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Author: standcolumbia

  • Issue #043: Accreditation Was Boring—Until It Wasn’t

    Shortly after the election, President Trump recorded a short video where he discussed accreditation as a “secret weapon.” Then he went quiet and people stopped paying attention. They shouldn’t have. Well, about 2 weeks ago, he signed an executive order titled “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education” that shook up accreditation. Why and how anyone…

  • Issue #042: The Sunlight Report

    Last evening, the Stand Columbia Society published The Sunlight Report: A Reappraisal of the Sundial Report—a comprehensive, evidence-based evaluation written by members of the Columbia community. Offered as a service to the community, the report responds to the Sundial Report, which was prepared anonymously and issued by the Chair of the Executive Committee of the…

  • Issue #041: The University Senate’s Moment of Reckoning

    ICYMI: One of the Stand Columbia Society’s co-founders recently spoke at the American Enterprise Institute alongside a co-founder of Harvard’s 1636 Forum. The discussion touched on topics including higher education’s relationship with the federal government, academic self-censorship, shared governance, and of course, university balance sheets. You can watch the discussion here. ICYMI Part 2: We…

  • Issue #040: Harvard’s High-Stakes Standoff: Weather the Storm, Protect the Mission

    TL;DR As we prepared this issue, we received a late-breaking notification from Acting President Claire Shipman on Friday afternoon foreshadowing reforms to the University Senate. This will require time to digest and think about, and we will have some reactions next week. This week, we’ll talk about one of our peer institutions, Harvard University, that…

  • Issue #039: The Road to Renewal: A Conversation with Professor Emeritus Robert A. McCaughey

    This week, the Stand Columbia Society is pleased to share an interview with Professor Emeritus of History Robert A. McCaughey, one of our institution’s most revered “keepers of the flame”. For more than five decades, Professor McCaughey has been both a witness to and chronicler of Columbia University’s evolving identity. We are thrilled to host…

  • Issue #038: Why Not All Universities Can Engage in Resistance Performance Art: A Tale of Financial Realities

    Recently, we wrote about why Columbia’s endowment can’t simply be weaponized as a war chest to “fight Trump”, in reaction to some of the feel-good-but-financially-illiterate calls out there to do so. Mixed messages from Ivy League schools have emerged following recent events. The Trump administration froze select contracts or grants at Princeton and Harvard, prompting…

  • Issue #037: No, the Endowment Cannot Be Used to “Fight Trump”

    Recently, a new narrative has begun making its way around the higher education commentariat: that Columbia University should “use its $15 billion endowment to fight Trump.” It’s a tempting, feel-good slogan, but here’s the problem: this argument is financially illiterate, institutionally reckless, and strategically suicidal. Let’s put it in perspective: the federal government spends Columbia’s…

  • Issue #036: Thank You Katrina Armstrong and Claire Shipman

    Earlier this evening, Columbia University shared two major announcements: the return of Dr. Katrina Armstrong to her prior role as Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, as Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and Dean of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons; and of the appointment of Claire Shipman,…

  • Issue #035: A Fragile First Step and the Long Road to Real Reform

    Last Friday, Columbia University announced a series of sweeping policy changes yesterday in response to the Trump administration’s demand letter and a threatened $400 million funding cut. You can—and should—review them yourself: Interim President Katrina Armstrong’s announcement, the summary of changes, and the official “fine print” itself. For the past several weeks, we’ve remained intentionally…

  • Issue #034: Keep Calm and Carry On (Plus a Trustee’s Message to Alumni)

    In times of crisis, the Stand Columbia Society looks to our core principles. Our first principle is to “support informed conversation.”  Right now, there are too many moving pieces for us to contribute to the dialogue in a productive way, and we would not want to articulate any views that may turn out to be…