Why College Rankings Are Anti-Diversity

To Boost Prestige, Magazines Pressure Universities to Leave Poor Students Behind

In the next several weeks, millions of high school seniors will apply to colleges and universities across the nation. If you are one of them—and if you come from a low-income family or are a minority student—I urge you not to look at higher education rankings systems that emphasize reputation, acceptance rates, and alumni giving.

Instead, keep your eye on rankings that rely upon a different set of numbers: Namely, graduation and retention rates. That’s because the current trends in enrolling and graduating low-income and minority students threaten social justice …

Assault by (Loaded) Tweet?

Words Can Serve as Weapons Under the Right Circumstance

Social media has raised tricky questions that judges are beginning to try to answer. It’s been found possible to violate a restraining order by becoming an unwanted Instagram follower, or …

The Story Behind Colombia’s October Surprise

Why the South American Nation's Peace Plebiscite Became a Self-Defeating Prophecy

Everything about Colombia’s plebiscite for peace was unexpected.

Not just the dramatic result—a rejection of the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that …

The Day Football Changed Forever

Twenty-Five Years Ago, a Little-Known Coach of a Tiny College Team Unveiled a Gridiron Revolution

Saturday, August 31, 1991. It was Labor Day weekend, the very definition of a sleepy, late-summer day in that simple, pre-digital world. H.W. Bush was president, the Gulf War was …

How the Marginalized Invented Politically Incorrect Comedy

The Incisive Wit of Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor Paved the Way for a Generation of Crasser Comics

“Sometimes you feel guilty laughing at some of Lenny’s mordant jabs,” journalist Herb Caen once said of the taboo-shattering comic Lenny Bruce. “But that disappears a second later when your …

In Europe, Good Wisecracks Make Good Neighbors

How the Seemingly Xenophobic Jokes Europeans Tell About Each Other Bring Them Together

To understand Europe’s humor is to understand its history; satire and politics have long gone hand in hand. Whether in drawings, ballads, or prose, humor has long provided a counterbalance …