THE CHRONICLE of Higher Education ® May 8, 2015 • $6.99 chronicle.com Volume LXI, Number 34 The Think Tank That Scares N.C. Colleges INSIDE Pope Center’s conservative vision gains influence A5 Trustees Feel New AMANDA L. SMITH FOR THE CHRONICLE Pressure After In his course on the solar system, Scott Fisher, of the U. of Oregon, tries to makes astronomy approachable. Sweet Briar’s Relax, It’s Science Demise A12 New courses instill scientific literacy among nonmajors A18 INTERNATIONAL INSIDE Lucrative Programs at Risk FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES Foreign universities in China are hit by a ban on government 16,000 Displaced officials attending executive-M.B.A. Students marched Government officials offered courses. A15 for justice help to students at Corinthian for Freddie Gray, Colleges when the company THE CHRONICLE REVIEW a black man who closed its last campuses. A6 died in police Fighting Words custody. ACADEMIC FREEDOM Jonathan Gottschall tried to save literary studies. Instead he ruined 2nd Opinion on Dr. Oz his career. B6 Behind the controver- sy over the Columbia THE CHRONICLE REVIEW professor’s TV advice: The Chronicle of Higher Education . Section B May 8, 2015 When a university CEM OZDEL, ANADOLU AGENCY, GETTY IMAGES doctor’s off-campus work is at issue, who’s the watchdog? A8 Baltimore’s Colleges Strive RESEARCH Not-So-Smart Drugs to Repair a Broken City A4 Several studies suggest that the cognitive benefits of prescription stimulants like Adderall are modest at best. A10 FIGHTING WORDS Jonathan Gottschall tried to save literary GREEK LIFE studies. Instead he ruined his career. Road Trip By DAVID WESCOTT Men Expelled for Sex Assault Fraternity leaders went to Capitol Hill to discuss a tax credit and shore up their troubled image. A10 Find Bias Hard to Prove A6 A2 may 8, 2015 | the chronicle of higher education CAN YOU FIGHT A PANDEMIC IF You don’t knoW WHO NEEDS TREATMENT? XUANHONG CHENG SEES HOPE IN THE PALM OF HER HAND. More than 400,000 children are infected with HIV each year in sub-Saharan Africa where hospitals and clinics lack resources to diagnose a significant portion of the population suffering from the disease. In response to staggering mother-to-child transmission rates, Assistant Professor Cheng is developing a handheld point-of-care device that provides health workers with a fast, easy and inexpensive way to diagnose and stage HIV in the field. For thousands of people one small device can change the fate of their future. Learn More: lehigh.edu/cheng the chronicle of higher education | may 8, 2015 A3 The Week What you need to know about the past seven days n And someone post- ans and urinating on an Corinthian Crumbles ed online a draft of American flag� … Paul In classical architecture, Corinthian is the a 2013 report by two Nungesser, a Columbia most elaborate of the orders, recognizable by the consultants on the pos- University student ac- acanthus leaves carved into column capitals� In sibility of a merger cused of rape by a class- higher education, however, Corinthian is a com- between Sweet Briar mate, Emma Sulkowicz, pany accused by state and federal regulators of and Hollins Univer- is suing the university being, basically, an elaborate scheme for soaking sity. The consultants for failing to protect him up student-aid money, with a commitment to ed- discussed possibilities from alleged harassment ucating students that was uneven at best� that ranged from shar- by Ms� Sulkowicz� The Last week what remained of Corinthian’s ed- ing business functions case attracted attention ifice crumbled when four of its subsidiaries to merging and shut- GAINESVILLE SUN, LANDOV after Ms� Sulkowicz be- A veteran holds a vigil outside of the Zeta closed abruptly — Everest College, Everest tering one of the cam- gan carrying a mattress Beta Tau house at the U. of Florida. Institute, Heald College, and WyoTech — and puses — most likely around the Colum- some 16,000 students at 28 campuses, most- Sweet Briar’s, which they noted had a consid- bia campus to protest the university’s having ly in Western states, found themselves with erable amount of deferred maintenance� Like cleared Mr� Nungesser of the rape charge� The no classes to attend� The company, which had many documents never intended for public dis- mattress is now Ms� Sulkowicz’s senior thesis previously closed its other campuses after com- tribution, it makes for fascinating reading� in visual arts, “Mattress Performance (Carry ing under intense federal scrutiny, said it had That Weight)�” … After five years of enrollment hoped to sell the remaining outlets but couldn’t declines, Guilford College said it would cut 52 do so because the California attorney general’s 1963, Revisited jobs — including 12 faculty positions — to close office wouldn’t excuse potential purchasers Is the American Association of University a $2-million budget deficit� from liability under a lawsuit the state filed Professors gearing up for a vote on whether to against the company� censure the University of Illinois at Urba- Some students said they had been warned in na-Champaign? A lengthy report issued last At UVa, a Follow-Up advance to get copies of their transcripts be- week that condemns the university’s contro- A little more than a month after a black stu- cause their colleges could be in trouble, but few versial decision last year not to hire Steven G� dent at the University of Virginia hoping to cel- appeared to have made back-up plans� Other Salaitar seems to suggest it is� ebrate St� Patrick’s Day was bloodied during a institutions scrambled to contact the displaced Mr� Salaita, you’ll recall, had resigned his controversial arrest by Virginia Alcoholic Bev- students� But experts said the transfer process tenured post at Virginia Tech and was prepar- erage Control officers, the university’s Black could be daunting for many — after all, Co- ing to move to Urbana-Champaign to become Student Alliance has come out with a set of elo- rinthian’s own documents said the company a tenured professor of American Indian stud- quent recommendations that it hopes will help marketed itself to those who saw themselves ies� But at the beginning of August the univer- UVa “take a lead on issues of diversity, inclu- INSIDE as “stuck” and “unable to see and plan well for sity’s chancellor, Phyllis M� Wise, told him his sion, and racial equity in order to position it- the future” — as could the process of seeking appointment would not be submitted to the self as a model institution of higher learning�” PEOPLE � � � � � � � � A16 discharges of their federal student loans be- Board of Trustees because, she said, the angry In a document titled “Towards a Better Uni- IN BRIEF � � � � � � � � A17 cause the institutions had closed� Worst of all, tone of his Twitter posts about Israel’s treat- versity,” the alliance calls for acknowledging said Robyn C� Smith, a lawyer with the Nation- ment of Palestinians might make students feel “this country and this university’s past and IN FOCUS � � � � � � A18 al Consumer Law Center, “there’s nothing you uncomfortable� The AAUP report notes that in current mistreatment of people of color�” It can do about the lost time and the work that the days before her decision, the university had goes on to say, “We must hold each other and VIEWS � � � � � � � � � A23 they put into their Corinthian education�” received many emails — presumably from sup- ourselves accountable for the current state of Meanwhile, the DeVry Education Group said porters of Israel — protest- affairs�” GAZETTE � � � � � � � A26 it would close 14 DeVry University locations ing his appointment� The organization recommends, because of a 15-percent drop in enrollment� Ms� Wise’s decision, the among other things, that the uni- CAREERS � � � � � � � �A30 report concludes, violated versity commission an “in-depth THE CHRONICLE the AAUP’s 1940 Statement study of the condition of black Sweet Briar Is Sued Again of Principles on Academic people at the University of Virgin- REVIEW � � � � Section B Alumnae and others hoping to keep Sweet Freedom and Tenure as well ia at all levels,” that deans “ensure Briar College from closing had a busy week� as “the university’s own stat- the incorporation of minority n More than 50 faculty members filed a ed policies on the subject�” perspectives and viewpoints” lawsuit challenging the decision to close the Interestingly, the report also in courses, and that the universi- tiny Virginia women’s college� The suit argues cites a 1963 predecessor that ty raise its minimum wage for all that the college is not facing any financial ex- called on the university to employees from $11�76 an hour to igency, as its Board of Directors has insist- recognize “its ability to ab- $13, the City of Charlottesville’s ed, and that therefore firing faculty members sorb a few gadflies, and its minimum� The alliance also says breaches their contracts� The faculty members need for uninhibited free- the university should strive to en- are seeking $42 million in damages, an amount dom of discussion.” (Read roll more black students and hire the suit says represents how much the faculty more on Page A14�) more black faculty members� members together would earn if they continued UVa’s president, Teresa A� teaching at Sweet Briar until retirement� Sullivan, said she would meet PHOTOFEST n A local judge held a hearing on a suit filed Plus All This soon with alliance members to by the attorney for Amherst County, where the After a series of protests and counterpro- talk about the recommendations� Coinciden- college is located, and ordered that Sweet Bri- tests, the University of Maryland will screen tally, the university’s Board of Visitors voted ar not sell any assets for six months� But he de- the movie American Sniper, to which Muslim recently to name a new residence hall for clined to order that the college remain open, students had objected because, they said, it “de- two 19th-century slaves, William and Isabel- and the county attorney promptly filed an ap- humanizes Muslim individuals, promotes the la Gibbons, who were married to each other peal with the Virginia Supreme Court.