Emma Pettit
Emma Pettit is a senior reporter who covers faculty issues and higher-education oddities for The Chronicle of Higher Education. She loves people-driven narratives and falling down rabbit holes. Before joining The Chronicle in 2018, she reported on county government and breaking news for The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, based in Little Rock, Ark. She won several feature-writing awards there and was named the 2017 Outstanding New Journalist, presented by the Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Born in Nebraska and raised in Colorado, Emma attended Villanova University. She studied English and political science while she was an athlete on the varsity volleyball team. She is a writer because of her father, who would ask her to come up with metaphors for the moon during early morning drives.
When she’s not reporting on departmental drama, she can be found goofing around on Twitter, where she spends too much time. Follow her at @EmmaJanePettit, or email her at emma.pettit@chronicle.com.
Stories by this Author
-
Higher Ed Under Fire‘Private Little Hell’
A Florida committee once hunted for gay people in its universities. Sixty years later, the effects linger. -
Higher Ed Under Fire
What a 1960s Housewife Can Teach Us About Politics in Higher Ed
Decades later, the boundaries of academic freedom are still not settled. -
Higher Ed Under Fire
When Lawmakers Purged ‘Immorality’ From Florida Universities
State intrusion in higher ed is nothing new. -
The Erosion of Tenure
Emporia State University Is Told It Can Fire Employees, Including Tenured Professors
Low enrollment, restructuring, and performance evaluations are among the many reasons they can be terminated. -
Investigation
Inside the Academic-Freedom Crisis That Roiled Florida’s Flagship
A Chronicle investigation tracks how a decision to silence professors emerged from the depths of bureaucracy. -
Fanning the Fire
A Free-Speech Group Known for Campus Interventions Wants to Be Bigger
The advocacy group that has weighed in on many free-speech spats big and small is expanding beyond colleges. -
Academic Freedom
How Pedophilia Research Led a University to Part Ways With a Scholar
A college says it supports free inquiry. So why does this pedophilia researcher no longer work there? -
Politics
He Accused the University of Florida of Violating His Academic Freedom. The Provost Disagrees.
As faculty members remain wary about the state’s political climate, the provost denies that a professor was told he had to change the title of a doctoral concentration related to race to avoid the word “critical.” -
Partisan Influence
U. of North Carolina Has Been Corrupted by Political Meddling, Faculty Group Says
University officials, however, strongly disagree with the “grim portrayal” the report paints. -
Permissible Conduct?
The Professor and the Protester
Oliver Baker got into a scuffle with a student during a campus protest. It could cost him his career.
