What I Cover
I don’t have a beat. My keenest interest is my current assignment. I have written special reports on student mental health, the research university, higher-education management and finances, campus political tensions, the college presidency, administrative diversity, advancement and alumni engagement, curricular reform, and other topics. I have also covered academic controversies, the future of tenure, academic freedom, campus-speech issues, and trends in the social sciences and the arts.
My Background
I have been with The Chronicle since 1998 and have edited and written for news and opinion sections as well as for special projects. I have organized and moderated numerous online and in-person panels, for The Chronicle and twice at SXSW EDU, and I have been interviewed by NPR affiliates and for various podcasts. Before The Chronicle, I worked as an editor and reporter at Newsday and other daily newspapers, and I was senior press officer at The Brookings Institution. I have freelanced as a book and arts critic for The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, and many other publications. I earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University in 1986.
Connect
Please send feedback and story ideas to alexander.kafka@chronicle.com. I can also be found at LinkedIn.
