Where Most Needed

Private Philanthropy Puts Yale in the Drivers Seat in New Haven

Gleaming new campus buildings arise while the city's infrastructure crumbles around them. 

School Tase Challenge to Student Government & Campus Police

The University of Florida taser incident should lead to a broader review of protocols for speakers forum, both for the student group that sponsors them and for the campus police, which prides itself on its adherence to professional standards.  But all universities—public and private—should be on notice.

Discounting Social Capital

Robert Putnam's latest research begins to show the limits of the social capital concept, to put it kindly. 

Sidebar: Cambridge College and the Risks of Governance

A successful school for working adults provides an example of why legal compliance doesn't eliminate risks in charity governance.

Harvard, Unbuilt and Unloved

Civil society (the local Cambridge version) puts a damper on architectural visions, while on the other side of town MIT manages to soar with the eagles. 

Dawning of the Dark Side of Philanthropy

A few voices are (re)awakening to the realization that philanthropy is about public relations, not charity.  But they aren't yet ready to abandon the myth of an independent third sector or civil society. 

College Accrediting Bodies Want to Cut the Corporate Claptrap

At least one group of watchdog organizations are looking past the arbitrary divisions between for-profit, nonprofit, faith-based, and governmental  organizations. 

Carnegie Mellon Buys Into Product Placement in Films

University agreed to filming on campus in return for prominent use of the college name throughout the movie.  Could be a symptom of the transformation of universities into corporate Educational Maintenance Organizations. 

The Roger Williams University Debacle Signals Failure of the Accreditation Process

Belated action by an accrediting body triggered the oafish outburst by the board chair that attracted media attention, but major governance flaws sat in plain sight for much longer.

Roger Williams Law School in Uproar over Board Chair's Use of the N-word

The board member for forty years, chair of eighteen years (and major donor to the school) has resigned, claiming it was because of his age (80), but others on and off campus are agitating for a complete board shake up and removal of his name from the law school.