At a conference last fall, Kirsten Dierking came across "College Girl: A Memoir," a book by Laura Gray-Rosendale that tells the story of a brutal sexual assault she experienced as a college student. While she purchased a copy of the book, it sat unopened on her desk for a while; also a victim of brutal rape in college, she was not sure…

Responds to the tragedy of September 11 by asserting that the academy must do what it has always done: educate students, generate knowledge, and provide services to campuses and society; its commitment to academic freedom, intellectual honesty, and tolerance is also as important as ever. (EV)

Asserts that in the wake of increasing corporate influence from the outside and corresponding pressure for corporate support from within, universities are allowing academic freedom to be diminished. Discusses how this threat to academic freedom has taken at least three forms: suppression, erosion, and corruption. Describes the historical and…

Describes how collective bargaining has emerged as an important factor in higher education, with some faculty resisting unionism as a threat to status and dignity. Seeks to refute the source of such resistance, the "myth of academe," or the belief that faculty lead lives devoted to selfless pursuit of knowledge in institutions carefully organized…

Asserts that despite attempts by critics of higher education to use tenure as a scapegoat for a plethora of institutional shortcomings, there is no persuasive evidence that tenured faculty aren't doing their jobs. Describes the need for and benefits of tenure, argues against its critics, and calls for more attention toward creating organizational…

Looks at arguments concerning hate speech and speech codes on college campuses, arguing that speech codes are likely to be of limited value in achieving civil rights objectives, and that there are alternatives less harmful to civil liberties and more successful in promoting civil rights. Identifies specific goals, and considers how restriction of…

Reports on a survey of Minnesota's African-American community college faculty concerning their own employment situations and the reasons why the recruitment and retention of African-American faculty have not been successful overall despite two decades of affirmative action. Looks at social and psychological barriers to increasing diversity, and…

If universities were serious about enhancing student learning, they would explore other ways of organizing work, including reorganization of the curriculum into learning communities that enable learning to span the disciplines, creating classrooms that promote collaborative learning experiences, and using forms of assessment that encourage shared…

A new climate of racism on college and university campuses is seen as mirroring dominant patterns in society as a whole, which in turn reflects frustration, confusion, and anger over pervasive economic difficulties. Suggestions for campus response that is transformative rather than reactive are offered, including study of cultural identity through…

Using data on degree completion among black and white community college students, a study investigated how rates in different postsecondary programs vary for blacks and whites, changes over the course of the 1980s, and institutional characteristics encouraging program completion for the two groups. The most striking result was a decline in…

Restrictions on intellectual freedom have existed in American colleges and universities from their founding in the mid-seventeenth century through the rise of the corporate and government dominated institutions of today, and intellectual repression is a principal factor in low faculty morale in the 1980s. (MSE)

American higher education should have three priorities: (1) show students that we are connected through the use of symbols; (2) help students understand, through science, the underlying patterns and connections of the natural world; and (3) teach students about social and civic institutions through familiarity with other cultures. (MSE)

Common pitfalls for colleges and universities in hiring faculty and in career development efforts are identified, and recommendations are made for both faculty and administrators to begin to halt the attrition of minority and female faculty members. (MSE)

A survey (n=926) of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's multiethnic student population investigated experiences with racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination based on age, sexual orientation, physical disability, marital status, religion, or national origin. While this institution has specific policies on discrimination, students who…

The forgotten or unknown history of discrimination against Franco-Americans in the United States is chronicled. The patterns of discrimination began before World War I but became particularly intense after that war. While discrimination occurred within higher education, faculty have also been instrumental in combating it, and are urged to continue…