College Matters from The Chronicle

Another U. of Florida Search Goes Sideways 24.06.2026 32dk

The leadership carousel at the University of Florida has turned swiftly of late. Now on its second interim president in as many years, and fresh off of a failed presidential search last summer, the state’s flagship is desperate to install a permanent leader. This month, the university's Board of Trustees voted to give the job to Stuart Bell, defying critics who have assailed the former University of Alabama leader over his past support for diversity initiatives. All of this has made for a rocky process, casting doubt on Bell’s prospects for confirmation from a state-level governing board. But the battle over Bell’s appointment may say more about a political fight to control higher education than it does about diversity or even Bell himself. Related Reading U. of Florida Plays Punching Bag — Again (The Chronicle) The U. of Florida Rejected a Former DEI Champion. Will Stuart Bell Face the Same Fate? (The Chronicle) Santa Ono Wanted a Presidency. He Became a Pariah. (The Chronicle) Guest Jasper Smith, staff reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Is Michigan State’s Board Broken? 03.06.2026 54dk

College Matters listeners, we want to hear from you. Please help us to improve our show by completing a brief audience survey at chronicle.com/podcastsurvey. Last week, Kevin Guskiewicz took a pay cut to leave Michigan State University’s presidency for the top job at Clemson University. And he lobbed a grenade on the way out by criticizing the institution’s trustees, a group of eight elected officials who in recent years have been accused of dysfunction and backbiting. It’s the latest example of how partisan governing boards, willing to throw their weight around in new ways, are making presidents uncomfortable. Are those boards overstepping their bounds? Rema Vassar, an outspoken Michigan State trustee, argues that leadership tension is “a gift” — and discusses an audio recording in which she told students how they might “crucify” a past president. Related Reading He Came From the Frying Pan. Can He Manage the Fire? (The Chronicle) After an Embarrassing Report, Squabbles on Michigan State’s Board Head Toward a Political Conclusion (The Chronicle) The New Order (The Chronicle) Guests Andy Thomason, assistant managing editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education Rema Vassar, member of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Dan Ariely and the Epstein Files 20.05.2026 50dk

College Matters listeners, we want to hear from you. Please help us to improve our show by completing a brief audience survey at chronicle.com/podcastsurvey. Dan Ariely has made a career of examining the dark side of humanity. As a social scientist and a Duke University professor, he has drawn attention — and some criticism — for his research into subjects like lying, cheating, and criminality. Of late, though, it’s Ariely’s long-running email correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sex offender who died in 2019, that’s drawing interest and scrutiny. What did Ariely want from Epstein? What did Epstein want from him? And why was Ariely asking Epstein for a woman’s phone number? Related Reading: Is Dan Ariely Telling the Truth? (The Chronicle) Inside the Epstein Files (College Matters) Unmasking Academe’s Gilded Boys’ Club (The Chronicle) Guest Dan Ariely, professor of business administration at Duke University For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

What the Canvas Hack Revealed 13.05.2026 38dk

College Matters listeners, we want to hear from you. Please help us to improve our show by completing a brief audience survey at chronicle.com/podcastsurvey. Last week’s shutdown of Canvas, an online learning-management system used by thousands of colleges and schools, was a sharp illustration of higher education’s increasing reliance on technology. Students, too, are leaning on artificial intelligence and other tech tools to navigate schoolwork and campus life. All of this is being done in the name of greater efficiency, as colleges face pressure to educate and graduate students at an ever-faster clip — and students demand a frictionless educational experience. But what happens to higher education when it’s built for speed? Related Reading Canvas: Live Updates (The Chronicle) Another Undergrad is Trying to Disrupt College with AI. He Says His Version Isn’t Cheating. (The Chronicle) A University Is Scraping Course Materials for Its New AI Platform. It Didn’t Ask the Faculty. (The Chronicle) Guest Beth McMurtrie⁠, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Ken Burns Names the 'Greatest Danger' Facing Higher Ed 06.05.2026 31dk

Ken Burns, who has helped to tell the story of the nation's history through celebrated documentaries, attributes much of his success to the education he received at Hampshire College. Faced with the recent news that his financially struggling alma mater will soon close its doors, Burns is reflecting on the larger forces that helped to seal the college’s fate. Hampshire bills itself as a learning laboratory in which students are encouraged to follow their passions, driving toward a goal of personal transformation rather than the pursuit of any single vocation. If that’s not a marketable idea, Burns says, something is truly amiss in higher education and the American psyche. The nation’s “reprehensible culture wars,” Burns says, are only making matters worse. Related Reading Hampshire Announced Its Closing. Will Other Small Colleges Follow? (The Chronicle) Nearly One-Third of Faculty in Red States Say They’ve Censored Their Research (The Chronicle) A War on ‘Woke’ Classes (College Matters) Guest Ken Burns, filmmaker For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Everybody Wants to Rule the University 29.04.2026 27dk

In recent months, politicians from both sides of the aisle have been busy exerting influence on state universities. In Virginia, a newly elected Democratic governor has quickly put her stamp on higher ed, adding political allies to university governing boards and reportedly forcing out some members with whom she disagrees. Citing concerns about recent personnel decisions at the University of Kentucky, the state’s Democratic governor declared this month that he was losing confidence in the flagship’s leadership. Meanwhile, Republicans in states across the country are ever more aggressively targeting universities over diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Politicians and governance experts alike often extol the virtues of depoliticizing universities, but does anyone actually think that’s realistic now? Related Reading Virginia’s Boards Leap Left (The Chronicle) At Texas Tech, Even Some Student Research on Gender Will Be Banned (The Chronicle) The New Order: How the Nation’s Partisan Divisions Consumed Public-College Boards and Warped Higher Education (The Chronicle) Guest Andy Thomason, assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Despair Isn’t On Frank Bruni’s Syllabus 22.04.2026 52dk

Frank Bruni’s classroom has gotten a bit bleak lately. As a professor of the practice of journalism and public policy at Duke University, the longtime New York Times writer often finds himself talking about grim trends: the decline of local news, threats against a free press, and the corrosive nature of political polarization. But Bruni says he’s trying to strike a delicate balance with his students, who need reasons for hope as much as they need a clear-eyed regard for the challenges ahead. Related Reading Teaching in an American University Is Very Strange Right Now (The New York Times) Frank Bruni’s newsletter (The New York Times) Higher Ed Has a Trust Problem. Yale Thinks It Has Solutions. (The Chronicle) Guest Frank Bruni, a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times and a professor of the practice of journalism and public policy at Duke University For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

A Gender-Studies Icon Strikes Back 15.04.2026 49dk

In states across the country, conservative lawmakers and university governing boards are purging what they describe as gender ideology from college campuses. As part of a larger backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, several universities have in recent years shut down women’s and gender-studies programs and closed LGBTQ-focused campus spaces. These developments are particularly worrying to Judith Butler, a pioneer of queer theory whose 1990 book, Gender Trouble, is considered a seminal work of the field. But what does Butler, a distinguished professor in the Graduate School at the University of California at Berkeley, have to say to the increasingly vocal critics of the discipline they helped to popularize? Related reading Berkeley Professor Explains Gender Theory (Big Think) Tracking Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI (The Chronicle) This President Defended Taking Pride Flags Off Faculty Windows. Now She’s Paused the Practice. (The Chronicle) Berkeley’s Judith Butler Revels in Role of Troublemaker (The Chronicle) Guest Judith Butler, distinguished professor in the Graduate School at UC-Berkeley For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Are the Kids Alright? We Asked Ian Bogost. 08.04.2026 40dk

As a professor of computer science and engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, Ian Bogost spends a lot of time trying to connect with his Gen Z students. He knows the stereotypes about this crop of young people: lazy, grade-grubbing, incapable of resolving problems without running to an administrator. But Bogost, who frequently writes about his teaching experiences for The Atlantic, says there are larger forces at work that have changed the way college students think about higher education. If there’s a problem with “kids today,” Bogost says, the adults who’ve shaped their world have a lot to do with it. Related Reading ⁠Why Are Students Obsessed with ‘Points Taken Off’⁠ (The Atlantic) ⁠Is Gen Z Unemployable?⁠ (The Wall Street Journal) ⁠Nobody Cares if Music is Real Anymore⁠ (The Atlantic) ⁠What We Know About Gen Z so Far⁠ (Pew Research Center) Guest ⁠Ian Bogost⁠, professor and director of film and media studies, and professor of computer science and engineering at WashU For more on today’s episode, visit ⁠chronicle.com/collegematters⁠. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

The College Leaders Bashing Higher Ed 01.04.2026 33dk

As public attitudes toward higher education sour, many college presidents are either staying mum or defending their institutions. But a handful of high-profile college leaders have taken a different tack of late, publicly conceding that the sector’s critics have a point. Concerns about rising tuition, the value of degrees, and higher education’s liberal tilt are all valid, these leaders argue. But what’s driving these self-critical administrators? Is this about principle? Branding? Or is it just a cynical ploy to cozy up to the Trump administration? Related Reading The Self-Flaggelating President (The Chronicle) Sian Beilock’s Star Turn (The Chronicle) The University’s Voice: Principled Silence and Purposeful Speech (Johns Hopkins University Press) Guests Nell Gluckman, senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education Eric Kelderman, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Higher Ed’s Bad Vibes 25.03.2026 36dk

After about a year of battling with the Trump administration, higher-education leaders and analysts are collectively catching their breath. But this doesn’t feel like a break: The discourse around colleges and universities of late has taken on a dire tone. There’s open talk about the end of the great American research university as we know it. And no one feels fine. Related Reading The Unmaking of the American University (The New Yorker) Some Data on College Earnings (Bob Shireman’s Substack) Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years (The New York Times) Guest Andy Thomason, assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Presidential Affairs 18.03.2026 42dk

Ted Carter’s resignation this month as president of Ohio State University carries the hallmarks of a tabloid scandal. Announcing his departure, the university cited Carter’s "inappropriate" relationship with a woman who was “seeking public resources to support her personal business.” Reporting from The Columbus Dispatch suggests Carter had a romantic relationship with a female podcaster, and that Carter had used his university position to connect the woman with influential state leaders. Carter is just the latest high-profile academic to imperil an institution through reckless personal conduct. Given what social scientists know about how people in power behave, he’s unlikely to be the last. Related Reading ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ Leads Ohio State’s president to resign (The Chronicle) Carter's relationship included dinner with OSU leaders, business lobbying (The Columbus Dispatch) Flirty emails got Mark Schlissel fired. A deeper history weighs on Michigan’s Flagship. (The Chronicle) Guests Sarah Brown, senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education Nell Gluckman, senior reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the U. of California at Berkeley For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Texas A&M’s Censorship Machine 11.03.2026 35dk

What began as a controversy last September over a lesson on gender identity in a children’s-literature class at Texas A&M University has morphed into something altogether more substantial. In recent months, Texas A&M has set about purging from its catalog any courses that “advocate race or gender ideology.” Courses on religion and culture, and even readings from Plato, have all been singled out for scrutiny or elimination. But how does a university respond behind the scenes when censorship becomes policy? Related Reading Inside Texas A&M's Scramble to Censor Its Curriculum (The Chronicle) Censoring Courses Isn’t the Law in Texas. Public Universities Are Doing It Anyway. (The Chronicle) Texas A&M Bans Plato Excerpt From a Philosophy Course (The Chronicle) Inside the Ousting of Texas A&M’s President (The Texas Tribune) Guest Jasper Smith, staff reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education

Scott Galloway Unloads on Higher Ed 04.03.2026 54dk

Scott Galloway, a prolific podcaster and marketing professor at New York University, has had enough. For anyone who knows Galloway’s schtick, that’s not too surprising. On his popular podcast, Pivot, which he co-hosts with Kara Swisher, variations on the theme of Galloway reaching his limit are practically a recurring segment. But few things set Galloway off quite like highly selective universities, which he says have unscrupulously constrained enrollments to justify unfathomable tuition increases. The catch? Galloway has spent his career at just such a university — and he’d be “crushed” if his son didn’t get admitted to one. Related Reading Higher Ed’s Prickliest Pundit (The Chronicle) Scott Galloway’s Ted Talk (YouTube) The Making of Michael Crow, a Higher-Ed Agitator (The Chronicle) Guest Scott Galloway, marketing professor at New York University For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Inside the Epstein Files 25.02.2026 33dk

The Justice Department’s recent release of millions of pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died by suicide in 2019, shines a harsh light on a privileged network of scholars who had entered his orbit. Throughout the documents, professors butter up the financier to fund their pet projects, banter crudely about women, and appear to overlook the criminality of a man who had already been convicted on prostitution-related charges involving a minor. What do the documents reveal about the gilded world of high-profile scholarship — and about elite higher ed’s fraught relationship with money, power, and prestige? Related Reading Unmasking Academe’s Gilded Boys’ Club (The Chronicle) Jeffrey Epstein’s Academic Fixer (The Chronicle) 'A Moment of Reckoning': After Epstein, Higher Ed Faces Hard Questions About Its Proximity to Power (The Chronicle) Guests Nell Gluckman, senior writer at The Chronicle Emmy Martin, reporting intern at The Chronicle For more on today’s episode, visit ⁠chronicle.com/collegematters⁠. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

The Higher Ed Group Fighting Trump 18.02.2026 41dk

As president of the American Council on Education, Ted Mitchell is at the tip of the spear. A year ago, when the Trump administration moved to slash federal research funding, ACE joined a lawsuit to stop the cuts. This was a major departure for the influential higher-ed advocacy group, which is hardly ever a plaintiff in litigation. In Trump’s second term, ACE has taken a notably pugilistic approach. In addition to fighting in courtrooms, Mitchell has been active in the court of public opinion, casting the Trump administration’s agenda as both unlawful and unwise. But not everyone agrees on the nature of the Trump threat or how to respond to it, which puts Mitchell in a tricky spot. Can he unite this disparate constituency? Related ReadingHow Higher Ed Staved Off a Research-Funding Bloodbath — For Now (The Chronicle) Statement by Higher Education Associations in Opposition to Trump Administration Compact (American Council on Education) 'A Robust Victory: Federal Judge Says Harvard Should have Billions of Research Dollars Restored (The Chronicle) GuestTed Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Tenure’s Endless Numbered Days 11.02.2026 39dk

In its long and often tortured history, the faculty-job-protection status known as tenure has been defended as an essential safeguard for academic freedom. Professors, the argument goes, need to know that they won’t get fired for researching and teaching about controversial topics. In theory, tenure provides that necessary security. But critics of the system, who balk at the idea of a “job for life,” are unmoved by this defense. State lawmakers are busy chipping away at tenure’s protections or even seeking to do away with it altogether. But if the traditional argument for tenure’s existence is failing, what are its supporters to do? Is there a case for the system beyond academic freedom? Related Reading The War on Tenure (Deepa Das Acevedo / Cambridge University Press) Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma's Public Colleges, Governor Says⁠ (The Chronicle) The Strange, Secret History of Tenure (The Review) A Professor Was Fired for Her Politics. Is That the Future of Academia? (The New York Times Magazine) Guest Deepa Das Acevedo, associate professor of law at Emory University For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Is Trump’s Higher-Ed Attack Legal? 04.02.2026 30dk

Outcome-driven investigations. Threats of dizzying fines. Broad claims of rampant, unchecked antisemitism. The Trump administration’s playbook against higher education is familiar by now, and it always presents universities with the same stark choice: Pay up or face a potentially yearslong legal battle with an extremely powerful adversary. Washington insiders and judges say Trump’s tactics are legally dubious at best, breaking with procedural rules and even violating the U.S. Constitution. But will any of that matter in the end? Related Reading The Shakedown: How Trump’s Justice Department pressured lawyers to ‘find’ evidence that UCLA had tolerated antisemitism (The Chronicle/ProPublica) The Improbable Warrior: Why the unlikely leader of Trump’s antisemitism task force may be the perfect man for the job. (The Chronicle/ProPublica) Trump Wants $1 Billion From UCLA for Its ‘Hostile Environment.’ What Is That? (The Chronicle) Guests Peter Elkind, national investigative reporter at ProPublica Katie Mangan, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Minneapolis on the Brink 28.01.2026 33dk

The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, who was killed on Saturday during an encounter with federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, has further escalated tensions in a metropolitan area dotted with college campuses. As the region reels with civil unrest, area universities are grappling with how to maintain safe operations. They’re also facing pressure to exert stronger moral leadership as their institutions’ values are tested in real time.Related Reading Navigating Campus Life Amid ICE Enforcement (The Chronicle) After Another ICE Killing, Minnesota’s Flagship Faces a Test (The Chronicle) Guests Scott Carlson⁠, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education Fae Hodges, University of Minnesota Twin Cities student Alexander Boni-Saenz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota

College Matters Returns 21.01.2026 1dk

Politics. Culture. Affordability. The biggest issues facing the country are playing out in higher education, and College Matters from The Chronicle is here to make sense of it all. Beginning January 28, tune in for all new weekly episodes of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s podcast. Catch up on previous episodes Interview: Chris Rufo Floats Calling in the ‘Troops’ Why Faculty Hate Teaching Evaluations Has Harvard Gone Soft? For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.