My fear is that my alma mater is at risk to slide into ncst mediocrity in the next few years... which may be the intent of this state legislature enabled by the current Trump administration's attack on academia.
Texas A&M has effectively been turned into a degree mill, for all but STEM, and a DoD research center (hypersonic big booms, Los Alamos, biotech, etc). It was an intentional monetization and water down project, accelerated under Abbott. Early 2000s former President Robert Gates, a staunch conservative and former Sec of Defense, had an ambitious plan to elevate A&M into the top 10 public universities. It was working. Everything after Gates has been the antithesis of his plan, and symbolic of the malicious and ignorance-as-a-feature turn of modern “conservatism”.
UNC is a top 5 public university and recognized as a public Ivy . Some here may not be aware, but UNC receives twice as many out of state applicants as in state applicants each year.
I think most folks recognize that about UNC. But those gaudy stats are in no way protective against the DeSantis and Abbott style war on higher education, unfortunately. In an age of right wing race to the bottom, nothing is a sacred cow, particularly when a brand’s economic might owes much to logos and laundry.
Yep. UNC has indeed been recognized as a Public Ivy for decades, and its national academic reputation has been sterling since at least the 1940s. In his famous book Inside USA, a witty and perceptive narrative of reporter John Gunther's travels through all 48 states during and right after World War Two, Gunther in his chapter on North Carolina wrote that NC has "a splendid university at Chapel Hill which is a kind of intellectual capital for the whole South." He goes on to add that "the [University of North Carolina] is not only the single most noteworthy thing in the state; it is one of the best of all American universities...Chapel Hill really fulfills the function of a true university in giving a spirited and pointed leadership to the whole community." UNC President Frank P. Graham told Gunther that "Members of my faculty can say anything they please...and what I hope is that the boys and girls who come here will always have an inner commitment to freedom of the mind."
Indeed !
Please send help for nycfan and me.
There’s an awful lot of Arkansas and South Carolina between I-77 and I-95.
Y’all chose to live there.
