Whiplash: A Serendipitous Timeline
2023
October
The College Backlash Is Going Too Far (The Atlantic, 10/3)
Biden Cancels an Additional $9 Billion in Student Loan #Debt (NYT, 10/4)
The End of Race-Conscious Admissions Opens Up a Fraught New Era (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 10/4)
A New Effort to Make College Aid Offers Easy to Understand (NYT, 10/6)
Harvard Shrugs at Jew-Hatred (WSJ, 10/10)
Blaming Israel for Hamas Attacks Sparks Backlash Across U.S., Exposing Deep Rifts (WSJ, 10/11)
Heightened Security and Shouting Matches Animate Pro-Palestinian ‘Day of Resistance’ (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 10/12)
The Latest Victims of the Free-Speech Crisis (The Atlantic, 10/28)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part I
November
US campuses confront extent of donor influence after Israel rows (Times Higher Ed, 11/6)
Billions at stake as US student athlete lawsuit wins group statu (Times Higher Ed, 11/7)
America’s Universities Need Serious Regulation (WSJ, 11/12)
The Dangers of Donor Revolt (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 11/13)
Legacy admissions remains in the spotlight. But accurate data on the subject is elusive. (Higher Ed Dive, 11/14)
A.C.L.U. Sues DeSantis Over Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Group (NYT, 11/16)
Student Borrowers Tap a New Path to Loan Forgiveness: Bankruptcy
How a Pro-Palestinian Student Group Became a Leader of Campus Protests (NYT, 11/17)
War and the Collapse of the Campus Speech Consensus (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 11/29)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part I
December
The NCAA’s Radical Proposal to Pay Division I Athletes (WSJ, 12/5)
Harvard keeps Claudine Gay as president, despite growing concerns (Times Higher Ed, 12/6)
The New Antisemitism Is the Oldest Kind (WSJ, 12/7)
Penn Donor Threatens to Rescind $100 Million Gift Unless President Is Ousted (WSJ, 12/7)
This Is a Golden Age of Academic Unionization (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 12/8)
Harvard’s President Should Resign (The Atlantic, 12/ 11)
How Bad Are the Plagiarism Allegations Against the Harvard President? It Depends on Whom You Ask. (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 12/ 12)
The Hypocrisy Underlying the Campus-Speech Controversy (The Atlantic, 12/20)
Harvard Finds More Instances of ‘Duplicative Language’ in Claudine Gay’s Work (NYT, 12/20)
Congress’s College Financial Aid Fiasco (WSJ, 12/12)
As Pressure on Harvard President Increases, University Board Feels the Squeeze (WSJ, 12/25)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part I
2024
January
Can Colleges Protect Jewish Students? (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 1/2)
Harvard President Resigns After Mounting Plagiarism Accusations (NYT, 1/2)
Onward with Inclusiveness (City Journal, 1/2)
House Republicans to Broaden Higher Education Inquiry Beyond Antisemitism (NYT, 1/5)
Conservatives Toppled Two College Presidents. They’re Not Done Yet. (WSJ, 1/5)
How ‘Antiracism’ Becomes Antisemitism (WSJ, 1/5)
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to end degree programs (Higher Ed Dive, 1/12)
Harvard, Penn, MIT and Cornell face new House probe over campus antisemitism (Higher Ed Dive, 1/12)
Colleges won’t receive FAFSA applicant info until March, Education Department says (Higher Ed Dive, 1/30)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part II
February
Fafsa: US student aid woes slow admissions cycle (Times Higher Ed, 2/1)
Harvard’s chief diversity officer faces plagiarism allegations (Times Higher Ed, 2/1)
This week in 5 numbers: Another FAFSA delay (Higher Ed Dive, 2/2)
Education Department to ease FAFSA verification requirements this year (Higher Ed Dive, 2/13)
House committee subpoenas Harvard in antisemitism probe (Higher Ed Dive, 2/16)
Standardized Activism (City Journal, 2/19)
Students Aren’t the Obstacle to Open Debate at Harvard (WSJ, 2/22)
Harvard’s Plagiarism Problem Multiplies (City Journal, 2/22)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part II
March
Report Helps Answer the Question: Is a College Degree Worth the Cost? (NYT, 3/1)
This week in 5 numbers: Transfer enrollment shows signs of pandemic recovery (Higher Ed Dive, 3/1)
University of Florida ends diversity and equality efforts (Times Higher Ed, 3/4)
Trump and His Allies Are Preparing to Overhaul Higher Education (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 3/6)
How to Fix the Crisis of Trust in Higher Education (NYT, 3/6)
The Worst Way to Do College Admissions (NYT, 3/7)
Biden proposes free community college, Pell Grant increases in FY25 budget (Higher Ed Dive, 3/11)
The Most Confusing, Chaotic College Admissions Season in Years (WSJ, 3/12)
Education Department plans to ramp up transmission of FAFSA data to colleges (Higher Ed Dive, 3/14)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part II
April
330,000 FAFSAs must be reprocessed, Education Department says (Higher Ed Dive, 4/2)
This week in 5 numbers: Another FAFSA glitch (Higher Ed Dive, 4/5)
Education Department is ‘concerned’ about potential OPM failures as groups sound alarm on 2U (Higher Ed Dive, 4/5)
Biden rolls out major new student debt forgiveness plan (Times Higher Ed, 4/8)
US faculty and campus leaders split wider over free speech (Times Higher Ed, 4/11)
Harvard and Caltech Will Require Test Scores for Admission (NYT, 4/ 11)
Columbia president grilled by lawmakers on Gaza protest response (Times Higher Ed, 4/17)
Abolish DEI Statements (The Atlantic) Apr 18
Columbia students fight back against protest crackdown (Times Higher Ed, 4/22)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part III
May
A Second Chance (City Journal, 5/6)
IT Will No Longer Require Diversity Statements for Hiring Faculty (NYT, 5/6)
U.S.C. Tries to Manage ‘Train Wreck’ of a Graduation (NYT, 5/8)
U.S.C. President Censured by Academic Senate After Weeks of Turmoil (NYT, 5/8)
The Kids Are Not All Right. They Want to Be Heard (The New Yorker, 5/8)
Cornell University’s President Is Resigning, the Third Ivy-League Leader to Depart Since December (WSJ, 5/9)
Put Down the Megaphones (City Journal, 5/10)
Police Move In on Pro-Palestinian Protest Encampment at Penn (WSJ, 5/10)
The Radical Case for Free Speech (The New Yorker, 5/10)
More Than 100 Colleges Saw Protests Demanding Divestment From Israel This Spring (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 5/14)
Save Higher Ed With the Chicago Principles (WSJ, 5/14)
Will Louisiana require Ten Commandments displays in public colleges? (Higher Ed Dive, 5/23)
House lawmakers grill university leaders over response to campus encampments (Higher Ed Dive, 5/23)
Private equity-backed venture wants to cash in on college sports (Higher Ed Dive, 5/24)
This week in 5 numbers: Spring 2024 sees uptick in undergraduate enrollment (Higher Ed Dive, 5/24)
Delaware arts college to shutter, citing falling enrollment and FAFSA challenges (Higher Ed Dive, 5/28)
This week in 5 numbers: FAFSA submissions unlikely to match last year’s rate (Higher Ed Dive, 5/31)
back to Whiplash: Special Issue: Part III
June
The Martyr of Harvard’s Encampment (WSJ, 6/2)
Speech Under the Shadow of Punishment (The New Yorker, 6/3)
Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested at Stanford After Takeover of President’s Office (WSJ, 6/6)
Penn Bans Protest Encampments From Its Campus for the First Time (NYT, 6/6)
The Impossible College Presidency (Chronicle of Higher Ed, 6/11)
Here’s what to know about a stalled $237M donation to Florida A&M (WaPo, 6/14)
An Attack on Free Speech at Harvard (The Atlantic, 6/21)
Columbia suspends top officials over antisemitism event texting (Times Higher Ed, 6/24)
US judge blocks Biden regulation of for-profit colleges (Times Higher Ed, 6/24)
3 Columbia University employees placed on leave after leaked text exchanges (Higher Ed Dive, 6/24)
Courts grant injunctions against Biden’s student loan repayment plan (WaPo, 6/25)
‘Like climbing up Mount Everest’: Financial aid professionals describe a grueling FAFSA season (Higher Ed Dive, 6/27)
Biden administration pauses collection on some student loans (WaPo, 6/28)
Race was once factored into college admissions. Now, it’s factored out. (WaPo, 6/29)