Following the Conversation about SU

Robin Wilson’s article, Syracuse’s Slide, has spurred a great deal of conversation since its October publication in The Chronicle of Higher Education. From the comments on the online version of the article, to drafted letters of response from various groups, to a second Chronicle article taking a different stance on the issues at hand (Eric Hoover’s Syracuse, Selectivity, and Old Measures, published Oct. 13), hundreds of people with opinions of all stripes have felt the need to contribute to the debate.

We here at Imagining America, being currently hosted by Syracuse University, and with a mission that aligns closely with that of SU’s Chancellor Nancy Cantor, have a vested interest in the issues being discussed, and have been following it all closely. We thought it would be helpful to create a timeline with links to the original article and some interesting responses all in one place, to give anyone interested in getting caught up an easier time of it. We encourage you to click through each of the links below and read the articles and comments on each. These are important times for higher education, and it is debate like this that will move us forward.

• Oct. 2, 2011 — Robin Wilson’s original article, titled “Syracuse’s Slide,” is published: http://chronicle.com/article/Syracuses-Slide/129238/.
• Oct. 3, 2011 — The American Democracy Project posts a response by Harry C. Boyte, Director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg College (the ADP is a peer organization to IA, and Harry Boyte spoke at the recent 2011 IA conference), to Ms. Wilson’s article on their blog, titled “Democratic Excellences in Colleges and Universities:” http://adpaascu.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/democratic-excellences-in-colleges-and-universities/.
• Oct. 7, 2011 — Peter Levine, Director of CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement and Research Director of Tufts University’s Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, posts a response on his blog, titled “Syracuse University, slide or rise?” (and he references our Scholarship In Public report): http://peterlevine.ws/?p=7175.
• Oct 12, 2011 — Chronicle editorial director Jeff Selingo publishes a blog post in support of universities engaging their local contexts, titled “For Colleges, Location Matters:” http://chronicle.com/blogs/next/2011/10/12/for-colleges-location-matters/.
• Oct. 13, 2011 — Eric Hoover publishes an article, “Syracuse, Selectivity, and Old Measures,” in response to the uproar over Ms. Wilson’s article, that provides a different perspective to the original article: http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/syracuse-selectivity-and-%E2%80%98old-measures%E2%80%99/28973.
• Oct. 17, 2011 — Imagining America’s board of directors responds, here on our blog, in a post titled “Public Scholarship, Prestige, and Creating the Engaged University:” http://imaginingamerica.org/blog/2011/10/17/imagining-america%E2%80%99s-national-advisory-board-responds/.
  
• Oct. 17, 2011 — Campus Compact responds with a letter to the Chronicle titled “A Public Mission Is Not at Odds With Academe’s Values:” http://chronicle.com/article/A-Public-Mission-Is-Not-at/129445/.
• Oct. 17, 2011 — The Anchor Institution Task Force responds with a letter to the Chronicle titled “Colleges’ History Is Tied to the Public Good:” http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-History-Is-Tied-to/129447/.
• Oct. 18, 2011 — Imagining America’s founding Director Emerita, Julie Ellison, writes a letter to the editor of The Chronicle, “Public Scholarship Deserves Standing:” http://chronicle.com/article/Public-Scholarship-Deserves/129449/.
• Oct. 18, 2011 — C. Anthony Broh, or Broh Consulting Services in Higher Education, that Syracuse’s growth and diversity is a success in a letter to the Chronicle titled “‘Slide’? Hardly. Call It ‘Success.‘:” http://chronicle.com/article/Slide-Hardly-Call-It/129453/.
• Oct. 18, 2011 — Syracuse University’s department of African American Studies is “disappointed” by Wilson’s article in a letter to the Chronicle titled “Chancellor’s Critics Are Spreading Fear‘:” http://chronicle.com/article/Chancellors-Critics-Are/129456/.
• Oct. 18, 2011 – Abigail Stewart, Lawrence Bobo, David Winter, and Claude Steele highlight Cantor’s “innovative vision” in a letter to the Chronicle titled “Syracuse U. Offers a ‘New Vision‘:” http://chronicle.com/article/Syracuse-U-Offers-a-New/129457/.
• Oct. 23, 2011 — A group of SU faculty, including senior IA staff-members, IA Director Jan Cohen-Cruz and IA Research Director Timothy K. Eatman, write a letter to the editor of The Chronicle, “Must Selectivity Limit Inclusivity? At Syracuse, No:” http://chronicle.com/article/Must-Selectivity-Limit/129498/.
• October 23, 2011 — A group of Syracuse graduate students, including members of the Central New York chapter of the IA PAGE network, write a letter to the editor of The Chronicle, “Syracuse Graduate Students Embrace Change:” http://chronicle.com/article/Syracuse-Graduate-Students/129497/.
• Oct. 23, 2011 — SU’s Chancellor Nancy Cantor publishes a commentary in The Syracuse Post-Standard on Ms. Wilson’s and Mr. Hoover’s articles, as well as the issues at large, titled “Is Syracuse University sliding or surging?:” http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/syracuse_university_nancy_cant.html.
• Oct. 23, 2011 — President Michael M. Crow, Arizona State University, writes a letter to the editor of The Chronicle, “Cantor Steers Syracuse Away From Complacency:” http://chronicle.com/article/Cantor-Steers-Syracuse-Away/129505/.