|
|
|
|
|
Note from the Editor: The Intercollegiate Review will be moving to Substack later this Spring.
Substack offers a more convenient and accessible experience to you as the reader and will allow us to reach a wider audience.
We are grateful for your support of the Intercollegiate Review and are committed to keeping your subscription completely free as we move to Substack.
CATEGORY: EDUCATION (25 MIN)
Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a cap on payments in indirect costs for research at universities across the nation. The move immediately led to outcry from academic bureaucrats and judicial action to stop the cut. Stepping back from emotional reactions, a question presents itself. Do colleges need this money?
For City Journal, Heather Mac Donald explores the answer to that question, revealing the vast outgrowth of bloated educational bureaucracy that has led to waste of taxpayer money. Mac Donald points out that many other organizations that give money also have a cap on indirect cost funding—that is, funding for “overheard” or “facilities & administration.” So the NIH cut isn’t unprecedented in the private sphere.
Mac Donald discusses universities’ efforts to exploit the indirect cost grants by earmarking funds for overhead that may not have truly gone to needed facilities or administration. In the 1990s, she notes, Stanford bought home renovations for executives with indirect costs, leading to a cap from Congress.
But in more recent times, colleges have sent indirect money to “blatantly political tasks,” like hiring administrators and educators seeking to indoctrinate students with identity politics. And while universities have said they will cut faculty hiring and Ph.D. offers, Mac Donald writes, they haven’t said they’ll cut the DEI complex down to size.
Yet Mac Donald also says that President Donald Trump’s administration hasn’t executed the cuts well, giving little notice and failing to implement them “gradually.” Read her article here to learn more.
|
Weekly Poll
Do you think universities receive too much federal funding?
[A] Yes
[B] No
[C] Unsure
RESULTS: 3/13/2025
I believe the government should take measures to protect the American environment.
[A] Strongly agree - 34.4%
[B] Somewhat agree - 44.3%
[C] Unsure - 4.9%
[D] Somewhat disagree - 11.5%
[E] Strongly disagree - 4.9%
|
CATEGORY: POLITICS (6 MIN)
As the Trump administration tries to cut funding to universities, it also wants to deal with the outpouring of riots and protests across campuses in regards to the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorists. Earlier this month, authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, an instigator of pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University, and now the administration seeks to deport him for his actions.
For National Review, Dan McLaughlin writes on the administration’s options to support that potential action. He notes that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will have several grounds to try and show that Khalil deserves deportation, including a law that allows exclusion if there are “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences of the United States.”
McLaughlin notes that a mere protest against U.S. policy would not suffice to justify deportation, as a major tenet of American freedom is free speech—such a reputation, according to McLaughlin, might even help American foreign standing. But McLaughlin does argue that opponents of Israel should be excluded as a matter of immigration policy.
Moving to the specifics of the Columbia protests, McLaughlin points out that they were not mere dissent. They involved breaking laws and school rules, and they specifically targeted a minority group of Jewish students. McLaughlin asks what allowing that kind of event to occur without punishment could lead to. He urges Rubio to focus on the promise of “a safe and even-handed environment on our campuses” from mob rule as his case to deport Khalil.
What do you think? Read McLaughlin’s article here to learn more.
|
|
CATEGORY: VIDEO
At ISI’s 2024 American Politics and Government Summit, leading scholars Michael Munger, Thomas Savidge, and Sam Gregg took the stage for a thought-provoking panel on the role of economic freedom in America’s past, present, and future.
The discussion traced how free markets, limited government, and property rights shaped the American founding, fueling prosperity, innovation, and national strength. The panelists explored key historical moments—from the early republic to the Industrial Revolution—where economic liberty played a decisive role in America’s rise.
But is economic freedom under threat today? Munger, Savidge, and Gregg debated the modern challenges facing free enterprise, including government overreach, rising debt, and regulatory expansion. They warned against creeping statism and argued for policies that uphold entrepreneurial spirit, personal responsibility, and market-driven solutions to today’s economic challenges.
|
|
Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
UVA Votes to Dissolve DEI Office via The Jefferson Independent
“The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors voted unanimously on Friday, March 7th, to dissolve the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (“DEI”) and Community Partnerships—a move that has quickly ignited controversy throughout the University community. The decision follows President Donald Trump’s executive order, signed in January, which directs public institutions to cut DEI programs. UVA’s Board stated that their resolution ensures institutional compliance with federal and state law, requiring all University programs to align with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. UVA President Jim Ryan addressed the decision in an email to the community, assuring students and faculty that the University remains committed to fostering an inclusive environment.”
How Two Students are Helping Local Businesses During the NFL Draft via The Minnesota Republic
“The NFL Draft is going to Green Bay this year from April 26th through the 28th. Two students from the University of Minnesota saw this as an opportunity to create something, and MyDraft Experience was born. Their business has accumulated a total of 32 local business partners across Green Bay, all including exclusive deals in the MyDraft Booklet for the week surrounding the NFL Draft. For $25, the booklet gives access to over $200 in value at coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and more. However, the final product we see today was not how it started. Over Thanksgiving break, Jack was on his way back to Green Bay and an idea popped into his head. While brainstorming, he realized that the NFL Draft was coming to his hometown, and wanted to come up with a way to capitalize on the opportunity. He came up with 'Drafting at the Draft', a new spin on college bar crawls. A bar crawl
typically includes about five to seven different bars, with the participants purchasing a ticketed item to partake. Jack pondered the idea over break, until bringing the proposition to his friend Luke.”
JD Vance praises the city of Austin for its pro-market, pro-family housing policy via The Texas Horn
"In a speech at the League of Cities conference earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance praised the city of Austin for its housing policy and urged other local policymakers to follow suit. 'We’ve got to actually make it easier to build homes, and in particular, I think the city of Austin has done a pretty interesting job because in Austin, you saw this massive increase of people moving in, the cost of housing skyrocketed, but then Austin implemented some pretty smart policies and brought down the cost of housing, and it’s one of the few major American cities where you see the cost of housing leveling off or even coming down,' Vance said."
Columbia’s Federal Grants and Contracts Cut via The Cornell Review
"On March 7, the Department of Education notified Columbia University that over $400 million in federal grants and contracts were cancelled. This action was taken by a joint Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, that includes representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Department of Education, 'in light of ongoing investigations for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.' The amount at issue is estimated to total $400 million per year, about 8% of the $5 billion in federal grant commitments Columbia currently holds." |
|
CATEGORY: LAW (6 MIN)
At this point in American legal history, most of the amendments in the Bill of Rights have featured in thousands of pages of interpretive cases. (Perhaps not the Third Amendment.) But many of the later amendments, too, are the subject of much controversy. Take, for example, the Fourteenth Amendment, which in part commands states not to “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
For this week’s article from the Modern Age website, we reprint an entry in American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia by the late George W. Carey on “due process.” Carey began by discussing the deep and rich legal history of due process, including its importance in England for ensuring that the government cannot take what is rightfully private without the proper procedures. Included in that tradition were the right to notice and a fair hearing.
In America, Carey noted that “due process,” as encoded in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, generally referred to that traditional sense of “notification and fair hearing.” But that changed later in American history. Now, Carey found, the Supreme Court had read many rights and privileges that are not enumerated in the Constitution into the concept of “due process.”
According to Carey, many conservatives fear that such expansion will be harm state and local power. He added, “Conservatives argue that the Court’s use of the due process clause not only contributes to greater centralization and the establishment of a unitary state, but also deprives states and communities of the basic freedom of self-government.”
Read more of Carey’s piece here on the Modern Age website.
|
Thought of the Day:
“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
|
Join ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club
It’s never been easier for you to support our mission—and stay part of our community—with ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club!
For just $19.53 a month, you can join the fight and “pay it forward” by educating the next generation for ordered liberty.
|
|
