Higher Education

Neo-Liberal Academia And The Death Of Education

May 28, 2018 By Davor Džalto, Dissident Voice. Educate! Capitalism, Data, Education, Higher Education

Recent cases of personal information collecting for corporate interests highlight the urgency of revisiting the topic of higher education in its connection with the corporate sector and the government. We ought to reconsider at least some aspects of the complex web of the contemporary “education industry” and its social implications. Understanding how contemporary (Western) education works (or doesn’t work) can contribute to raising the awareness of the general population as to the scale of the problem, and making a change, no matter how small.

UM Lecturers Fight For Higher, Equal Pay

May 19, 2018 Nicquel Terry, Detroitnews.com Resist! Education, Higher Education, Wages, Workers Rights and Jobs

Dearborn — Lecturers at the University of Michigan are calling on school officials to raise their wages, saying they have been underpaid for years and threaten to go on strike if the school rejects their request. The Lecturers’ Employee Organization — which represents 1,700 non-tenure lecturers at the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses — says it has been bargaining for a new contract with the university since October, and its contract expires May 29. The union members gathered at the Dearborn campus on Thursday to display unity before going to the University of Michigan Board of Regents’ meeting to speak out. Union leaders say many lecturers on all three campuses are not making enough to support a family and have to work additional jobs for more income. They also want equal pay rates at all three campuses. Ann Arbor lecturers are paid higher salaries.

Class Of 2018

May 15, 2018 By Elise Gould, Zane Mokhiber, and Julia Wolfe, Epi.org Educate! Higher Education

In this study, we analyze data on recent young college graduates (ages 21–24) to learn about the Class of 2018’s economic prospects as they start their careers. We begin the report by providing a demographic snapshot of this population of young college graduates. In the second section, we discuss what shares of these young graduates are now enrolled in further schooling, employed, both, or neither. Third, we narrow our focus to only those graduates who are not enrolled in further schooling to find out how they are faring in the labor market—specifically, looking at their unemployment and underemployment rates. We also draw on literature that highlights the likelihood that many young college graduates will end up working at jobs that do not require a college degree.

California Professor Under Attack For Hosting Palestinian Lawmaker

May 2, 2018 Nora Barrows-Friedman, Electronicintifada.net Educate! California, Higher Education, Nationalism, Palestine, Repression

A UC Berkeley lecturer is under attack for hosting an event with a Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament who challenged Israel’s claim to be a democracy. The campaign to punish Hatem Bazian in California comes amid renewed attempts in South Carolina to codify a definition of anti-Semitism which conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish bigotry. On 17 April, Bazian facilitated an event at UC Berkeley with Haneen Zoabi, a member of Israel’s Knesset. Zionist students are calling for the university to take disciplinary action against Bazian for hosting Zoabi and defending the content of her speech. This latest attack is part of “an ongoing series of targeting BDS activists and individuals who continue to do work on Palestine in the US,” Bazian told The Electronic Intifada, referring to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. Haneen Zoabi is an elected politician who advocates for Israel to give full, equal rights to all its citizens.

Transportation Strikes, University Protests Continue To Shake France

April 19, 2018 Staff, France24.com Resist! Class Struggle, France, Higher Education, Strikes, Student Protests, Transportation

To Macron’s dismay, the popular movements show no signs of slowing down. The Air France tussle over salaries is separate from the larger and politically more significant stand-off between Macron’s centrist, business-friendly government and the public sector trade unions fighting its reform plans. Rail unions are particularly up in arms over proposed reforms that they say would reduce job security. Students have been blocking several public universities over Macron’s plan to introduce more selective applications. There is a general atmosphere of social discontent against Macron’s reforms, including protests and strikes by civil servants, energy workers and garbage collectors. Recently, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire admitted that, while he couldn’t produce numbers, it was clear that the strikes were impacting growth.

The Longest Student Sit-In In Howard’s History Comes To An End

April 7, 2018 Jazmin Goodwin and Autumn Dalton, Thehilltoponline.com Resist! Higher Education, Occupation, Student Activism

After nine days of occupying Howard University’s administration building, student protesters ended their sit-in after administrators and student organizers agreed on a way forward for some of the students. A press conference was held by the university’s board of trustees to share a statement of commitments to the Howard University community that included some of the demands that #HUResist wanted when they took over the building at the end of March. Board of Trustees Chairman, Stacey J. Mobley released a statement letter to the Howard University community affirming the end of the nine day sit-in and next steps. “As all of us are aware, Howard University has a long history of healthy debate and discourse on our campus and it’s a tradition we fully support. We want to continue to encourage dialogue and we are committed to providing a safe space for all voices to feel comfortable to speak freely,” Mobley stated in the statement.

Study Says That 36% Of College Students Don’t Have Enough To Eat

April 6, 2018 Mike Kennedy, Asumag.com Educate! Food and Agriculture, Higher Education, Students

"Prices have gone up over time," says Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education policy at Temple and the lead author of the report. "But the rising price is just a piece. This is a systemic problem." The findings are based on data collected from 43,000 students at 66 schools. The report used the Department of Agriculture's assessment for measuring hunger. That means the thousands of students it classifies as having "low food security" aren't merely avoiding the dining hall or saving lunch money for beer: They're skipping meals, or eating smaller meals, because they don't have enough money for food. On top of that, the report found, 46 percent of community college students and 36 percent of university students struggle to pay for housing and utilities.

Hampton University Students Take To The Streets Over Campus Conditions

March 30, 2018 Eddie Conway, Therealnews.com Resist! HBCUs, Higher Education, Student Activism

Yeah, there’s a number of student protests taking place on campus. Variety of issues that students are trying to get addressed. One is Title IX compliance issues. Another is quality of food service on campus and housing issues, certain deficiencies with mold and mildew and things like that in rooms. And the administration has been working to respond to a lot of the students concerns. They’ve had a number of public meetings. The students have also been vocal on social media on expressing their displeasure with some of the conditions, or the concerns, and their efforts to try to reach out to administration to work with them to solve them. So it’s a very unique issue for Hampton. There are a lot of HBCUs that confront these kind of things every year, but it’s very rare for Hampton as an institution and as a student body to be so out front publicly on these kinds of issues.

Brazil: Professor Subpoenaed Over ‘2016 Coup’ Course

March 12, 2018 Staff, Telesurtv.net Educate! Brazil, Education, Higher Education, Latin America, Repression

During an interview with Bahia Noticias, Zacarias said: “I have ten days to explain myself (to the court). Joao Carlos Salles, the university dean, was also cited (in the subpoena). In other words, the UFBA has been affected. It's under assault, being put to the test.” Zacarias was notified of the subpoena at the university. He defended his decision to organize the course, asking, “When will we be able to speak about the 2016 coup? When this government (administration) comes to an end? If we're only allowed to speak about it when it is finished, that means this government is authoritarian.” Zacarias concluded that “There's a reasonable consensus about what constituted the 2016 coup and the risks that democracy faces in the country.”

U Of I Graduate Employee Strike Enters Second Week

March 9, 2018 Bryan Moline, Peoriapublicradio.org Resist! Higher Education, Labor, Strikes

The graduate workers’ strike on the University of Illinois Urbana campus enters its second week today, after talks with a federal mediator Sunday yielded no progress toward an agreement. Both the U of I and the Graduate Employees’ Organization, or GEO, released statements last night after the talks. Patrick Kimutis with the GEO’s bargaining team says the university did not propose anything different than in the last session, so the strike will continue. The university did not address the substance of the negotiations, only saying that they want to continue talks with the GEO. The main sticking point between the two sides continues to be tuition waivers.

Clashes Erupt As White Supremacist Richard Spencer Speaks At Michigan State University

March 8, 2018 By Aaron Maté, Therealnews.com Resist! Higher Education, Michigan, White Supremacy

The white supremacist Richard Spencer spoke at Michigan State University after defeating a campaign against his appearance. The Rev. David Alexander Bullock of Change Agent Consortium says that Spencer shouldn't be given a platform to recruit for a violent, racist movement. AARON MATÉ: It's The Real News. I'm Aaron Maté. The white supremacist, Richard Spencer spoke at Michigan State University on Monday after defeating a vocal campaign against his appearance. The school denied Spencer a permit last year after a community outcry, but Spencer's group filed suit, leading to a court order for the two sides to enter mediation. The result was a deal in which Spencer spoke today while the school was on spring break. Protests were held outside the event. SPEAKER: They're fascists and they are not welcome here on Michigan State's campus. We don't believe they should have been allowed to speak. I just want to say, too, this is just a part of what's going on in the country.

Universities That Censor Speech On Palestine Pose As Champions Of Protest

March 8, 2018 Nora Barrows-Friedman, Electronicintifada.net Resist! Censorship, Free Speech, Higher Education, Palestine, University

Last week, students at the University of Virginia protested during a campus event featuring a group of Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were part of Reservists on Duty, an organization that aims to counter the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights on US college campuses. They were brought to campus by Israel-aligned groups in order to “humanize the conflict” – in other words, to distract from Israel’s human rights abuses and help brand the Israeli military as “the most moral army in the world.” Protesters held signs and chanted slogans including, “Fight the power, turn the tide, end Israeli apartheid.” Following their action in solidarity with Palestinians living under Israeli military rule, the University of Virginia’s dean of students Allen Groves accused the protesters of violating univerisity rules and hampering free speech.

University Of Nebraska Faces Growing Calls To Expel Violent Neo-Nazi Dan Kleve

February 16, 2018 Staff, Unicornriot.ninja Resist! Higher Education, Nebraska, Neo-Nazis, Racism

Lincoln, NE – Administrators at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) are facing mounting criticism over their choice to ignore safety issues posed by 23-year-old biochemistry major Dan Kleve. Anti-racists have been calling for Kleve’s expulsion from UNL since last summer, when images of him surfaced after the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville. Public pressure on administrators has been building again after the recent release of a video from a Google Hangouts session in which Dan Kleve describes himself as “the most active white nationalist in the Nebraska area” and says “I want to be violent…really violent.” A similar video shows Kleve discussing his desire to murder a black man who asked him about his “pagan tattoos.” Kleve’s former roommate recently told Newsweek that the young man would keep an assault rifle in plain view and discussed wanting to kill black people...

Scholars For Social Justice Launches With 100+ Members

February 16, 2018 Staff, Portside.org Create! Academia, Higher Education, Research, Social Justice, Trump Administration

Scholars for Social Justice (SSJ) is a new formation of progressive scholars committed to promoting and fighting for a political agenda that insists on justice for all, especially those most vulnerable. We are clearly living in dangerous times with the election of Donald Trump and the empowerment of a set of rabidly right wing and racist forces. Trump, Pence and the Republicans have made it clear that not only will they usher in a radically conservative policy agenda threatening any incremental advances won under the Obama presidency, but more fundamentally reactionary right-wing supporters will directly target the rights, status and lives of people of color, Muslims, women, immigrants, LGBT communities, the poor, indigenous and differently-abled and all who have been forced to live on the margins in this country.

Higher Education, Job Training For No Jobs And Massive Debt

February 13, 2018 By Julian Vigo, Truthdig.com Educate! Higher Education, Labor, Workers Rights and Jobs

I have been in academia since the mid 1980s—first as a student, then as a university professor. I have seen higher education shift radically over the past three decades: from being a place of learning where intellectual debate, particularly in the humanities, was based on a direct engagement with texts and cultural artifacts, to today, where it is the site of emotional and moral exorcisms and where many humanities departments now discourage reading. Not only have curricula and course syllabi been sterilized by this move to banish unpopular ideas from university halls, but much academic rigor has been lost, in part because the focus of higher education is dictated by an increasingly reactive and conservative student body, one which demands safe spaces and which “no-platforms” unpopular speakers and ideas.

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