PETITION: Reject the Trump Compact
We recently wrote to you about the Trump administration’s new “compact” with universities. We promised to keep you updated, and there’s much to report. As a refresher, on Oct. 1, the Trump administration sent a 10-page “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education” to nine of the nation’s top universities, including the University of Arizona, the […]
Trump’s Consequential “Compact”
The Trump administration is yet again meddling in higher education, this time by issuing a 10-page “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education” to an assortment of nine of the nation’s top universities. The universities, which received letters including the compact on Oct. 1, have been asked to give feedback to the Trump administration by Oct. […]
Carolina Receives Top Marks
We are happy to share some good news this week. For the 21st-straight year, UNC-Chapel Hill ranked as the No. 1 best value among public universities by the U.S. News & World Report and No. 4 overall among public institutions. The University also received many other top marks for 2026, including: These rankings come on […]
Taking the Trustees to Task
Sometimes, our work of providing information and commentary on the actions of the UNC Board of Trustees feels a bit niche – hugely important and consequential for Carolina, but not always attention grabbing to the masses. That changed when former Provost Chris Clemens filed a lawsuit earlier this week against the Trustees, alleging that members […]
Trust the Process … When There is One
“This kind of coverage is obviously troubling. It’s not what anybody would want.” Those were the words of UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts after the story “A Leader of UNC’s Civic Life School Is Fired, Adding to Turmoil” headlined the Chronicle of Higher Education’s homepage recently. Carolina has been in the news too often recently for […]
Update on Higher Ed Attacks
A new school year calls for a news update: the attacks on universities have continued. The latest at Carolina came just this week as the conservative group The Oversight Project requested the syllabi of 74 UNC courses using keywords including “DEI,” “LGBTQ+” and “anti-racism.” This follows a gutting of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hiring […]
FDOC: First Day of Class. First Day of Crisis.
It’s a great day (and week) to be a Tar Heel! Thousands of students have descended on campus to start the 2025-2026 school year. It should certainly be an interesting one. Many of us have fond memories of arriving on campus for the first time – getting settled in our dorms, making new friends and […]
A Commitment to Tenure
With all the uncertainty going on in academia and higher ed at this time, it’s more important than ever that Carolina protect tenure for our talented faculty. A few weeks ago, we covered a recent Board of Trustees meeting where a tenure vote for eligible faculty was conspicuously absent from the agenda. The incident was […]
Carolina’s Accreditation – Bring Your Own Referee?
We received overwhelming response to last week’s newsletter about recent threats to the independence of Carolina’s alumni association. This week, we wanted to cover another topic that has been in the news recently but perhaps isn’t getting the attention it deserves: the overhaul of university accreditation. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on […]
Carolina Alumni’s Independence is Under Fire
Just as Carolina is the oldest public university in the country, Carolina Alumni (previously known as the UNC General Alumni Association) is the oldest independent alumni association, founded in 1843 by 31 UNC graduates, including Governor John Motley Morehead. Despite its independence, the association keeps close ties to the University – including being headquartered on […]