Graduation Turmoil, Who Wants to be a College President? Paying College Athletes, and Blackballing Law School Grads
In the chaos of Spring 2024, colleges reassess – as do students. What will new job application resumes look like?
GOVERNANCE
Graduation Turmoil: USC Graduation Upended by Protests, Alternative Ceremony Birthed, Biden’s Encouragement Echoes Nationwide
The Beat Goes On: What Will the Resumes Look Like?
USC canceled its main graduation ceremony after earlier protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict led to over 90 arrests. That decision followed the axing of a speech by a pro-Palestinian valedictorian due to safety concerns. The alternative? The sand-and-sun Southern California college proposed smaller ceremonies, explaining, “We understand this is disappointing.” Meanwhile, near Columbia University, 550 students, professors, and religious leaders gathered for “The People’s Graduation,” an alternative ceremony celebrating political expression. It followed the recent violent arrests of protestors in the same area. The event featured speeches by pro-Palestinian activists. Barnard—its faculty is now joined to that of Columbia—professor Manu Karuka, who helped organize the ceremony, said, “We looked through the historical archives for inspiration”; they discovered a 1968 counter-commencement. That event symbolized political expression and solidarity, with participants chanting, “We are dismantling this empire.” In a commencement address to Morehouse College graduates, President Biden praised their resilience and activism. Biden emphasized the importance of their contributions to social change: “Your generation is making its mark."” Amid silent protests Biden brought up the Gaza crisis during his speech, describing the situation as “heartbreaking.” His words resonated with valedictorian DeAngelo “DJ” Fletcher’s urgent plea for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
Sources
U.S.C. Tries to Manage ‘Train Wreck’ of a Graduation (New York Times)
Columbia Professors Host an Alternative Graduation for Students (New York Times)
The People’s Commencement at Columbia (New Yorker)
Invoking Struggle and Faith, Biden Reaches Out at Morehouse (New York Times)
Biden faces silent protests at Morehouse commencement (ABC News)
Further Reading
At Morehouse, Biden says dissent should be heard because democracy is 'still the way’ (NPR)
USC cancels main graduation ceremony (Inside Higher Ed)
Pro-Palestinian Student Protesters Celebrated for ‘Moral Clarity’ at ‘The People’s Graduation’ (Time)
PURPOSE
Anyone Want to Be a College President?
So asked The New York Times in what could be the college-related understatement of the year. Times education reporters Alan Blinder and Stephanie Saul summed up perhaps one of the most tumultuous leadership crises in American higher education in—well, a long time. “Look no further,” they wrote, than the witnesses who testified before the now infamous House Committee on Education and the Work Force on May 23, at the fourth hearing “in a fiery series on campus antisemitism that has helped topple two university presidents” (three counting Martha Pollack at Cornell). There was Jonathan Holloway, “the Rutgers University president and possible contender to succeed the Yale leader who is stepping down next month,” as well as Chancellor Gene Block of UCLA, “who will leave his post in July and hand off his job of 17 years to someone so far unnamed. In most any other era, the next leaders of U.C.L.A. and Yale would have already been announced. But the uncertainties from California to Connecticut show just how complex top campus jobs have become in an environment that has grown increasingly polarized.” To mark the “Anyone Want to Be a College President?” era, and substituting for this week’s Shortstack, we offer an expanded Further Reading today, a wonderful collection.
Sources
Anyone Want to Be a College President? There Are (Many) Openings (New York Times)
Cornell’s President Resigns: ‘There Will Be Lots of Speculation’ (National Review)
U.C.L.A. Faculty Votes Against Rebuking University’s Chancellor (New York Times)
Further Reading
President Alivisatos explains why he ended our Encampment (Why Evolution is True)
U.S.C. President Censured by Academic Senate After Weeks of Turmoil (New York Times)
College is still worth it, outgoing UNH president says (Boston Globe)
U-Va. president, other leaders defend steps that led to arrests at protest (Washington Post)
More college presidents face no-confidence votes over handling of protests (Washington Post)
The Past Month Has Seen a Flurry of No-Confidence Votes in College Presidents (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Transitions: Presidents of Trinity College and Washington State University to Retire (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Transitions: Bryn Mawr College and Stanford U. Named New Presidents (Chronicle of Higher Education)
When Trustees Run for Public Office (Inside Higher Ed)
Columbia Faculty Group Passes No-Confidence Resolution Against President (New York Times)
The Most Important Trait for Yale’s Next President: Courage (RealClear Education)
University Leaders Headed Back to Congress To Face Antisemitism Charges, This Time With Widespread Campus Unrest as a Backdrop (New York Sun)
Northwestern President Schill Contradicts Himself, Refuses to Answer Questions in Contentious Antisemitism Hearing (National Review)
Campus Leaders Stand Their Ground Before Congress (Inside Higher Ed)
What business does Congress have questioning university presidents anyway? (New York Times)
UCLA, Northwestern, Rutgers leaders face scrutiny from lawmakers (Washington Post)
Yet Another Congressional Hearing Came for Higher Ed. College Presidents Tried to Fight Back. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Can Colleges Be Global if Their Presidents Aren’t? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
University Leaders Face a Long, Complex Summer (New York Times)
Power 5 Approves Historic Settlement, But What's Next for College Sports?
In an unprecedented move, the NCAA and its Power 5 conferences—the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC—have given the green light to a groundbreaking agreement, ushering in a new era in which collegiate athletes can finally be directly compensated. This monumental shift, spurred by the approval of a $2.7 billion settlement from a lawsuit brought by former athletes challenging restrictions on earnings, and the introduction of a revolutionary revenue-sharing model, signifies the end of decades-long amateurism in college sports. Division I schools are now empowered to allocate approximately $20 million annually to athletes. Yet, in this watershed moment, uncertainty hangs thick in the air, leaving coaches, leaders, and athletes grappling with the unknowns of what lies ahead. The impending dilemma of how colleges will foot the bill for these payments has institutions scrambling to strategize over the potential multi-billion-dollar impact.
---Amy Genito
Sources
NCAA, Power 5 agree to deal that will let schools pay players (ESPN)
NCAA settlement a historic day for paying college athletes. What comes next? (ESPN)
In major change, college athletes set to be paid directly by schools (Washington Post)
Further Reading:
Colleges Have Agreed to Pay Athletes. What’s Next? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
The N.C.A.A. Agreed to Pay Players. It Won’t Call Them Employees. (New York Times)
NCAA Agrees to Share Revenue With Athletes in Landmark $2.8 Billion Settlement (Wall Street Journal)
Federal Judges Slam Columbia Over Anti-Israel Protests, Vow to Boycott Law Graduates
Thirteen federal judges have fired a warning shot across Columbia University’s bow, declaring they’ll no longer hire its law graduates. Their decision, fueled by concerns over the school’s response to anti-Israel protests and student conduct, reflects a growing rift between academia and conservative viewpoints. In a bold letter to Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, these Trump-appointed judges accused the university of failing to nurture diverse perspectives and labeled it an “incubator of bigotry.” The move comes amid ongoing campus unrest, with U.S. Circuit Judges James Ho and Elizabeth Branch helping to lead the charge. It signals a broader pushback against what some see as ideological bias in higher education and echoes concerns voiced by other conservative figures about the general state of higher education. Despite repeated attempts for comment, Columbia University has remained tight-lipped on the matter.