News & Insight

Author: Jonathan Helwink

A Faculty’s Right to Teach: Does Academic Freedom Protect a Teacher’s Techniques in the Classroom?

The story of the UPenn grad student, her twitter account, and her teaching techniques started like many of these stories.  The snowball started to roll when The Daily Caller, a popular conservative news site, ran a story entitled: “Ivy League Teaching Assistant Says She Calls on Black Women First, White […]

  Oct 30, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

Mergers Ahead for the University of Wisconsin System: Do Declining Enrollments and Shifting Demographics Mean Big Changes for UWisc??

Across the nation, college admission boards and administrations are beginning to plan ahead for a, potentially, major crisis on the horizon.  Between 2011 and 2016, college enrollment dropped by 8%.  The declines were concentrated mostly in community colleges and for-profit schools, however, public institutions saw declines as well.  Explanations for […]

  Oct 24, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

New Religious Liberty Guidance Issued by Justice Department: What are the Ramifications for Colleges?

On October 6th, Attorney General Jeff Sessions published guidance issued to all federal administrative agencies and departments interpreting religious liberty protections under federal law.  The memorandum, delivered pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order in May, interprets existing protections of religious liberty and identifies twenty high-level principles that federal departments and […]

  Oct 10, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

Criminal Charges Against College Basketball Coaches: Are Major Changes Ahead for College Sports?

With Jay Rossello. On September 26th, federal officials announced criminal charges against ten individuals, including four college-basketball coaches.  The charges included bribery, corruption, and fraud.  To some, the charges are a black eye on college basketball, but not an indicator of systemic problems with the NCAA.  For others, the charges […]

  Oct 10, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

Sessions Calls for a “National Re-Commitment to Free Speech on College Campuses”

On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sharply criticized what he considers incidents of college and universities suppressing free speech, creating “echo chambers” on campus, limiting student expression to “free speech zones,” and allowing protestors to shut down speakers they disagree with by using threats of violence.  While comparing mask-wearing, so-called, […]

  Sep 27, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

New Guidance Looks Likely to Adopt ‘Clear and Convincing’ Standard

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday this week that the Department of Education will issue interim guidance on handling sexual assault investigations on college campuses in the next week or two.  Despite not reporting all of what the interim guidance will include, the Journal did report on one of […]

  Sep 14, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

When the College Responds to a Crisis: Hurricane Season and Preparing for the Next Disaster

Written with Dennis Cariello. As the U.S. prepares for another hurricane later this week and as residents of Houston begin the long process of recovery, colleges and universities have found themselves in a most difficult situation.  While managing the hurricane’s effects on campus and attempting to account for all of […]

  Sep 5, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

Confronting the Past, Preparing for the Future: Best Practices for Colleges with Controversial Statues on Campus

Written with Debbie Osgood Over the past few weeks, colleges across the country have been confronting an issue that vexes even the best academic: the past.  Colleges from Texas to North Carolina are grappling with the issue of monuments and statues that, to some, glorify a racist past in American […]

  Aug 29, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

The Uninvited Speaker On Campus: Successfully Dealing with an Increasing, and Troubling, Trend

Over the past few months, it has become more and more common for high profile racist and neo-Nazi groups to attempt to rent space for rallies and lectures on college campuses.  One of the leaders of the so-called “alt-right” movement, Richard Spencer, recently told the Houston Chronicle that he plans […]

  Aug 18, 2017  |  By    |   On Education

Managing the Speakers and the Stage: Best Practices for Free Expression on Campus

Last Friday, as a preamble to their violent marches and rallies in Charlottesville, VA, neo-Nazis descended upon the University of Virginia.  Carrying torches, around 300 individuals marched through the heart of the UVA campus and towards the Rotunda, the venerable center of the university.  While surrounding the statute of Thomas […]

  Aug 15, 2017  |  By    |   On Education