Opinion

Elites failing iconic American institutions

Critical American institutions are crumbing before our eyes because the intellectual elites charged with caring for those institutions are failing on a grand scale. In academia, business, and government people in critical leadership positions are failing the most basic responsibilities and across the spectrum. Students, stockholders, customers, and citizens are suffering failure, as is the culture...

Dallas Woodhouse
Opinion

It’s not all bad news on intellectual diversity

Several years ago, I attended a North Carolina State Bar Dinner, where Judge Allison Duncan, then active on the US Fourth Circuit, spoke on diversity and equality of opportunity. She argued that diversity of viewpoint is needed for a strong academic system and that diversity of immutable characteristics does not equate to a vigorous intellectual ecosystem. This...

Robert Hunter
Opinion

Lee Roberts showed what true campus leadership looks like

Despite the seemingly countless examples of university presidents exemplifying what not to do when confronted with vile antisemitic mobs, Lee Roberts, the interim chancellor at UNC Chapel Hill, displayed unmatched boldness on behalf of students and the citizens of North Carolina this week. Roberts, who assumed the post of interim chancellor in January of this...

Tanner Nau
Opinion

A troubling rise in campus crime

While many were justly distracted by other headlines about North Carolina higher education this week — like the UNC Board of Governors moving against DEI — there were a number of headlines regarding a rise in crime on college campuses. ABC 11 had a story entitled, “College students talk about campus safety amid string of...

David Larson
Opinion

Robbing ourselves with student loan ‘forgiveness’

In honor of Financial Literacy Month, it’s worth taking a moment to consider one of the biggest financial challenges facing Americans of all generations — their student loan debt. For those who may not be familiar with the student loan process, there are two loan types that students and their parents can explore to pay...

Claire Olson

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Opinion

DEI on NC campuses emerges as surprise election-year issue

In recent Carolina Journal polling, immigration and the economy were the top issues for voters. But if one was to judge based on current headlines and debate, it would appear that the presence of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) offices and initiatives on the state’s college campuses was also a top concern. Here are just...

David Larson
Opinion

Time for NC colleges and universities to look beyond SACS for accreditation

Two new policy briefs from the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal take aim at college and university accreditation. On Feb. 25, the Martin Center released its first brief, “It’s Time for More States to Sack SACS,” by Adam Kissel. Kissel was deputy assistant secretary for higher education programs at the US Department of...

Ashlynn Warta
Opinion

Intellectual diversity missing at top NC law schools

Derek T. Muller, a Notre Dame Law School professor, recently published research on his personal site showing the political contributions of his fellow law professors at major American law schools. What he found is not surprising, but it is fairly disheartening to those who hold traditional American beliefs on things like freedom of speech, limited...

David Larson
Opinion

Closing the book on libraries?

It’s no secret that libraries — public, academic, special, and school — have taken a sharp left turn in recent years. As more and more young people have graduated with degrees in library science, the profession has taken on a far more radical, activist turn than ever before. This is hardly surprising, given that colleges...

Mark Herring
Opinion

Why I, a college professor, signed onto Freedom Conservatism

A few months ago, I signed Freedom Conservatism’s “Statement of Principles.” I was eager to join the dozens of lawyers, journalists, think tankers, and academics who had done so. I fear the document’s 10 tenets are losing their grip on the American psyche as our politics descend into scorched-earth tribal warfare between progressives and the...

Andy Taylor
Opinion

Why the right never wins

About a quarter of a century ago, I read Whittaker Chamber’s magisterial “Witness,” his cri de coeur execration against “Godless” communism. As a young man, Chambers had embraced communism and even wrote for the Marxist-cum socialist Daily Worker. Over time, however, he came to realize that in this war of ideas, one side embraced God...

Mark Herring