Bad Days for Harvard, Good Days for AI and a Whole Lot of Questions about Free Speech
And a ShortStack of Drama from All Over
“Triumphal Pronouncements” and the Fall of Claudine Gay
The Wall Street Journal’s William Galston summed up this month’s Harvard meltdown best with a 75-word sentence of “triumphal pronouncements” by Rep. Elise Stefanik, “culture warrior” Christopher Rufo, “a pained self-justification” from recently resigned (fired) Harvard president Claudine Gay, “a flurry of statements from her archcritic” investor Bill Ackman, “plagiarism charges” against Mr. Ackman’s wife, “accusations of racism from Ms. Gay’s defenders,” and “blow-by-blow inside accounts of the Harvard Corp.’s slow realization that Ms. Gay’s position had become untenable.”
No prisoners were taken in this fight, with Rufo writing “SCALPED” on X (formerly Twitter), “as if Gay was a trophy of violence,” reported the Associated Press, “invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans and also used by some tribes against their enemies.”
And this week, rubbing salt in the wounds, the same House committee that grilled Gay and two other elite college presidents in December, sent a nine-page letter to Harvard with “grave concerns” about the school’s inadequate response to “the anti-Semitism on its campus.”
ChatGPT: Educational Savior or Tool of Alienation?
ChatGPT’s rapid adoption as an education tool continues to produce enthusiastic advocates and dubious naysayers. Sal Khan – chief executive of the free, online Khan Academy that has been used by millions of students – predicts that chatbots will revolutionize education and give “every student on the planet an artificially intelligent but amazing personal tutor.” Education pioneer Paul LeBlanc, who created the online Southern New Hampshire University, said he is disappointed that higher education has not acted faster to adopt and incorporate AI. “Overnight,” he says, “ AI has made almost all curricula out of date.” And the renowned Science journals published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science have just withdrawn their own ban on the use of Chat GPT.
The doubters are still out there. Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin, associate professor of philosophy and director of academic initiatives and strategy at Sam Houston State University in Texas, thinks educators should not use AI. While the new tools improve efficiency, he says, those gains “come at the cost of alienation. Using such tools distances you from others, eliminates your worthwhile engagement in the productive process, and undermines your ability to control and benefit from your own labor.” And Rob Jenkins, an associate professor of English at Georgia State University-Perimeter College, can’t understand all the hoopla. “I have so far in my work been affected by it very little. Although I could be wrong, I don’t expect to be much affected by it in the future.”
Admissions Policies and Practices Still Sailing the High Seas
Despite the earth-shattering affirmative action decision by the Supreme Court last year – or because of it -- college admissions practices continue to be under scrutiny, with concerns about fairness, equity, and efficacy giving ulcers to admissions administrators nationwide. There’s “the legacy advantage”—is it only for alumni's children or does it extend to other relatives?—and whether it needs to be ended. Conflicting information in statements from Boston University led to confusion about the use of legacy preferences at BU – did it ever have a legacy preference? Meanwhile, Wake Forest faced backlash for introducing an early application program for first-generation college students, a move criticized, oddly enough, for disproportionately benefiting wealthier white and international students. Some colleges are turning to direct admissions as a way to tackle admissions concerns, giving quick-decision admissions based on a student’s GPA. Idaho, Minnesota, and Hawai'i have statewide direct admissions programs for public colleges, and the State University of New York just let 125,000 graduating high school students know they were accepted to local community colleges. Meanwhile, thanks to the recent Congressional hearings, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania have seen an uptick in early admissions applications while early admits to Harvard declined by almost 20 percent.
ShortStack
More News From All Over
‘Let’s Talk About Sex’: Free speech group hosts canceled all-female panel affirming biology (The College Fix)
Columbia, Cornell and other schools face U.S. inquiries over alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia (Los Angeles Times)
As the number of foreign graduate students hits an all-time high, international enrollments soar (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Harvard Has a Brand Problem. Here’s How to Fix It. - Keep the endowment, but spin off the university. (The Atlantic)
Censorship Envy (Reason)
Duke Doesn’t Need “Economic Diversity” (The Martin Center)
The Universities That Don’t Understand Academic Freedom (The Atlantic)
Religious Tradition Butts Against Catholic College’s New Trans Policy (Inside Higher Ed)
War in Gaza Fuels Faculty Free Speech Battles (Inside Higher Ed)
The Billionaires Spending a Fortune to Lure Scientists Away From Universities (New York Times)