C May 14, 2021 $7.99 The Collapse of the College Dream Machine Your passion never runs out. Neither does our commitment to you. In over 100 years, we’ve never missed a payment. Guaranteed monthly income for life. LEARN MORE: TIAA.org /NeverRunOut Annuities are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), New York, NY. Any guarantees under annuities issued by TIAA are subject to TIAA’s claims-paying ability. TIAA Traditional is a guaranteed insurance contract and not an investment for federal securities law purposes. Investment, insurance and annuity products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, are not deposits, are not insured by any federal government agency, are not a condition to any banking service or activity, and may lose value. 1216213 chronicle.com | Volume 67, Number 18 | May 14, 2021 FIRST READS A Free-for-All? Will Biden’s community-college plan waylay the students it most wants to help? 6 Outlawing ‘Indoctrination’ Idaho lawmakers think critical race theory inflames divisions. So they passed a law against it. 7 Board Brouhaha David B. Wilson was censured by his board. Now the Supreme Court will weigh in. 8 Spring Enrollments The undergraduate drop is the steepest since the pandemic began. 9 INSIGHT FEATURES The ‘Flagship’ Folly The metaphor is a shoddy classifier of colleges The Collapse but a clear signal of higher ed’s status obsession. of the College Dream Machine THE REVIEW BRENDAN CANTWELL AND W. CARSON BYRD 42 10 Demands for Diversity Lead to Corporatization Our blind faith in the transformative power Students are empowering administrators at faculty expense. of higher ed is slipping. Now what? THE REVIEW AMNA KHALID 44 THE REVIEW CHAD WELLMON The Post-Pandemic Library They led colleges into the socially distant era. What’s next? The Damage Campaign SCOTT CARLSON 46 Caught up in a storm of false accusations, Stop Grading Class Participation 22 professors found themselves fighting to Students shouldn’t have to battle one another clear their names. for airtime to earn a good grade. ADVICE JAMES M. LANG 48 SARAH BROWN AND MEGAN ZAHNEIS CAREERS Eliminate Letters of Recommendation ‘Everybody Is a Target They impede progress on diversity and waste your time. 32 Right Now’ ADVICE ALLISON M. VAILLANCOURT AND ÖZLEM H. ERSIN 50 A president sacks his toughest faculty INDEX of jobs by category and region. 53 critic, and the outrage goes national. JOB LISTINGS 54 TOM BARTLETT AND JACK STRIPLING TOTAL POSITIONS ONLINE Ronald Crutcher’s 17,258 jobs.chronicle.com Racial Reckoning 36 TOP JOB How the University of Richmond’s first Blue Mountain Community College Black president found himself at odds President with student activists. KATHERINE MANGAN GAZETTE 58 Cover illustration by Alvaro Dominguez for The Chronicle THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION (ISSN 0009-5982) IS PUBLISHED BIWEEKLY (EVERY OTHER WEEK) JANUARY THROUGH NOVEMBER AND MONTHLY IN DECEMBER, 25 TIMES A YEAR AT 1255 TWENTY-THIRD STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20037. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: $119.00 PER YEAR (DIGITAL) AND $139.00 PER YEAR (PRINT PLUS DIGITAL). PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT WASHINGTON, D.C., AND AT ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. © 2021 THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INC. THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, INC. REGISTERED FOR GST AT THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, INC. GST NO. R-129 572 8 30. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, P.O. BOX 85, CONGERS, N.Y. 10920. THE CHRONICLE RESERVES THE RIGHT NOT TO ACCEPT AN ADVERTISER’S ORDER. ONLY PUBLICATION OF AN ADVERTISEMENT SHALL CONSTITUTE FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE ADVERTISER’S ORDER. MAY 14, 2021 3 FROM THE EDITORS Higher Ed’s Reset “BECAUSE I WAS WRESTLING WITH SO MUCH, I immediately thought, ‘I am the dumbest person here, so I’m going to shut up, observe, and listen,’” said a former student, who was the first in her immedi- ate family to attend college. She described how growing up poor in a Black family in rural Mississippi left her feeling es- tranged as a Stanford University undergraduate. “I was second-guessing myself as soon as I walked into the classroom.” Such emotions can be common among first-generation students and students of color. And hearing it from Jesmyn Ward — a two-time National Book Award winner, a recipient of a MacAr- thur “genius grant,” and a professor at Tulane University — felt striking. Ward spoke during The Chronicle’s recent leadership summit, Higher Ed’s Reset, in April. The three-day virtual event focused on how college leaders can rethink teaching, stu- dent support, and how they prepare their institutions for the future. The summit was an extension of the virtual panels we’ve been producing al- most weekly since Covid-19 shut down campuses last year. The Reset event in- cluded a range of speakers: five college presidents, including Michael Crow of Ar- izona State University and DeRionne Pollard of Montgomery College; and experts on teaching or student success like Cathy N. Davidson, a professor of English at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and Anthony A. Jack, an assis- tant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. While the speakers emphasized the need for new ways of operating and educat- ing post-pandemic, 70 percent of the 736 attendees who voted in an online poll the CHRONICLE PHOTO first day said their institutions were only “somewhat prepared” to make changes. But among the hundreds of questions and comments that came in during the event, many audience members expressed optimism that their institutions can change. Not only for the sake of their institutions’ viability and reputations, but for the sake of all the young Jesmyn Wards who are planning to take a big step away from their homes and onto campuses during such an uncertain time. In our next issue, we plan to feature excerpts from the summit. To watch a recording of the Reset event or register for forthcoming virtual events, visit chronicle.com/virtual-events. Thanks. — IAN WILHELM, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR New from the Chronicle Store Bringing students back to Discover strategies for re- Leading experts examine campus is a top priority for viving international enroll- how the pandemic will shape many colleges as Covid-19 ments and study-abroad higher education in the years vaccines become widely avail- programs as colleges adapt to come and what the col- THE POST- able. But planning for your to the new global-education lege of the future may look campus reopening won’t be experience. Learn how your like. Colleges must develop a PANDEMIC easy. Learn how to support college can rethink and re- more externally focused busi- COLLEGE AND THE FUTURE OF the faculty during the tran- vamp its programs to allow ness model, direct resources THE ACADEMIC ENTERPRISE / Bryan Alexander TEACHING AND LEARNING / Flower Darby THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE / Karin Fischer and Anthony Abraham Jack ENROLLMENT / Cornell B. LeSane II sition and how to communi- students to explore cultural to professional development, BUSINESS MODELS / Rick Staisloff COMMUNITY COLLEGES/ Karen A. Stout cate with students about the and global diversity in their and continue to expand new college experience. own communities. mental-health services. To find these and other Chronicle products, go toChronicle.com/TheStore. THE CHRONICLE 4 C OF HIGHER EDUCATION Rutgers Professors Win National Book Critics Circle Awards Each year, the National Book Critics Circle presents awards for the fi nest books published in the United States. Rutgers Congratulates Our Two Professors for Receiving This Honor Nicole Fleetwood Cathy Park Hong Professor of American Professor of Studies and Art History Creative Writing Award for Criticism Award for Autobiography “A blistering critique of the penal system and ultimately a “This courageous, unblinking, innovative, gorgeous, and testament to human fl ourishing in spite of it. Thoughtful furious book invites readers to begin to understand the and ambitious, Fleetwood never loses sight of visibility and experiences of the completely non-homogenous group of humanization as her goals.’’ people lumped together as Asian Americans.” —Justin Rosier, Chair, NBCC Criticism Committee —Marion Winik, Chair, NBCC Autobiography Committee Rutgers is a leading national research university and New Jersey’s preeminent public institution of higher education. Established in 1766, Rutgers is the nation’s eighth-oldest higher education institution. excellence.rutgers.edu FIRST READS College affordability | Outlawing ‘indoctrinaton’ | Board brouhaha | Spring enrollments College affordability A Free-for-All? PRESIDENT BIDEN’S PLAN for two years of $1.8-trillion economic-stimulus package, is rectly to low-income students and to bolster free community college, which could make likely to draw steep resistance from Repub- supports at community colleges. It would postsecondary education more affordable licans. set aside more than $80 billion to raise the and accessible to millions of Americans, is Some progressives argue it doesn’t go far maximum Pell Grant, for the nation’s low- being praised as a long-overdue step for- enough; they’d like to see four, not just two, est-income students, by $1,400. That would ward. But depending on how it’s structured, years of tuition-free college. Others say that bring the maximum to $7,900. Over the some experts also caution that it could end if it doesn’t include income requirements last 50 years, the Biden plan points out, the up hurting disadvantaged students by di- for recipients, it will give away too much, maximum Pell Grant has shrunk from cov- verting them to colleges where they’re less providing free tuition to students from fam- ering nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four- likely to succeed, and that it could provide ilies who can afford to pay.