Higher Education Quick Takes

Today on the Academic Minute: Marilynn Desmond, distinguished research professor at Binghamton University, uses the example of Christine de Pizan to show how writers who lived through war can help bring different perspectives to these conflicts. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.

Wayne State University has suspended an English professor for a social media post that allegedly called for violence, The Detroit Free Press reported.

The university announced the suspension but did not identify the professor.

President Roy Wilson said, “The post stated that rather than ‘shouting down’ those with whom we disagree, one would be justified to commit murder to silence them … We have on many occasions defended the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but we feel this post far exceeds the bounds of reasonable or protected speech. It is, at best, morally reprehensible and, at worst, criminal.”

The suspension will continue until an investigation by law enforcement is completed.

The Free Press said the post in question was “Although I do not advocate violating federal and state criminal codes, I think it is far more admirable to kill a racist, homophobic or transphobic speaker than it is to shout them down.”

George Washington University’s third-party investigation has exonerated a diversity course teacher of some Jewish students’ and a pro-Israel group’s accusations of antisemitism, the university announced Monday.

StandWithUs filed a complaint in January with the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights regarding Lara Sheehi, an assistant professor of clinical psychology and co-author of the book Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine.

“The university engaged the law firm Crowell & Moring LLP to conduct a third-party investigation to thoroughly examine the allegations in this complaint,” GW said in a summary of the firm’s findings. The university hasn’t released the full findings.

“Crowell’s review was comprehensive,” the university said. “It included interviews with almost all of the students in the class, as well as program faculty and school administrators. It also included a review of a significant number of contemporaneous documents and communications.”

“Crowell found no evidence substantiating the allegations of discriminatory and retaliatory conduct alleged in the complaint,” GW said. “Many of the statements the complaint alleges were made by Dr. Sheehi were, according to those who heard them, either inaccurate or taken out of context and misrepresented.”

Part of StandWithUs’s complaint said that on Sept. 30, during the Jewish High Holidays, a guest lecturer whom Sheehi invited to campus “demonized Israel,” “noted that appropriate resistance includes throwing stones” and “lionized” a 13-year-old Palestinian who participated in the stabbing of a 13-year-old Jew.

The Cromwell review found such lecture allegations “are largely inconsistent with the recording of the event or significantly decontextualized,” the university said.

The review found that StandWithUs, “and a few of the students in the class, advocated for an expansive view of the definition of antisemitism, which, if accepted in the university environment, could infringe on free speech principles and academic freedom.”

The summary of findings only critiques Sheehi regarding her tweets.

“Although the tweets from what appears to be Dr. Sheehi’s personal account do not violate GW’s social media policy, the university strongly denounces the use of profane language directed at any group of people, including in private tweets,” the university said. “Crowell found, however, that the tweets were made in a private Twitter account that was only briefly visible to the public … While the university disapproves of the tone of the tweets, GW policies recognize the right of faculty to articulate their points of view consistent with the university’s strong commitment to academic freedom.”

The StandWithUs complaint, which redacted profanity, said Sheehi has tweeted the following: “Israelis are so f****ing racist,” “F*** Zionism, Zionists …” and “F*** every person who is not yet an anti-Zionist.”

Sheehi didn’t comment Monday afternoon. StandWithUs said the outcome of the complaint is still pending.

Colleges and universities face an “unsustainable” shortfall in deferred capital renewal, according to the 10th State of Facilities in Higher Education report from Gordian, a Building Intelligence Solutions provider.

While preliminary data from fiscal 2022 show a 10 percent year-over-year capital investment increase, inflation has greatly expanded the amount of funding necessary to steward existing space, creating a 36 percent shortfall.

The report also finds that deferred asset renewal costs have increased from $105 per gross square foot in 2020 to $133/GSF this year, which represents at 27 percent increase. It notes that campus operating costs are funded at an average of 80 percent of target budgets, “straining the workforce to care for properties and programs.”

The report includes data from more than 52,000 higher ed facilities on 325 campuses in North America; approximately 40 percent of the institutions are private and 60 percent are public. Collectively they enroll 3.5 million students on 1.5 billion square feet of campus space.

To avoid future operational or building failures, proactive leadership is required, the report warns.

“Ultimately, we observe that stewardship demands are now so acute, facilities issues can no longer be reactive,” said Pete Zuraw, vice president of market strategy and development for Gordian. “Every facilities, planning and business leader will need to be a key participant in institutional decision-making going forward.”