Higher Ed Now

The acclaimed author, journalist, and activist Jonathan Rauch sat down with ACTA's Doug Sprei to explore the social and political vectors that led him to write his remarkable new book, "The Constitution of Knowledge." Rauch is a research fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing editor at The Atlantic; he's also a champion of civil discourse, and a longtime friend of ACTA who sparked our flourishing College Debates partnership with Braver Angels and BridgeUSA.

Professor Abraham Unger has a unique vision for liberal arts education. Long before before spending a decade as Director of Urban Programs at Wagner College in New York, he was an undergraduate student concentrating on classical guitar at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. In this episode of Higher Ed Now, he sits down with ACTA's Michael Poliakoff and Doug Sprei to reflect on the precarious condition of colleges and universities today, and explores the concept he is shaping for liberal arts education based on the conservatory model he experienced as an undergraduate.

ACTA's Armand Alacbay sits down with John W. Altman -- distinguished entrepreneur, business leader, educator, and veteran trustee at several colleges and universities -- to explore the distinct strengths that trustees should bring to any institutional governing board. Having recently stepped up as ACTA's board chairman, Altman brings a lifetime of experience and insight into helping higher education institutions stay on course and fulfill their mission.

Pano Kanelos, the noted educator, Shakesperean scholar, and champion of campus discourse, goes one on one with with ACTA's Michael Poliakoff to reflect on his tenure as the 24th president of St. John's College in Annapolis. Kanelos unpacks a pedagogical tradition where all students are immersed in conversation and the study of 200 great books.

As campuses reopen, how can college leaders help students who struggled with alcohol and drug use and mental health issues during the pandemic? In ACTA's webinar, The Pandemic and Campus Substance Use: What Colleges Need to Know Now, four distinguished health experts explored this topic, from research to practical solutions on the ground. Panelists included Robert L. DuPont, M.D. of the Institute for Behavior and Health; Amelia M. Arria, Ph.D. of the University of Maryland School of Public Health; Ellen Rome, M.D., M.P.H. of the Center for Adolescent Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Children’s; and Caleb S. Boswell, L.L.P.C., N.C.C. of the Office of Counseling & Career Planning at Washtenaw Community College.

ACTA president Michael Poliakoff sits down with Jodi Shaw, an alumna and former employee of Smith College who took a courageous stand against critical race orthodoxy at Smith. Her story, reported in The New York Times and major news venues, prompted ACTA to award her with a Hero of Intellectual Freedom Award, to be presented later this year. In our podcast, Shaw outlines the events and reasons leading to her resignation from Smith College, and elaborates on why she believes that what passes for “progressive” at Smith and many other institutions today is actually deeply regressive.

For most students, a college education is one of the biggest investments they’ll ever make in their lifetime. What if colleges and universities could take the risk out of that monumental investment by insuring future income for graduates? ACTA's Armand Alacbay explores this model with Wade Eyerly, the co-founder and CEO of Degree Insurance, which guarantees a student’s earnings in the five years after receiving a college degree.

Margarita Mooney, Associate Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and founder and executive director of Scala Foundation, explores the value and vitality of liberal arts learning in conversation with ACTA's Nathaniel Urban and President Michael Poliakoff.

Since 2018 Braver Angels has teamed with ACTA to launch civil debates for students across the nation. College leaders applaud the program's depolarizing, transformative effects on students as they learn to engage respectfully around divisive social and political issues. Program leader Doug Sprei unpacks the magic with college instructors David Dagan of The George Washington University; Mark Urista of Linn-Benton Community College; Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA; Texas intern David Amaya; and April Lawson, Director of Debates and Public Discourse at Braver Angels.

Emily Koons Jae, who leads ACTA’s Fund for Academic Renewal (FAR) initiative, has been keeping close tabs on the controversy around a $30 million gift to Ohio State University by the late Michael Moritz. In this episode, Emily explores this provocative story with Mr. Moritz’s wife, Lou Ann Ransom, and his son, Jeffrey Moritz.