AKA Review - 05.08.2026

From Substack

By Steven Mintz

This compelling yet unsentimental eulogy for Hampshire College examines the barriers to true higher ed innovation. Fundamental is tension between education for the “development of citizens and persons” and the “production of credentials for a market economy.” Five problems have consistently plagued ambitious attempts to navigate this tension. The author offers several alternatives, each aligned with a distinct educational purpose, and urges us to consider what conditions would allow such institutions to be imagined and to endure. Read this article

From The Wall Street Journal

The College-Admissions Chess Game Is More Complicated Than Ever

By Roshan Fernandez

Colleges are using increasingly byzantine admissions processes to get students to commit earlier: filling more of their classes early by pushing students toward binding early-application rounds, using wait lists aggressively, and promising transfer entry to students who begin college elsewhere. The disingenuousness is obvious. These are practices driven not by concern for applicants but by the need to maximize student-yield to boost rankings and appear “in demand” in a highly competitive student-enrollment market. Read this article

From The Washington Post

Historically Black Colleges Team Up to Pursue Nation’s Top Research Status

By Susan Svrluga

15 HBCUs have united as the Association of HBCU Research Institutions (AHRI) to pursue R1 status in partnership with the AAU, Harvard, and other top U.S. research institutions. One of AHRI’s founding leaders, former Brown president Ruth Simmons, emphasizes that HBCUs may prioritize research that might not surface at other schools, such as on diseases that affect Black people disproportionately. Most importantly, the AHRI “sends a message that knowledge is not the preserve of a narrow group of people. It belongs to all of us.” Read this article

From Chicago Booth Review

Are We Facing an AI Nightmare?

By Raghuram G. Rajan

Scenarios of massive, AI-induced unemployment are unlikely, the author argues, highlighting variables besides technology itself that influence employment. Most notable is rising demand for products and services as AI (1) enables a greater array of products and (2) reduces costs, leading to lower prices. Critical to a positive future, however, will be policies to avoid an AI-oligopoly, in which benefits accrue to a few AI providers rather than society more broadly. “Now is the time to map out the possible scenarios and start preparing for them.” Read this article

From The New York Times

This Is a Hard Time to Start a Career. These Two Words Can Help

By Jodi Kantor

Facing overwhelmingly negative messages about the job market, “how are we supposed to find and start our life’s work?” Harness two forces, the author tells us. First, find and master craft—the special thing one knows how to do that others do not and which stays applicable even as jobs come and go. Second, ignore advice on “safe” fields and think instead about need—what society will most require during one’s working years. Finally, older adults must be advocates and protectors, bringing “wisdom…and connections” to those starting careers. Read this article