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Jack Stripling

Senior Writer

What I Cover

As host of our podcast, College Matters from The Chronicle, my job is to be insatiably curious. Whether I’m talking with colleagues about their reporting or interviewing newsmakers, my goal is to get at something deeper beneath the story: What does the latest faculty kerfuffle tell us about the modern workplace? How does today’s version of campus unrest reflect generational change? And what’s really going to happen if the robots take over?

The mandate of our podcast is to better understand the world through the lens of higher education, and that’s what guides my work each week. While there are myriad issues we could explore, I’m on the lookout for topics that speak to the human condition and reflect the particularities of our times. I’m attracted to stories with tension, drama, and high stakes.

My Background

I got my start covering higher education in 2003 as a beat reporter for the Opelika-Auburn News, where I wrote about Auburn University. Since then, I have written for The Gainesville Sun, where I covered the University of Florida; Inside Higher Ed; and The Washington Post, where I was an investigative reporter covering higher education.

I joined The Chronicle in 2011 as a reporter covering college leadership. My reporting has often focused on institutional crises, administrative palace intrigue, and the politics of the college presidency.

The Education Writers Association has honored my watchdog reporting on a number of issues, including college governance, plagiarism, and executive compensation. My favorite things to receive are huge batches of public records; secret documents; and emails that begin, “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this …”

I earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a creative-writing emphasis at Florida State University, which, years later, employed a collection agency to chase me down over unpaid parking tickets. I hold a master’s degree in literature from Auburn. I have also taught at the college level, as an adjunct professor of English at Santa Fe College, in Florida, and as a graduate teaching assistant at Auburn.

Connect

Email: jack.stripling@chronicle.com
Signal: jackstripling.73
X: @jackstripling

Recent Stories

College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling May 20, 2025
Two years after a board takeover, the left-leaning liberal arts college is gaining students and losing some of its granola appeal.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling May 13, 2025
On paper, student teaching evaluations make a lot of sense. Who is better positioned to say whether a professor did a good job than the students who took the course? But dig a little deeper, and there’s good reason to question whether colleges should be relying on teaching evaluations as much as they do. Listen now.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling May 6, 2025
Jon Shields, a right-leaning professor at Claremont McKenna College, says young conservative activists are missing out on the movement’s rich intellectual tradition.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling April 29, 2025
From the Trump administration’s unnerving first days to the recent mass layoffs, Education Department employees describe shortsighted dismissals and a workplace defined by paranoia and intimidation.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling April 22, 2025
An immigration lawyer says the Trump administration has trampled on free speech, but that “there’s still time to stand up.”
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling April 15, 2025
Fed up with what they see as illiberalism in higher ed, conservatives are pushing for centers devoted to classics and American civics.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling April 8, 2025
Long a third rail of campus politics, parking inspires raging debates that are about far more than fees, fines, and crowded lots.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling April 1, 2025
On many campuses, relations between professors and administrators have eroded to a worrisome degree.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling March 25, 2025
It’s March Madness, and we’re picking the top scandals, imbroglios, and snafus of the past quarter century.
College Matters from The Chronicle
By Jack Stripling March 18, 2025
An emboldened GOP is reaching deeper into what colleges teach, banning “identity politics” and theories of “systemic racism” from core courses in Florida.