Nov. 27, 2015

Here’s a look at the cover of our very first issue, published 49 years ago.

In burial, the dead help give meaning to the travails of the living.

Ghosts of academics haunt a musty private library in Boston.

What began as a struggle for better working conditions at the New School now has implications for private universities nationwide.

Want to save the earth? Maybe birth control is the answer.

The latest gloss on the evolutionary biology and psychology of gender woefully distorts the research.

Academic departments that are more diverse may produce more unorthodox ideas and do more original work, new research shows.

A historical novel about the fight against slavery informs the way a provost approaches decisions on campus.

Chuck Henson, who is on leave as an associate dean at the law school, says he respects the passion and frustration of students who want change now.

What you need to know about the past seven days.

Many say they are underestimated, discriminated against, even harassed. Some find support from one another and, crucially, from their universities.

R. Bowen Loftin’s resignation as chief of the flagship campus at Columbia has been cast as fallout from racial discord there. That’s not even the half of it.

Campus prejudice cannot be solved in an afternoon. But institutions like the University of Missouri, where racial tension has provoked a wave of protests, hope such programs can foster meaningful change.

Minority students face unique psychological challenges, protesters and psychologists say, and so need unique mental-health services.

At a hearing, lawmakers, advocates, and investigators all criticized how the agency’s Office of Federal Student Aid serves students and taxpayers. Here’s a look at their arguments.

About half of all freshmen say their courses pushed them to do their best work, according to this year’s National Survey of Student Engagement.

There’s value in data that attempt to hold colleges responsible for what their students go on to earn. But making sense of that data requires context few high schoolers will sort out alone.

Three student-government leaders are facing calls to resign after some of their peers criticized how they responded to activists’ demands.

As more political leaders argue for a ban on resettling refugees, students from Syria say they want to educate Americans about who they are.

Technical colleges in Utah drew criticism for including short-term training programs in their completion numbers. But with colleges under pressure to produce more graduates, the flap illustrates a bigger debate over what counts as a high-quality degree.

Students’ expectations for inclusion are higher than in the past, and meeting them will require a new level of leadership.

Mark P. Becker, president of Georgia State University, discusses the institution’s success raising graduation rates and the challenges of maneuvering a fledgling football team into the highest levels of intercollegiate athletics.

All too often, when people depict others as threats to freedom of speech, what they really mean is “Be quiet!”

Mary Spellman, dean of students at Claremont McKenna College, resigned after her comments in an email to a student prompted protests and hunger strikes.

I survived most of the racism. But for some of the kids who had been supported by black communities, the University of Missouri started as a dream school and wound up being a waking nightmare.

“We are perpetuating a culture that mistreats graduate students.”