5 days ago
Republicans Trying to Control Indiana University Meet Little Resistance
The sweeping changes to Indiana's public universities came suddenly this spring, with little time for debate.
Republicans passed a new law that would require university boards to measure the productivity of tenured faculty. Faculty were downgraded to 'advisory only' roles in university decision-making. Degree programs that graduated too few students would be closed.
And at Indiana University, whose flagship campus in Bloomington is ranked among the nation's top 100 schools, the state's governor was given new power over the school's governing board.
The moves align with a conservative playbook to reduce faculty power on campuses perceived by many on the right as bastions of liberal thought. This year, several other Republican-led states passed laws requiring reviews for tenured faculty and the reorganization of programs at public institutions that have low enrollment.
Democrats, civil liberty groups and many university presidents have responded with outrage as the Trump administration has tried to force private institutions like Harvard and Columbia to give the federal government similar powers. Harvard's leadership sued.
At Indiana University, the president, Pamela Whitten, has stayed silent on the state's recent moves.
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