Weekend To-Do List

4/27 - 4/28

1. How The Post-Liberal University Broke Higher Education

READ/LISTEN: As protests over the Israel-Hamas War erupt on college campuses, George Packer took to the pages of The Atlantic to draw a clear connection between the infamous 1968 Columbia University protests and the state of college campuses around the country today. Packer explains that the 1968 protests laid the groundwork for the post-liberal university, where colleges abandoned independent thinking and open debate, and quotes a recent letter from a Columbia student to help demonstrate his point:

I think [the protests] do speak to a certain failing on Columbia’s part, but it’s a failing that’s much more widespread and further upstream. That is, I think universities have essentially stopped minding the store, stopped engaging in any kind of debate or even conversation with the ideologies which have slowly crept in to every bit of university life, without enough people of good conscience brave enough to question all the orthodoxies. So if you come to Columbia believing in “decolonization” or what have you, it’s genuinely not clear to me that you will ever have to reflect on this belief. And after all this, one day the university wakes up to these protests, panics under scrutiny, and calls the cops on students who are practicing exactly what they’ve been taught to do from the second they walked through those gates as freshmen.

Read the rest of Packer’s piece here. I covered more about the protests and explained why I think Packer’s right during this Thursday’s episode of Lost Debate. Listen here.

2. Will the Class of 2024 Ever Get to Graduate?

READ: COVID canceled high school graduation and made the first day of college virtual, and now on-campus protests over the Israel-Hamas War have made remote classes an option once again, and some commencement ceremonies have been canceled. Douglas Belkin at The Wall Street Journal spoke with college seniors to understand the impact of starting a new chapter in isolation and ending it similarly. What he found was a deterioration of the social fabric of a campus community:

Libraries and other academic study areas have significantly less foot traffic than before the pandemic, and students are spending more time in their dorms and less time in gyms and fitness areas, said Aaron Benz, CEO of Degree Analytics, a Texas-based company which measures where students spend their time on campus using the school’s wireless network.

University cafeterias at some schools, once universal gathering spots for students, now mostly serve students with bagged lunches they take back to their rooms to eat. The average student is spending 40% less time in dining spaces than before the pandemic, said Benz. “The data also suggests students are spending more time alone in their dorm rooms,” said Benz.

Read more here.

3. Tennessee To Allow Concealed Carry in Schools

READ: Tennessee passed a new bill this week that allows trained staff to carry guns in school. The news comes just one year after a shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School killed six people, including three students. Advocates say the bill will help bolster security. Still, gun reform advocates, including a parent from Covenant School, expressed many concerns, including a provision that says school administrators cannot share who in the school is armed to anyone other than law enforcement and staff who are responsible for security. Representative Justin Pearson slammed the provision:

"I've heard so many times about parental consent, that it’s a parent’s responsibility to raise their child," said Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, who called the bill "absolutely insane" on Tuesday. "I also think it’s a parent’s job to know if their child is being put at risk by having someone in the classroom with a firearm that another child could find, that could be discharged and actually harm them or other kids.

Governor Bill Lee signed the bill on Friday. Metro Nashville Public Schools have already released a statement that they will not change the district’s policy, which states staff are not allowed to carry weapons. Read more from Melissa Brown and Angele Latham in The Tennessean here.

4. Regulating the Troubled Teen Industry

READ/LISTEN: Paris Hilton testified in the California state Capitol this week to raise support for Senate Bill 1043, which would add protections for young people in residential treatment programs. Hilton’s own experience in a teen treatment center has made her a leading advocate in the fight against the ‘Troubled Teen Industry’:

The so-called troubled teen industry dates back at least 50 years and refers to a network of programs that target teenagers struggling with issues including substance abuse, mental illness and problematic behavior. The programs typically cost in the same ballpark as college tuition, and despite having been at the center of many abuse and corruption scandals, the industry remains largely unregulated, according to the American Bar Assn.

Read more here. Chris and Kate discussed the troubled teen industry and why it highlights the importance of accreditation on this week’s Citizen Stewart Show. Listen here.

5. Cafeterias Say Goodbye to Cinnamon Toast Crunch

READ: The Agriculture Department approved new rules this week that will require school lunches to cut sodium by 15% over the next two years and limit added sugars in cereals and yogurts within the next year. While many nutritionists applauded the move, heads of school lunch programs worry that the requirements may result in less appealing meals and an increase in waste:

“We are cringing, as it could result in changes across our menus,” Ms. Hallman said. “We would have to look at the sodium amounts in the recipes of some of our students’ favorite foods, like chicken wings, hot wings or even some of the Asian foods.”

Read more from Julie Creswell in The New York Times here.

6. Still Loading: Why It’s (Past) Time to Bridge the Rural Internet Gap

READ: Gabriel E. Hales and Keith N. Hampton warn in The 74 that the end of the pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program will lead to a huge disconnect for rural students. A study in Michigan found that one-third of rural students do not have high-speed broadband home internet access:

Rural students lacking adequate home internet face significant educational disadvantages compared with their better-connected peers. These disadvantages include lower classroom grades, lower standardized test scores, lower educational aspirations and lower interest in STEM careers. Our findings link these adverse outcomes, which start with access gaps, to subsequent gaps in digital skills. These digital skills are less likely to develop without reliable broadband connectivity at home.

The program is set to expire at the end of April. Read more here.

7. Now Hiring: New FSA Chief

READ: Richard Cordray’s three-year tenure as the Federal Student Aid Chief will end in June. Cordray’s resignation comes as his office continues to face an onslaught of criticism for its botched rollout of the updated FAFSA form last December:

The new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, was meant to provide a simpler, easier experience for millions of families. But the years-long technology project was months behind schedule and failed to work when it launched earlier this year.

The Education Department for months could not process millions of federal financial aid applications and is in the process of re-processing millions more that were processed incorrectly.

Read more from Michael Stratford in Politico here.