Member News

More than 450 cubic feet of material related to former congressman Elton Gallegly’s 26 years in office are available for in-person research at the Elton and Janice Gallegly Center for Public Service and Civic Engagement at California Lutheran University. The 356 boxes in the collection contain correspondence, testimonies, bills and other materials that illuminate Gallegly’s political career. When Gallegly, a Republican who represented Ventura County from 1987 to 2013, signed a gift agreement in 2017 giving the university its first major archival collection, he was under the impression the collection would be digitized. However, none of it is available for browsing online.

In his new book, “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It”: Resistance to Change in Higher Education (Harvard Education Press), Brian Rosenberg, president emeritus of Macalester College (MN), distills a career’s worth of experiences and observations into a trenchant critique of the industry he both loves and laments. He argues that the institutions designed to foster critical inquiry and the open exchange of ideas are themselves staunchly resistant to both. The very structures that have become the hallmarks of postsecondary education in America—classroom lectures, shared governance, faculty tenure—are in fact key obstacles to what he calls “transformational” change.

Wesleyan University (CT) announced Thursday that it would eliminate loans from its financial aid packages, joining a select group of institutions that commit to meeting all students’ demonstrated financial need, beginning next fall. President Michael S. Roth said that expanding Wesleyan’s “no-loan” policy from its current level—for students with family incomes under $120,000—would make the private university more affordable for middle-class families.
 

Many big-name colleges will continue to boost applications from children of their alumni, despite intense scrutiny of so-called “legacy” preferences from government officials and others after a landmark court ruling against race-based affirmative action. Yale, Cornell, Duke, Brown, Vanderbilt and Emory universities, as well as the University of Pennsylvania, all confirmed this week that they would consider the legacy ties of high school seniors who apply to enter next fall. 

 As St. Norbert College (WI) lays off 41 employees, President Laurie Joyner said the school is financially "fundamentally solid" but that declining enrollment meant the school needed to rightsize. Twenty nine positions were eliminated this week with employees notified Tuesday or Wednesday. The college will lay off another 12 employees by the end of 2024. The majority of the positions were non-instructional staff roles. Seven faculty will lose their positions, three of which were visiting professors. No tenured faculty positions were cut, according to spokesperson Hannah O'Brien.