformation” produced by the UVa Partnership for Leaders in Education (UVA-PLE), a long-existing joint project of the Darden School of Business and the School of Education and Human Development. I…
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Will the Public Ever Get to See the Mass-Shooting Report?
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia will delay the release of an external investigation into the Nov. 13, 2022, mass shooting that resulted in three deaths and two woundings until after the trial of Christopher Jones, the UVa student charged with the crime. “After conferring with counselors and Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim…
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The Suppressed Report on the UVa Murders
by James C. Sherlock President James Ryan of the University of Virginia has decided to suppress the results of a written request that he and the Rector made to the Attorney General …to conduct an independent review of the University’s response to the shooting, as well as the efforts the University undertook in the period…
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Bari Weiss: “You are the Last Line of Defense”
by James C. Sherlock Video courtesy of the Free Press. See that link for a full transcript. I recommend it to everyone. Bari Weiss recently delivered a speech that will be long remembered. She offered eloquence in the service of experience, sorrow and determination. And defined the internal, and existential, threat to America. I will…