April 22, 2024 — Minding The Campus
The Right Must Avoid the Left’s Free Speech Pitfalls| Minding The Campus
The Right Must Avoid the Left’s Free Speech Pitfalls| Minding The Campus
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion” ideology, or DEI, has replaced merit and intellectual diversity with forced inclusivity and conformity. In K-12 education, this shift has often meant lowering expectations to prevent students from feeling excluded, rather than raising all students to higher standards. In practice, this prioritizes social comfort over genuine learning. For example, philosopher and […]| Minding The Campus
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has once again taken the pulse of free expression on American campuses—and the patient’s health is declining. In its sixth annual College Free Speech Rankings, based on more than 68,000 student responses across 257 schools, FIRE reports that 166 institutions earned an “F” for their speech climate, […]| Minding The Campus
Author’s Note: This article is from my weekly “Top of Mind” email, sent to subscribers every Thursday. For more content like this and to receive the full newsletter each week, enter your name and email under “SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, ‘TOP OF MIND,’” located on the right-hand side of the site. It was this […]| Minding The Campus
The Dunmore Declaration probably gets more attention in 2025 than it did in 1775, when John Murray, Lord Dunmore and royal governor of Virginia, proclaimed that certain slaves and indentured servants in the colony who helped the British suppress the Patriot rebellion would be granted their freedom. The offer was limited to young men who […] The post Freedom as a Gambit appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
Recently, Zohran Mamdani—winner of the New York mayoral race—faced opposition in a letter signed by 1,000 rabbis, cantors, and yeshiva students. These leaders of the Jewish community feared the normalization of anti-Semitism within New York and broader afield, as Mamdani has accused the Israeli government of genocide, said that he would arrest Binyamin Netanyahu were […] The post Remember Steven Salaita? New York’s Next Mayor Might Be Worse appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
Author’s Note: This article originally appeared in my weekly Top of Mind newsletter, which goes out to subscribers every Thursday. Sign up to receive it directly in your inbox. A $10 billion educational juggernaut promising to soothe young minds amid rising anxiety rates has taken America’s classrooms hostage. It’s called Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). SEL’s […] The post A Look at the $10 Billion Industry Indoctrinating America’s Students appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
Both facts and rhetoric often shape the public discourse on thorny topics. In fact, no subject other than race illustrates the gulf of differences between the two. On one hand, adherents to a race-based dogma demand top-down filtering of socioeconomic policies and culturally acceptable viewpoints through the lens of race. To the left, observed disparities […] The post A UC San Diego Student Challenged Racial Preferences—and Paid the Price appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
I think only an idiot can be an atheist. We must admit that there exists an incomprehensible power or force with limitless foresight and knowledge that started the whole universe going in the first place.[1] – Christian Anfinsen (1916-1995). Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University and winner of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry For […] The post The Case for a Creator, Backed by Science appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
Author’s Note: I serve as a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter president, but the views expressed here are my own. What follows reflects my personal experience as a Texas State student who organized the memorial and witnessed the events of that day. When Turning Point USA at Texas State hosted a memorial for Charlie Kirk […] The post What Really Happened at Texas State’s Charlie Kirk Memorial appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: This letter was submitted to the editor of Minding the Campus in response to his article, “College Students in a Romance Recession, Boys Blame ‘Hoeflation.’” Jared, the problems you identify in this rather depressing article are symptoms rather than causes. The cause of the current malaise among our youth begins at the beginning. […] The post Letter to the Editor: Boys, Girls, and the Costs of Overprotection appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
Once upon a time, people dressed sharply, minded their manners, and worried about how their behavior reflected on their families and communities. Sure, this was partly driven by vanity, but it was also useful. Such prosocial vanity is maligned by modern standards as shallow, but it was not shallow; it served a purpose: it kept people […] The post Self-Esteem Is a Social Hazard appeared first on Minding The Campus.| Minding The Campus
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion” ideology, or DEI, has replaced merit and intellectual diversity with forced inclusivity and conformity. In K-12 education, this shift has often meant lowering expectations to prevent students from feeling excluded, rather than raising all students to higher standards. In practice, this prioritizes social comfort over genuine learning. For example, philosopher and […] The post A Student’s Short Take on DEI: It’s Undermining Education and Intellect...| Minding The Campus
The ideal of academic freedom has always rested on a simple promise: scholars must be free to pursue truth, wherever it leads. But new data from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) show how far higher education has drifted from that ideal. In FIRE’s latest survey, an astonishing 94 percent of faculty reported […]| Minding The Campus
A high cumulative grade point average, multiple majors, impressive summer internships, and extensive study and travel abroad no longer guarantee an entry-level job after college graduation. According to a recent study by Intelligent, corporations are hiring fewer recent graduates, believing they are unprepared for the workforce. Unfortunately, a college record that sounds impressive on a […]| Minding The Campus
The Buckeye’s Transparency Black Eye: Ohio State University Delays More Public Records Requests| Minding The Campus
The joy of learning to build something useful, of unearthing what no one has seen before, of understanding what was once obscure or even a mystery, of finally putting the data together, of creating something new are intellectual and spiritual joys. The satisfaction of disciplining yourself to effectuate a goal, of working with a team, […]| Minding The Campus
In this first episode of our new podcast, VAS News Chat, I join Teresa Manning, Policy Director at the National Association of Scholars and President of its Virginia affiliate, for a deep dive into my recent article, “America’s Obsession with Diplomas Is Killing Opportunity,” in which I argue that credentials have become an illegitimate precondition […]| Minding The Campus
Author’s Note: This article is from my weekly “Top of Mind” email, sent to subscribers every Thursday. For more content like this and to receive the full newsletter each week, enter your name and email under “SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, ‘TOP OF MIND,’” located on the right-hand side of the site. A Social Media […]| Minding The Campus
Author’s Note: This excerpt is from my weekly “Top of Mind” email, sent to subscribers every Thursday. For more content like this and to receive the full newsletter each week, sign up on Minding the Campus’s homepage. Simply go to the right side of the page, look for “SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, ‘TOP OF MIND,’” and […]| Minding The Campus
The Harvard Crimson has a grammar-challenged headline asking, “Who Does Harvard Owe?” The editors rebuff all those who believe that Harvard owes something to America. Or for that matter, to “Congress,” the media, its alumni, and others on the question of how the university should be governed. The Crimson’s answer boils down to ‘shove off, […]| Minding The Campus
On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced the relocation of HUD headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia, where National Science Foundation (NSF) staff are currently sited. As NBC4 Washington reported, NSF employees promptly staged a protest, filling the hallways in Alexandria, chanting, shaking their fists, and forcing HUD’s press announcement […]| Minding The Campus
With a modernized society full of rapidly evolving medical technology, widespread use of computerized gadgets, artificial intelligence (AI), and a booming space industry, life in the 21st century has begun to feel more and more like a science fiction movie. What began as simply dreams—just beginning to take shape in the mid-1900s—has now become normal […]| Minding The Campus
Author’s Note: This excerpt is from my weekly “Top of Mind” email, sent to subscribers every Thursday. For more content like this and to receive the full newsletter each week, sign up directly by entering your name and email under “SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, ‘TOP OF MIND,’” located on the right-hand side of […]| Minding The Campus
Harvard Equates Criticizing Hamas Supporters With Racism| Minding The Campus
This essay has two parts. The first part painted a collective portrait of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) staff through the books they recommended for others. Here, I offer personal thoughts on what should constitute common reading for those who, like me, believe our society would thrive if more of us engaged with a […]| Minding The Campus
Texas universities, similar to Iowa’s Public Schools, maintain affirmative action plans, likely in noncompliance with state legislation, recent executive orders, and the Department of Education’s (ED) latest Dear Colleague letter. Passed in late 2023, Texas’s Senate Bill 17 specifically banned “policies or procedures designed or implemented in reference to race, color, or ethnicity.” Affirmative action plans directly contradict this, mandating race-based “strategies” […]| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt of an article originally published on the author’s Substack Diogenes In Exile on November 14, 2024. With edits to fit MTC’s style, it is crossposted here with permission. Taking Action: Restoring Evidence-Based Counseling Programs in the Face of Social Justice Ideology For those who have watched the transformation of psychology from […]| Minding The Campus
In the dead of night on November 21, a group of students linked to Sarah Lawrence College’s (SLC) Divestment Coalition stormed Westlands, the school’s main administrative building, and announced their occupation through social media. This was no quiet protest. Hiding their identities behind masks, the group decorated the building with signs, barricaded doors, and blocked […]| Minding The Campus
In recent decades, the intellectual climate in higher education has been toxic, resulting in predictable effects on society. This toxicity is seen in an explosion of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) statements and staffing, plagiarism and replication scandals, and the frequent silencing of conservative views and harassment of conservative scholars. Clearly, academia’s intellectual environment needs […]| Minding The Campus
This week is my favorite week of the year. Thanksgiving offers an official period of several days away from the office and school to reflect and give thanks to family and friends for our abundant blessings as Americans. It is worth remembering the original story of the Pilgrim’s embarkation on the Mayflower as recorded in […]| Minding The Campus
Get Off Facebook: America Was Not Founded on Separation Between Church and State| Minding The Campus
Higher Education Can Survive Its Challenges, and AI Can Help, Says Academic Strategist| Minding The Campus
The temptation to twist logic for racist ends is almost irresistible. I encountered an almost humorous example a few months ago in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by a professor of religious studies and philosophy. Richard Amesbury’s claim is that criticism of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies is racist. Which is […]| Minding The Campus
On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, a case about judicial standards for determining whether employment discrimination occurred, which favored or disadvantaged persons of different genders. What implications, if any, does this unanimous decision have for the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) movement? DEI’s Momentum and Judicial Pushback Central […]| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published on Law & Liberty on May 27, 2025. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. American higher education is characterized by many forms of tuition discounts, often called “scholarships.” Some of them are based on distinguished academic achievement, but often […]| Minding The Campus
One day after President Biden’s inaugural address stressing national unity, he signed an “Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” He created another Executive Order in February 2023, this time expanding the equity mandate to the operation of every federal program. These executive orders (EOs) had a […]| Minding The Campus
Is It Time to Retire Social and Emotional Learning?| Minding The Campus
The National Association of Scholars (NAS) joined the Heritage Foundation for a panel discussion, “Unveiling DEI: Examining Its True Impact on Higher Education,” on August 20 in Washington, D.C. A recording of the full event, which featured Jay Greene, Heritage senior research fellow; Scott Yenor, professor of political science at Boise State University and Washington […]| Minding The Campus
NAS and Heritage Foundation Join to Unveil DEI’s Influence on Higher Education| Minding The Campus
The higher education community awaited a Supreme Court decision regarding campus admissions with great anxiety. After the Court issued Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA) banning such racial discrimination, many campuses deplored it and sought ways to avoid its effect. An official letter to the “Dear Terrapin Community” […]| Minding The Campus
The higher education community awaited a Supreme Court decision regarding campus admissions with great anxiety. After the Court issued Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA) banning such racial discrimination, many campuses deplored it and sought ways to avoid its effect. An official letter to the “Dear Terrapin Community” […]| Minding The Campus
DEI on Campus? It’s a Protection Racket| Minding The Campus
WATCH: Science Bargains with Trump, Protesters Storm NSF, and Slugs Go Solar| Minding The Campus
Ohio SB 1, which will do an extraordinary amount to depoliticize Ohio’s public higher education system, strengthen intellectual diversity, and restore its accountability to Ohio policymakers and citizens, well and truly will become law. Governor Mike DeWine signed SB 1 into law at the end of March. Since then, Ohio professors organized a petition campaign […]| Minding The Campus
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shuttered its “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) office, eliminated diversity statements from faculty job applications, and cut its Vice President of Equity and Inclusion position. A promising step, but don’t be fooled—DEI persists at MIT. It hasn’t been rebranded; it’s still openly embedded. Interdepartmental committees thrive, and numerous administrative […]| Minding The Campus
Forty-Four Years in French Academia—And Why It’s All Gone Wrong| Minding The Campus
Professors Have Much to Learn from This College Dropout| Minding The Campus
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) on campus has engendered a chorus of doom and gloom among conservative commentators. Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, citing a survey from the Guardian showing a sharp rise in AI cheating, said recently that “AI has killed what was left of the education system. It’s over.” But is that […]| Minding The Campus
For those of you who have been following my publication trail with Minding the Campus, you are likely familiar with my frequent discussions on scientific ethics. I have commented on research misconduct, peer review fraud, and the reproducibility crisis, examining the effect of careless behavior and intentional fabrication in the scientific world and their profound […]| Minding The Campus
The presence of artificial intelligence (AI) on college campuses is a foregone conclusion—a recent report found that 93 percent of students use it regularly for coursework. By this point, it is no longer a question of whether AI tools will be used on college campuses, but instead, how they will be used. Back in July, […]| Minding The Campus
As universities attempt to rebrand their “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs and offices, many have embraced the term “inclusive excellence,” promoting it as a strategy to recognize and cultivate both individual and institutional success. Inclusive excellence is framed as a method that values multiple perspectives to enhance overall performance. But in practice, it is […]| Minding The Campus
For my entire adult life, I can’t recall an initiative to collect data to combat racial discrimination that has not been met with enthusiastic support. But then President Trump announced that colleges would have to submit more of their admissions data to combat racial discrimination, and things got weird. To understand the context here, recall […]| Minding The Campus
International students have long been a lifeline for universities; one could even argue that they are a cash cow. They bring global perspectives, help fill enrollment gaps, and—very importantly—pay tuition at higher levels that subsidize the tuition of domestic students. For decades, countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia competed […]| Minding The Campus
What if I told you that a college dropout did more for higher education than many college professors? Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), never earned a formal degree; yet, his influence on American campuses has reshaped discussions around free speech and viewpoint diversity. Kirk dropped out of college, opting instead to […]| Minding The Campus
This article presents a sharp and witty critique of the challenges faced in navigating modern technology in higher education. It effectively blends humor and personal anecdotes, utilizing clever cultural references. The engaging writing style is accessible yet insightful, pulling readers in with vivid metaphors and irony. I know this because the artificial intelligence (AI) platform […]| Minding The Campus
American colleges and universities are facing an unprecedented moment of adjustment. President Trump’s second term has brought sweeping higher education reforms—executive orders against “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) bureaucracies, stricter enforcement against campus anti-Semitism, new scrutiny of foreign funding, and heightened pressure on institutions that grant privileges to illegal aliens. We anticipated a spectrum of […]| Minding The Campus
The tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University has thrust the subject of political violence into the national spotlight. As expected, pundits and politicians quickly framed the attack as a rare outburst from the left, leaning on studies showing that right-wing extremists commit more politically motivated murders. Don Lemon, who was fired from […]| Minding The Campus
If the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can successfully prevent woke artificial intelligence (AI) in the federal government, as outlined in Trump’s Executive Order Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government (EO 14319), then perhaps academic institutions, corporations, and publicly available AI systems could also be freed from the prevailing mindset of engineering […]| Minding The Campus
Every semester, I pose a question to my students: Why are you here? Would you prioritize deep learning, even if it meant a lower grade, or chase the highest grade, even at the cost of true understanding? They almost always claim learning matters most. But I’m growing skeptical that they actually mean it. Those words […]| Minding The Campus
How a Generation Lost Its Common Culture| Minding The Campus
By Patrick Deneen My students are know-nothings. They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest, well-intentioned, and utterly decent. But their brains are largely empty, devoid of any substantial knowledge that might be the fruits of an education in an inheritance and a gift of a previous generation. They are the culmination of western civilization, […]| Minding The Campus
Our society has become obsessed with science, engineering math, and technology (STEM)—not only in the name of progress but also because we have deemed reading and writing almost wholly unimportant. According to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the number of humanities bachelor’s degrees awarded to graduating seniors across American universities decreased by approximately […]| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published by the College Fix on September 09, 2025. It is crossposted here with permission. Grand Valley State University’s (GVSU) Frederik Meijer Honors College has shifted toward a “social justice” orientation in both its curriculum and admissions in an effort to increase racial diversity, according to emails recently obtained […]| Minding The Campus
In response to my recent Martin Center article, “The Emptiness of Antisemitism Studies,” George Leef wrote in National Review and posed the question: “Can American universities take antisemitism seriously?” His framing perfectly captured the larger stakes of the problem. My original piece—later reprinted in Minding the Campus and by the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research—showed […]| Minding The Campus
In Season 5, Episode 7 of Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore—ever the ambitious Yale student journalist—follows whispers and cryptic clues to the Life and Death Brigade, a secret society of Yale’s wealthy elite known for their reckless, over-the-top spectacles. Her way in comes through Logan Huntzberger, the heir of a media dynasty and a core member […]| Minding The Campus
It’s been 24 years. September 11, 2001, was a Tuesday, but what I recall just as vividly is what happened the day before. The week of September 10-15 was to be “Palestinian Awareness Week” at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst). Everything changed on Tuesday morning, but on Monday afternoon, we had no idea […]| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published on Gatestone Institute on August 26, 2025. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. “The hate of the Jews,” Safra Catz, CEO of the U.S. technology giant Oracle, pointed out in 2024, “is the most ancient and continuous hate […]| Minding The Campus
A recent Minding the Campus article reported that more than two dozen publications, co-authored by Arizona State University (ASU) professor Sethuraman Panchanathan, have been flagged on PubPeer. Panchanathan is the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which outsources plagiarism investigations to the universities it funds. If you were a university funded by NSF, would […]| Minding The Campus
GMU PhD Student’s Call to Kill Trump Sparks Free Speech Debate| Minding The Campus
“Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.” – Proverbs 22:28 (KJV) In the latest row between conservative and liberal theologians over LGBT issues, conservative Anglican leaders said that “they could no longer recognize England’s archbishop of Canterbury as first among equals and called for an overhaul of how the global denomination is […]| Minding The Campus
Christian Higher Education Is Gen Z’s Salvation| Minding The Campus
Author’s Note: This excerpt is from my weekly “Top of Mind” email, sent to subscribers every Thursday. For more content like this and to receive the full newsletter each week, sign up on Minding the Campus’s homepage. Simply go to the right side of the page, look for “SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, ‘TOP OF MIND,’” and […]| Minding The Campus
What to Know Before You Transfer from Community College| Minding The Campus
The Climate Crisis That Never Comes—and the Fear It Fuels| Minding The Campus
Student Essay—Sex Work as Empowerment? Straight-Up Gaslighting| Minding The Campus
My former French professor imparted this message to the class: college is the time to be selfish. Travel, drink, have plenty of sex. She was exceptionally cool, I thought. But, looking back, her advice couldn’t have been more misguided for young men and women. “Situationship,” “friends with benefits,” “you up babe”—these are the trendy phrases […]| Minding The Campus
In 1970, I was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Organization for Women in New York City. This quickly triggered invitations to speaking on campuses throughout the U.S.—from Yale to Harvard to Stanford. Each engagement led to an average of three more. However, after starting hundreds of men’s and women’s groups — […]| Minding The Campus
Will you help us continue our work to reform American higher education?| Minding The Campus
Federal Anti-DEI Guidelines Must Be Enforced Locally—State Attorneys General Should Step Up| Minding The Campus
I’ve recently had the honor and the pleasure to serve on the Workgroup assembled by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) to help draft Florida’s new K-12 History of Communism standards. I shouldn’t say anything about the draft standards in detail, since they haven’t yet been published, but my fellow workgroup members and the members […]| Minding The Campus
The House of Representatives has passed its version of the reconciliation bill, which includes a new accountability system for higher education. Under this system, colleges would be responsible for reimbursing the government for a share of the government losses on loans to their students, with the share being determined by the college’s cost relative to […]| Minding The Campus
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Proverbs 18:21 (English Standard Version) The Bible is full of wise references to the power of our words. We can use words to build up or tear down. Ideally, words are given life to communicate important […]| Minding The Campus
There have been ongoing campus protests against Israel, with participation from Arab students and members of the public. Unfortunately, some Jews, both on and off campus, are also involved in these protests. But what about vigils or demonstrations in support of Israel, the only Jewish state in the world? In universities dominated by radical leftist […]| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: This article, originally published in French by the Observatory of University Ethics on March 4, 2022, was translated into English by the Observatory before being edited to align with Minding the Campus’s style guidelines. It is crossposted here with permission. The expression “glass ceiling” is a polysemic metaphor, at least in its use. […]| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by the Law & Liberty on November 13, 2024. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. Disparity studies comparing various demographic groups based on different outcomes in education, employment, health, housing, and income have been a staple of public policy analysis for decades. […]| Minding The Campus
Minding the Campus has launched a new column featuring translated articles from the Observatory of University Ethics, a collective of volunteer academics led by Xavier-Laurent Salvador, a faculty member at the Sorbonne. This collaboration brings a valuable international perspective to our site, offering insights into global higher education issues seen through a French lens, with […]| Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal on November 13, 2024. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission. Professor John Ellis has been a critic of our higher education system for many years. His book the Breakdown of Higher Education—which I […]| Minding The Campus
Of course, Paul Revere was a hero as he rowed and rode to alarm the countryside around Boston: “The British are coming! The British are coming!” (“The Regulars are coming out,” the staid historians tell us were his actual words.) So too were the much neglected William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. We owe our independence and our liberty to their pluck and bravery. […]| Minding The Campus
