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Alexander C. Kafka

Senior Editor

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.

Recent Stories

A Spectrum of Wellness
By Alexander C. Kafka August 23, 2024
Do young people misunderstand everyday stress?
Vasily Keytiyev has overcome a troubled past and is back on track, thanks in part to the Marine Corps Reserve and a nonprofit called Service to School.
Report
Introduction
Mental Health
By Alexander C. Kafka May 30, 2024
Are college students’ mental-health apps helping them? There’s surprisingly little evidence one way or the other. A team of researchers is trying to change that.
The Review | Essay
By Alexander C. Kafka June 12, 2023
On page and stage, the modern-dance pioneer returns for an encore.
Rural high-school students enroll in college at a lower rate than urban students. Our latest photo essay follows Daryl Burleigh, a rural recruiter, and his strategies for connecting with these students. Read more of his story now.
Advice
Colleges have many tools to create an inclusive campus culture, among them equity audits and job-specific, anti-bias education. Shaming and blaming don’t help.
A degree from a four-year institution is one of the best ways to land a job with a well-paying salary in today’s workforce. For many students, community colleges are a springboard to attending a four-year institution. However, out of every 100 community college students who intend to earn a…
In response to shrinking pools of high school graduates and and increasing numbers of first-generation and minority students, many colleges have created student-success leadership teams. Learn how leading institutions are coordinating the complex web of factors—including mental health, finances, and a sense of belonging—that contribute to student success.