The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

Further racial grifting will not spur academic excellence.

California’s “Black-Serving Institution” Designation Is Neither Excellent Nor Fair — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal In 2019, the four-year graduation rate of all University of California (UC) undergraduates was 72.9 percent, while that of black UC students lagged behind at 59.9 percent. This disparity was … Continue reading "California’s “Black-Serving Institution” Designation Is Neither Excellent Nor Fai...

Given recent S&P data, a new survey of university business officers is strangely optimistic.

College Officials Are Whistling Past the Graveyard — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal A combination of falling demand and higher costs created a “tough year” for colleges in fiscal 2023. Recent reports by S&P Global Ratings found that median full-time-equivalent enrollment fell 0.8 … Continue reading "College Officials Are Whistling Past the Graveyard"

More than half of student-debtholders are not making payments. That is unsustainable.

The Imminent Student-Loan Disaster We’re Not Talking About — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Legal battles over President Biden’s various schemes to forgive student debt continue. In July, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals indefinitely blocked the administration’s ultra-generous new student-loan repayment plan, which … Continue reading "The Imminent Student-Loan Disaster We’re Not...

The American public is finally waking up to the Left’s long con on race.

Why Are Race-Based Scholarships and Programs Suddenly Under Attack? — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal For nearly five decades, American universities systematically discriminated against white and Asian Americans. Quotas, “holistic review processes,” and “factors” were used to advance the Left’s racist social policies, first on … Continue reading "Why Are Race-Based Scholarships and Progr...

A new book by Derek Bok is interesting but could go much further in urging universities to change.

Harvard’s Former President Responds to Attacks on Elite Colleges — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Derek Bok has served as president of Harvard twice, from 1971 to 1991 and again from 2006-07. He has written much about higher education and is by no means a … Continue reading "Harvard’s Former President Responds to Attacks on Elite Colleges"

A dispute at Harvard illustrates the dangers of faculty excess.

Academic Freedom Doesn’t Mean Grandstanding — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Earlier this summer, Harvard dean Lawrence Bobo wrote an essay for the Harvard Crimson that provoked a chorus of criticism, much of it justified. Reflecting on the post-October 7 turmoil … Continue reading "Academic Freedom Doesn’t Mean Grandstanding"

MIT’s new artificial-intelligence “strategy guide” provides more questions than answers.

An Unconvincing AI Tract — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal MIT SMR Connections, an “independent content creation unit within MIT Sloan Management Review,” recently published an AI “strategy guide” commissioned by Anthology, Inc. Anthology is perhaps not as recognizable as … Continue reading "An Unconvincing AI Tract"

Politicized medicine produces mediocre physicians.

“Health Equity” Will Destroy North Carolina’s Medical Schools — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Surveying American institutions, one searches in earnest for even a few organizations or systems that progressives have been unable to control. News story after news story confirms that indeed that … Continue reading "“Health Equity” Will Destroy North Carolina’s Medical Schools"

"Between the years 2017 and 2022, the rate of PTSD diagnoses among college students more than doubled, from 3.4 percent to 7.5 percent according to new research by the Healthy Minds Study."

Why Are PTSD Diagnoses Rising Among College Students? — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal When American soldiers returned home from Vietnam, many found themselves mentally scarred by the trauma they had experienced in the jungle. These men, unable to escape their memories, became riddled … Continue reading "Why Are PTSD Diagnoses Rising Among College Students?"

The seeds of campus antisemitism were sown by unsavory foreign donations.

The Fayetteville Fahd Fiasco — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal I’m a law professor and also a columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Late last year, I began a series on the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s King Fahd Center for … Continue reading "The Fayetteville Fahd Fiasco"

Diversity is complex at UNC Chapel Hill. While many types of diversity are valuable to create an optimal campus culture, Mark McNeilly says that it's viewpoint diversity that best serves the university's mission of fostering truth and knowledge.

The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

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Attorneys need to understand how numbers work. It’s time we teach them.

STEM-ing the Tide of Scientific and Mathematical Illiteracy in the Law — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal In 1897, before becoming a justice of the Supreme Court, Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “For the rational study of the law … the man of the future is the man … Continue reading "STEM-ing the Tide of Scientific and Mathematical Illiteracy in the Law"

Reformers should keep up the pressure to ensure anti-DEI compliance on campus.

Diversity-Statement Bans Don’t Go Far Enough — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Near the end of this academic year, two elite universities announced the elimination of one of the most prominent symbols of the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) apparatus on campus: … Continue reading "Diversity-Statement Bans Don’t Go Far Enough"

The best thing for regulators and legislators to do is stay out of the way.

Online-Learning Partners Can Help North Carolina Students — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Online learning comes in many forms—some better than others, as we learned in 2020. Leveraging effective tools is essential to making it work well for students and schools. In the … Continue reading "Online-Learning Partners Can Help North Carolina Students"

A revealing Twitter exchange shows the necessity of rebuilding Florida’s liberal-arts school.

Defending the Reconquista at New College — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal The decision by Florida governor Ron DeSantis in 2023 to oust the radicals controlling the state’s tiny liberal-arts college, New College of Florida, has elicited frenzied reactions from the global … Continue reading "Defending the Reconquista at New College"

Identity-based interest groups are destroying a rich academic discipline.

The Neo-Tribes of Anthropology — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Anthropology’s main purpose is to teach us about others—other cultures and people from other times. The study of the other was meant to show us human diversity and similarities. This … Continue reading "The Neo-Tribes of Anthropology"

UNC encouraged its secretly recorded prof's activism. Until it didn't.

Larry Chavis and the Decay of the Academy — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Larry Chavis is clinical professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC. He has taught there for 18 years on a renewable contract. He has now … Continue reading "Larry Chavis and the Decay of the Academy"

The Mount Rushmore State should seize the coming anti-woke educational moment.

South Dakota’s Higher-Education Alternative — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Only about 900,000 persons claim permanent residence in South Dakota, yet its 28 colleges and universities rank it third best in the nation for universities per capita, and its 50,000+ … Continue reading "South Dakota’s Higher-Education Alternative"

Student newspapers are learning the subtle arts of rumor and innuendo.

The Cancel-Your-College-Coach Playbook — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Corporate media owes a lot of its ideological conformity and hubris to journalism schools. Media critics and advocates for reform suggest that journalism needs to return to being a trade … Continue reading "The Cancel-Your-College-Coach Playbook"

For authentic results, reformers must look to legislation, litigation, and continued scrutiny.

Don’t Trust Colleges on Race-Based Admission — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and UNC, the twin rulings striking down … Continue reading "Don’t Trust Colleges on Race-Based Admission"

The University of Austin means to revitalize liberal education.

A New Way to Hire Great Faculty — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal We learned about the complexities and mysteries of artificial intelligence, the uses of innovative statistical analyses that could improve policing, and the Confucian roots of Xi’s totalitarianism. We discussed the … Continue reading "A New Way to Hire Great Faculty"

The College Board’s “Landscape” tool is terrible news for admissions fairness.

Yet Another Bad Admissions Idea — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Leigh made a 34 on the ACT. Bill made a 23. Which of the two do you want attending your academically selective college? According to a traditional or merit-based admissions … Continue reading "Yet Another Bad Admissions Idea"

Divisiveness, Evil, and Isolation sank my campus culture and left me without a life preserver.

A Dissident Professor’s “DEI” Story — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal As a history professor with over 30 years of teaching experience at the community-college level, I have spent most of my career secure in the idea that the values I … Continue reading "A Dissident Professor’s “DEI” Story"

The state has legalized sports betting. Now comes the hard part.

Who Will Monitor College-Sports Gambling in North Carolina? — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Now that sports betting is legal in the Bible Belt state of North Carolina, online gamblers have filled the collection plate with over $1.8 billion in total wagers and about … Continue reading "Who Will Monitor College-Sports Gambling in North Carolina?"

Pending Pennsylvania legislation would address college affordability, labor shortages, and university accountability in one package.

“Grow PA” Offers a Higher-Ed Reform Model for the Nation — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Too often, lawmakers want to fix higher education by blindly throwing money at the problem. From President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel large amounts of student-loan debt to Pennsylvania Gov. … Continue reading "“Grow PA” Offers a Higher-Ed Reform Model for the Nation"

Higher education in this country is at an historic crossroads.

It’s Time to Build Sports Academies — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal When the men’s basketball team at Dartmouth voted to unionize earlier this year, the college’s president vowed to take the issue all the way to the Supreme Court. Her decision … Continue reading "It’s Time to Build Sports Academies"

A wise society enforces neutral laws before violence occurs.

UNC Was Right to Call the Cops — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal The recent protests at UNC are only one example of the unrest at several campuses across the U.S. (albeit mostly “elite” ones) in response to events in the Middle East. … Continue reading "UNC Was Right to Call the Cops"

Jail time? Expulsion? Sure, but just think of the “development” and “learning.”

How Academic Saboteurs Dupe College Students into Activism — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal The student unrest that roiled the nation’s campuses in the first half of this year was most often associated with the “encampment,” a visible tent-manifestation of scruffy, keffiyeh-swaddled support for … Continue reading "How Academic Saboteurs Dupe College Students into Activism"

State policymakers have been anticipating the concerns of higher-ed executives nationwide.

How Goes the Reforming? — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal As we are in the midst of the short session of the North Carolina legislature, which typically focuses on budgetary matters, we haven’t seen much that pertains to higher education. … Continue reading "How Goes the Reforming?"