Academe Today

Leadership

A Stunning Ouster in Tennessee Gets Ugly and Feels Like Political Payback

During her short tenure as the flagship’s chancellor, Beverly Davenport ran afoul of conservatives over “Sex Week,” outsourcing of campus labor, and gay rights. She also presided over a botched search for a football coach.

Fund Raising

Why George Mason’s Agreements With the Koch Foundation Raised Red Flags

Both the university and the foundation say newly released documents from 2003 through 2011 do not reflect how they now go about financial partnerships. But the agreements show why faculty critics were concerned about donors’ influence in hiring decisions.

Students

Internet Outrage Machine Says UT-Austin Sees Masculinity as a Mental Disorder, and University Shifts to Damage Control

The Texas flagship campus’s recently launched MasculinUT program happens to be housed at its counseling and mental-health center. But that was enough to set off online hysteria.

From the Archives

The Fight Against ‘Toxic Masculinity’

New strategies prompt male students to question skewed notions of manhood.

Research

U. of Illinois at Chicago Officials Defend Handling of Researcher’s Misconduct

A ProPublica Illinois report revealed last week that a federal agency had ordered the university to repay $3.1 million that had been given to a psychiatrist to study bipolar disorder among children.

The Adult Student: The Population Colleges — and the Nation — Can’t Afford to Ignore

America’s adult students have long been an afterthought in higher education. But demographic changes and economic pressures will soon require institutions to expand their horizons. This Chronicle report explores the growing imperative for colleges to support the adult-student movement.

Advice

Scholars Talk Writing: Do Book Editors Do Much Editing?

A new essay collection on “what editors do” is an essential read for anyone who hopes to get published.

Lingua Franca

Watergate, Weinergate, and Windrush: the Naming of Political Scandals

Geoff Pullum tracks some of the word-formation processes involved in the coining of names for new media firestorms.