The Review: UNC's Reputational Disaster; Trigger Warnings for Trigger Warnings at Brandeis

A total breakdown of university leadership. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( [logo] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Please sign up to receive your own copy.]( You’ll support our journalism and ensure that you continue to receive our emails. [Read this newsletter on the web](. Nikole Hannah-Jones, in the [statement]( she released July 6 explaining her rejection of UNC’s long-delayed offer of tenure (she’ll be [taking a position at Howard]( instead), referred to the university’s “vacuum of leadership.” The phrase is apt. Confronted by a politicized governing board conspiring to subvert faculty autonomy and a meddling donor thumbing the scales, UNC’s leaders saw not an existential threat to the university’s principles but a problem to be managed by avoidance and silence. “Why would I want to teach at a university,” Hannah-Jones asked, “whose top leadership chose to remain silent, to refuse transparency, to fail to publicly advocate that I be treated like every other Knight chair before me?” ([Our Jack Stripling has the whole story]( Hannah-Jones will be fine, of course. But if even a celebrity hire with an international profile and a massive platform cannot compel university leadership to articulate basic principles — of faculty governance, of political noninterference, and so on — then what hope does anyone else have? Paid for and Created by University of Denver [University of Denver Research Addresses Global Challenges]( Learn how University of Denver faculty and students are collaborating with other institutions, community organizations and state agencies to drive positive innovation, leveraging its diverse portfolio of knowledge leaders to create global solutions. You Can’t Say That Last month, the New York Post [reported]( that Brandeis University’s Prevention, Advocacy, and Resource Center had published an “Oppressive Language List,” enumerating terms that one should strive to avoid. The list is [real]( and many of the suggestions seem quite reasonable, if rather obvious (ethnic slurs and so on). But others raised eyebrows. For instance, is the word “picnic” really associated with lynching? (No, as Reuters [explains]( and the word was eventually removed from the list.) And what about phrases like “take a stab at,” “killing it,” and “take a shot at” — all rejected as “Violent Language” by Brandeis? Such prohibitions might seem to have less to do with ethics than with the metaphysical dream of a language free of all figuration. “Truth,” Nietzsche wrote, is a “mobile army of metaphors.” But “mobile army” sounds awfully violent. I suggest instead: “Truth is a roving ad hoc committee of administrators.” ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( Subscribe to The Chronicle The Chronicle’s award-winning journalism challenges conventional wisdom, holds academic leaders accountable, and empowers you to do your job better — and it’s your support that makes our work possible. [Subscribe Today]( The Latest THE REVIEW [MIT and Harvard Have Sold Higher Education’s Future]( By Jefferson Pooley [image] Handing over edX to a private company is a gross betrayal. 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Yours, Len Gutkin Paid for and Created by Dipont Education [The Making of a Global Educator]( Since joining Dipont Education and shaping the curriculum at Kunshan American School in China, Carol Santos says her view of what global education entails continues to evolve as she learns more about her students and their needs. Today's Global Campus Strategies for Reviving International Enrollments and Study Abroad Pandemic travel restrictions cut both ways, causing international enrollments to plummet and limiting study-abroad opportunities. This Chronicle report provides an in-depth look at how the global education experience has changed and offers strategies for assessing and adapting programs to ensure students' exposure to cultural and global diversity. [Order your copy today.]( Job Opportunities [Search the Chronicle's jobs database]( to view the latest jobs in higher education. What did you think of today’s newsletter? [Strongly disliked]( // [It was OK]( // [Loved it](. 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