The Academy
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Welcome to Rutgers! (Welcome to any serious university)
Via Alex Guerrero on FB, I came across this well-done “welcome” address by Rutgers President William Tate (it’s called “My Hopes for You,” September 8, in case it gets displaced by other “community messages” on the linked page). He even works in Dolly Parton, and in a nice way. Anyone starting college should read it.
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Scam watch: Thomas Pynchon edition
Hayley Cotter, an English professor at U Mass/Amherst, shares the latest gem: Von: Thomas Pynchon <thomaspynchon.author8@gmail.com>Date: Do., 3. Sept. 2026 um 03:17 UhrSubject: Appreciation for Your WorkTo: [email address omitted] Dear Hayley, I hope this note finds you well. I recently spent time with Poetics of the Legal Sea in English Renaissance Literature, and I was moved…
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Scam watch continues: fake offers to translate
Philosopher Eric Winsberg shares this gem. He contacted the real Professor Bernofsky at her university email address who confirmed this is a fraud (note, once again, the gmail address): From: Susan Bernofsky <bernofskysusan@gmail.com>Sent: 27 August 2026 07:50To: Eric Winsberg [omitted]Subject: A German-language opportunity for *Philosophy and Climate Science* Dear Eric, Your book Philosophy and Climate…
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Trump Administration targets ABA’s role as an “accreditor” of law schools
CHE reports: A report from the Education Department is recommending that the accrediting arm of the American Bar Association lose its federal recognition. If approved, the accrediting agency, called the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, would no longer be eligible to serve as a gatekeeper of federal financial…
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How is post-tenure review working at your (public) university?
Post-tenure review started proliferating more than a quarter-century ago, but has picked up speed in recent years. It might be useful to hear about people’s experiences. You can post anonymously, but you must use a valid email address, and it must be your university email address if you are going to name the university or…
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Universities get a (partial) reprieve on the 100k H-1B visas, but international students will still face potential obsctacles
IHE reports: After a federal court struck down the Trump administration’s effort to levy a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, the Department of Homeland Security is trying a different approach to impose a similar fee. Under a proposal released Monday, new H-1B visa petitions will have to pay $103,265 in addition to the…
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Against viewpoint diversity
A scholar at Johns Hopkins, Lisa Siraganian, makes seven useful points!
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Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels’ continuing war on academic freedom
First he was involved in the Trump Administration’s document calling for a massive violation of academic freedom, and now he intends to take the war on academic freedom to every department at Hopkins by pushing for “a shift in the recruitment of faculty,” partnering with the conservative American Enterprise Institute in order “to move with…
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Philosopher Nathan Cofnas, who launched the media frenzy about Jason Arday, has been suspended by Ghent University in Belgium…
…pending an investigation into possible “discrimination” against the late Professor Arday. It was Dr. Cofnas’s July 21 substack post that opened the flood gates of media coverage of allegations against Professor Arday, that ultimately led to (what everyone is assuming was) his suicide. While many of the allegations were clearly warranted, the tone and style…
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Tyler Harper on the Arday affair…
…at The Atlantic, and worth reading.
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Jason Arday dead
Readers will no doubt have heard this news already, but here is one account. No cause of death is given, although one suspects suicide of course given the public humiliation and vilification he suffered. A tragic story. (Earlier coverage here.) (Thanks to David Zimmerman for calling this to my attention.)
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Do “liberal” faculty “indoctrinate” their students to be liberal?
This study says the answer is “no.” I cannot comment on the methodology, but let’s remember that many of the most important right-wing figures in American life are graduates of Harvard and Yale (e.g., Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, J.D. Vance, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Vivek Ramaswamy, and on and on). Perhaps they are anomalies, or…
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Fascinating piece by Tyler Harper on the “diversity” madness at Bates College…
…where he used to teach, before joining The Atlantic. Harper is Black and also a socialist. I first encountered him on Twitter, where he was a sharp critic from the left of the excesses of the Wokerati. This new piece is beautifully written and both horrifying and laugh-out-loud funny at points. Some excerpts (but there…
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University of Minnesota pays $250,000 settlement after wrongfully rescinding job offer to Holocaust scholar who called Israeli retaliation in Gaza “genocide”
They would have had to pay more except the scholar does have a tenured job elsewhere. (Thanks to Phil Bold for the pointer.)
I concur to a certain extent. I also scored very low on the writing section. Back then, GRE was required…