Your coverage of my Stafford Little Lecture, “Academia Online,” contains a serious error. I did not say that online education has encouraged state legislatures to curb funding for public institutions. On the contrary, as I said in the lecture, there is strong evidence that intelligent use of online technologies can encourage state legislators to be more generous to public universities than they would have been otherwise. (An endnote to my talk —to be available soon on the ITHAKA website —contains a strong statement to this effect by the very able chancellor of the University System of Maryland, William “Brit” Kirwan.) Cuts in state funding for public higher education are a serious matter, but they are caused by factors other than advances in technology. Wrongheaded uses of minimalist versions of online technology can tempt governors to try and use technology to provide education “on the cheap” —but these temptations can and should be resisted, as all of us work to find more and more effective ways to use technology to improve educational outcomes in cost-effective ways.
William G. Bowen GS ’58President Emeritus, Princeton University
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Progressives failed a lesson in free speech
Anais Mobarak“The recent controversy surrounding Charter Club has demonstrated that progressive voices on campus have failed to recognize the value of free speech beyond its usefulness as a political instrument. Thus, as a community, we must work to foster an ideologically-free understanding of free speech.”
“The recent controversy surrounding Charter Club has demonstrated that progressive voices on campus have failed to recognize the value of free speech beyond its usefulness as a political instrument. Thus, as a community, we must work to foster an ideologically-free understanding of free speech.”
Campus through a lens: Announcing the ‘Prince’s inaugural columnists
Eleanor Clemans-CopeReading a series of columns by the same author is seeing things through the writer’s lens — it’s looking at campus through the ‘Christofer glasses’ or the ‘Eleanor specs.’ This is the thinking behind having named columns.
Reading a series of columns by the same author is seeing things through the writer’s lens — it’s looking at campus through the ‘Christofer glasses’ or the ‘Eleanor specs.’ This is the thinking behind having named columns.
Bring back the course packet
Abigail Rabieh“With the recent news that Labyrinth Books will no longer supply the coursebooks for Princeton classes, we are facing a new era in which all readings will only be accessible by some digital medium, whether that be via Course Reserves or online ordering from faraway publishers. While some may see this as a step in the right direction of modernity, the increasing digitalization of our scholarship hurts our learning.”
“With the recent news that Labyrinth Books will no longer supply the coursebooks for Princeton classes, we are facing a new era in which all readings will only be accessible by some digital medium, whether that be via Course Reserves or online ordering from faraway publishers. While some may see this as a step in the right direction of modernity, the increasing digitalization of our scholarship hurts our learning.”
