RIP Starbucks Bathroom, Classroom for Boys, Dunk City U Dorms, & More
Around the College Towns: Links and commentary related to urbanism and higher ed for the week of Jan. 24 - Jan. 31
Note: There is A LOT going on, and I am not talking about all the stuff with the Trump admin (you can get that coverage at other newspapers/ websites. I am focusing on news related to higher education and urbanism. This edition covers some schooling related to boys, bathroom news, higher ed happenings, and international ed news. If you have any tips or links, please send them over. Subscribe for free and without a Substack account below (only an email).
Making School Better for Boys
Over at EdWeek, they have an article on making classrooms “boy friendly.” For those not vested in the education space, focusing on young boys may come as a surprise, but this group has fallen behind in terms of school outcomes in recent years. “[W]e’ve overprotected boys in the natural world and under-protected them in the artificial world,” said Chris Post, head of Boys’ Latin School of Maryland.
The school has given more time for physical activities, such as adding more recess time. The goal is to pull their students out of the isolation brought on by phones or screens. It’s interesting that some of these tactics are harkening back to John Dewey's education from a century ago, who advocated for hands-on learning and physical education.
Starbucks Bathrooms Closed
Starbucks is revamping its business practices. No longer is it the Third Place where people hangout of hours on one cup of joe. It is now get in and get out, which I do think has been the case for several years now. But the big hang-on from the hangout era was access to bathrooms. Starbucks is usually pretty reliable in this regard, which is important in the US since we do not do public bathrooms well. Now that Starbucks is bucking its former bathroom duties, it remains to be seen where Americans will be able to go. It is just a larger part of the strange bathroom culture here in America (more on that in a future post).
Higher Ed Happenings
Students Still Flock to California Private Colleges
Despite the expense of higher education these days (well, the expense of basically everything these days), CalMatters has an article discussing how students are still flocking to the state’s private universities. Of course, familiar names like Stanford and USC are highly desirable. But the state also boasts a number of smaller privates that are attracting students (I guess I am tooting my own horn here because I am at one—Soka Univeristy).
One issue is that these private universities are more expensive than the public alternatives. CalMatters includes a handy calculator to show how much students could expect to pay depending on their economic status. Some institutions are worse than others in this regard. I always tell students to consider this before applying to school.
Illegal Hiring Practices for Academics at Colorado
The University of Colorado, Boulder, has been accused of illegal hiring practices via the Wall Street Journal. These allegations uncovered by journalist John Sailer using the FOIA system center on hiring faculty through a kind of racial quota system, which is illegal in the US, reserving faculty jobs by race categorizations.
The university has responded to the allegations saying that they have complied with federal laws. Given the tension around hiring faculty, my guess is that this brings on legal heat and more political pressure to the school.
Closing College News
Bard College at Simon's Rock is moving from its long-time home in Great Barrington, MA, to a new location closer to the main Bard College campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The town of Great Barrington is now concerned about what will happen to the land and structures once the move is completed later this year. I visited in December when the move was first announced. It is a beautiful place yet isolated. I hope they can make some kind of use out of the property.
Wells College closed last year, and the campus is now being sold. Reports say that there is a lot of interest in the old campus and land. One realtor involved in the sale said:
While the goal is to sell to another educational institution, the number of colleges and other schools that have expressed interest is ‘very small,’ a
I also visited Wells last year, and I was impressed with the campus. Unfortunately, it is even more isolated than Simon's Rock given its location. It was one of the saddest cases that I came across in my research.
Competition for Campus Housing at Dunk City U
Florida Gulf Coast University is struggling with affordable housing. A decade ago the college got famous for making a Cinderella run in the college basketball March Madness tournament. I remember seeing the images of the campus in Fort Myers, FL, with luxury pools and beachside amenities and thinking, “Why didn’t I go there for college!” Well, a bunch of others seemed to have had the same thought, as the school’s on-campus housing options have become in-demand. Who wouldn’t want to go to school here?
Other Higher Ed News
Some students are complaining that Northeastern has gotten too big. The university has expanded considerably in the past few years.
Compton College, a community college here in LA, has begun building its first on-campus dorm housing. This is a welcome trend in the community college space.
International Ed News
Losing American Teachers in China
Last week I made the plea that more American students should study in China. Around the same time I posted that article, The Diplomat published an account of the fall of American teachers in the country by Mark Witzke, a Nonresident Scholar UC San Diego. It centers on the ups and downs of the experience he had with his cohort of teachers in Shenzhen from 2014 to today.
But there are still a few who have hope for the future. While most have ventured into different careers and life paths, almost all those interviewed remembered their time in China with fondness and said they would be eager to travel there again if given the chance now that COVID-19 restrictions have receded and China is loosening visa restrictions.
As someone who has taught abroad and advocated for others to do the same, I have a lot of empathy with the piece. Even if Witzke’s tale isn’t all about happiness and global citizenship—it is not a sugarcoated story. But he seems to agree that the experience of teaching abroad is invaluable. I hope more young people consider trying it out.
Other International Ed News
The Chinese government recently released a plan to send 50,000 American K-12 students to China. If they throw some good money at it, I think they can get this to work. Do it.
Sichuan University has passed both MIT and Stanford on one research indicator. Impressive! I will have a story up soon on the development of Chinese universities.
Temple University has had a successful branch campus in Tokyo since 1982. This week, Temple expanded its presence with a new Kyoto campus. And one of my students just got hired there. I hope to visit him and the campus one day.
Finally… Video Game Library Opened
The organization Video History Foundation Library just announced a new digital library with access to their material for researchers and others interested in the history of this medium. I am all for digital reservation. We are losing too much from this era and AI is blurring the reality of what is real or fake. Archives like the Video History Foundation Library are crucial to cultural memory. I would love to visit and do a write-up soon!