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Higher education in the United States has been faced with some unique challenges in 2025, largely because of actions taken by the new U.S. presidential administration. In this "Take It or Leave It" edition of the podcast, I invited three wise colleagues on the show to discuss recent op-eds that address ongoing challenges to the teaching missions of colleges and universities. For each essay, we decide if we want to Take It (that is, agree with the central thesis of the essay) or Leave It. Our judgments might be binary, but our discussion of the essays and the challenges they address is full of nuance and complexity.

The panelists for this edition of Take It or Leave It are Betsy Barre, assistant provost and executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at Wake Forest University; Bryan Dewsbury, associate professor of biology and associate director of the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University; and Emily Donahoe, associate director of instructional support at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Mississippi. All three are experienced Take It or Leave It panelists, and I am very excited to have them back on the show.

Episode Resources

·       Betsy Barre’s website

·       Bryan Dewsbury’s website

·       Emily Donahoe’s Substack

·       Essay 1: Higher Ed Is Adrift, Kevin McClure, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 25, 2025

·       Essay 2: Institutional Neutrality Is a Copout, John Jenkins, Chronicle of Higher Education, January 7, 2025

·       Essay 3: Are You Ready for the AI University?, Scott Latham, April 8, 2025
 
 

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