Academe Today

Campus Climate

U. of Oklahoma Official Hired in Wake of Racist Fraternity Chant Says He Was Forced Out

Jabar Shumate, a former state lawmaker, says the university was becoming “a national model” for diversity. Instead, it ousted him in a “high-tech lynching” and might welcome the fraternity back.

Public Opinion

Republicans and Democrats Both Think Higher Ed’s on the Wrong Track — for Very Different Reasons

Sixty-one percent of Americans think higher education is going in the wrong direction, according to a new poll.

On Leadership

UC-Irvine Chancellor on Sessions’ ‘Snowflakes’ Comment: ‘Calling Each Other Names’ Isn’t Productive

Howard A. Gillman, a noted First Amendment scholar on the University of California campus, also talks about the security costs associated with protests and visiting speakers as a big problem for colleges.

Politics and Culture

2 Museums Wanted to Spark Dialogue With Provocative Art. They’re Handling That Very Carefully.

At the Universities of Kansas and Texas at Austin, recent exhibitions show how colleges can craft educational experiences around difficult works.

Teaching

A Crowdsourced Tool Helps Princeton Students Learn the ‘Invisible Rules’ of College

Principedia has information on about 200 courses: instruction, assignments, and other things students can consider when registering.

Expansion

Paul Quinn, Lauded for Its Work-College Model, Will Open a Second Campus

The new location, in Plano, Tex., is the first in a promised “national network of urban work colleges,” says its president, Michael J. Sorrell.

Leadership Insights: Innovation

Our latest booklet aims to help college leaders build a culture of innovation on their campuses. It includes examples of how colleges are developing and implementing new approaches; tips on what it takes to be an innovative president; and ways to look for ideas outside of higher ed. Buy your copy in the new Chronicle Store.

Advice

How to Teach Information Literacy in an Era of Lies

Whatever your discipline, you should also be teaching students how to understand, assess, evaluate, and apply information.

Lingua Franca

‘Log Cabin and Hard Cider’: Nasty Criticism Can Be Just What a President Needs

Allan Metcalf notes how William Henry Harrison benefited from just such contempt from “the elite” in the presidential election of 1840. Not that this could have any application nowadays.