The University of Colorado's Ward Churchill is but the latest in a long line of professors whose volatile statements have created controversy for themselves and their universities. Specific personnel matters in the case have been meticulously addressed in Boulder, but several larger questions have been curiously neglected. One might well ask, for…

An academic leader needs to have a basic understanding of the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions, evolving laws, and legal issues affecting higher education and the relationship between legal considerations and academic administration. At the same time, an academic leader must focus on accomplishing the goals, objectives, and…

The rationale for comprehensive reform of Latin American higher education crystallized in the mid-1990s in policy documents published by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. This "Washington consensus" of the multilateral banks advocated, among other measures, greater reliance on private sources of funding, increased…

In May 2005, university administrators were rudely awakened from their civic slumbers by a "notice of implementation" from the U.S. Department of Education. With little advance comment from the academy, Congress had passed and the President had signed into law a requirement that "each educational institution that receives Federal…

When the Supreme Court pronounces on race and education it makes headlines. On 28 June 2007 the Supreme Court revealed its long-anticipated decisions on "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and "Meredith v. Jefferson County," proving that maneuvering the minefield of America's race relations is just as difficult…

On 23 June 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two rulings on the constitutionality of race preferences in university admissions. The cases in question both involved the University of Michigan and were designated Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. The Michigan rulings were a stunning triumph for race preferences, from…

This year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) conducted an expansive study of just how pervasive and how onerous restrictions on speech are at America's colleges and universities. Between September 2005 and September 2006, FIRE surveyed over 330 schools and found that an overwhelming majority of them explicitly prohibit…

The Constitution provides the ground rules to create obligations on the state and to transform the education system by introducing human rights in line with the best developed democracies. This article is not about state-compelled school attendance, but rather the observe: the right to attend school. So while the right to attend school is part of…

The line between public and private expression of religion requires balancing the constitutional guarantee of the free exercise of religion and the constitutional prohibition against the establishment of religion. Public schools, as government entities, and the teachers in them are allowed neither to inhibit the free exercise of religious…

The present-day Supreme Court ruling that skin color is a valid basis upon which to rest academic decision-making sets us on a course toward a world minutely regulated by identity-group politics. David F. Prindle's reverie of a subsequent majority opinion by Sandra Day O'Connor, ten years hence, mandating correct racial proportionality in GPAs and…

Several years ago, Macomb Community College suspended an English teacher for three days because he frequently used profanity in the classroom that was not germane to course subject matter. The teacher's response to this suspension and the administration's response to his actions prompted a series of countermeasures by each party, and culminated in…

Educating students to understand overt, subtle, and erroneous claims made by partisan advertisers is no small feat. Often students are passive consumers who need to learn how to become critical listeners, viewers, readers, and producers of all types of media. Because of this, media literacy--the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce…

There is widespread concern that higher education is being compromised by being turned into a "commodity" to be "consumed". This article represents an initial attempt to explore the trends in both the UK and US, and considers how the law has responded to them. It argues, however, that there is an important distinction to be…

The lawsuit Channing Club vs. The Board of Regents of Texas Tech University, 1970 has been used as a legal precedent in many student press censorship cases. A thorough understanding of Channing has become increasingly important since Hazelwood and other related decisions. Though Channing has been frequently cited in the literature, comparatively…

When considering the issues associated with addressing faith, spirituality, and religion on campus, it is important for student affairs professionals, especially those at public colleges and universities, to be cognizant of the associated legal issues. The Constitution protects the freedom of religious exercise and against the establishment of…