AKA Review - 08.23.2024

From The New York Times
Colleges Can’t Say They Weren’t Warned
By David French
Recent court cases against Harvard, MIT, and UCLA highlight critical principles for universities as they prepare for a repeat of last school-year’s protests and antisemitic hatred in response to the Hamas-Israel war. Acknowledging that the intersection of free speech and harassment is complex, the author offers guidance on how to respond by distinguishing between complaints related to speech content and those related to conduct. “Colleges are not obligated to respond perfectly,” he notes but they must respond. Read this article

From The Chronicle of Higher Education
The AAUP Abandons Academic Freedom
By Cary Nelson
The AAUP’s recent decision to allow “individually initiated academic boycotts” is an abnegation of its 100-year defense of academic freedom. Its assertion that boycotts should not involve political or religious litmus tests is disingenuous in light of the policy’s timing with respect to Israel. And the AAUP is naïve to state that boycotts should not target individuals but institutions when common sense dictates that individuals will inevitably be harmed, such as the student whose professor refuses to write recommendations for study at Israeli universities. Read this article

From Inside Higher Education
Enrollment Cliff, Meet Longevity Boom
By Lindsey Beagley, Simon Chan and Kyra Jones
By 2034, Americans 65 and older will outnumber those under 18. Responding to this longevity boom, the authors cite three trending university programs that upend the traditional learn-work-retire lifepath. Midlife transition programs, university-based retirement communities, and integration of adults in experiential learning go far beyond often age-segregated “lifelong learning.” Instead, they integrate older adults into the university as full members, often combining the wisdom of various generations to address critical social problems. Read this article

From The Boston Globe
Northeastern Completely Reinvented Itself. Here’s What That Could Mean for Higher Ed As A Whole
By Hilary Burns
This look by the Globe at hometown Northeastern University’s transformation into an elite Boston institution from an open-access commuter school is a hagiographic but still inspiring read. Career-focused curricula and experiential learning are common today. But Northeastern embraced these three decades ago. Differentiating itself with a co-op program refocused from “vo-tech” to emerging high-status career fields and remaining loyal to first-gen Bostonians while attracting students worldwide were successful strategies—foresighted and deeply mission-based. Read this article

From The Atlantic
The Problem With ‘In Demand’ Jobs
By Kevin Carey
Federal programs to “reskill” laid-off workers offer a cautionary tale for post-secondary programs that prepare students for in-demand jobs. Studies show that federal job-training programs do little to improve earnings. Because these programs have allowed employers to define “in demand,” the term often means jobs that are hard to fill because they’re dangerous or poorly paid. States and colleges focused on workforce development should look closely at local job needs to ensure that training leads to decent pay and long-term advancement. Read this article