Daily Lumina News 020823

Why do college rankings endure? Two German sociologists put forth a provocative hypothesis: that criticism ultimately strengthens rankers, who respond by modifying their work rather than abandoning it, which ends up reinforcing their legitimacy.
It’s like having the same argument with your spouse over who should do the dishes. In the end, it just reaffirms each of your places in the relationship, contend Julian Hamann and Leopold Ringel.

During the pandemic, colleges and universities made instructional, financial, and organizational pivots. But with high school graduation rates dropping, many students are arriving on campus less prepared for the rigors of college.
To help, colleges are adding tutors and mental health resources—plus a measure of grace.

Oklahoma’s education secretary late last month gave the state public college system nine days to assemble a decade-long history of diversity, equity, and inclusion spending.
This is what Allison Garrett, chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, had to say.

The nation’s college campuses are experiencing a mental health crisis. According to a new Healthy Minds report, 60 percent of college students reported symptoms of one or more mental health problems in 2020-21. That’s up nearly 50 percent since 2013.
In this essay, Silvia Ballivian describes her own mental health journey in college—and how peer-to-peer support can mean getting by and getting better with a little help from your friends.

Criticism of higher education’s concerted efforts to make college campuses more diverse, equitable, and inclusive has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks.
A reporter interviews the conservative scholar who’s helping to lead that campaign.

Before the pandemic, 3 percent of undergraduate classes at Virginia Tech were taught online. That proportion more than doubled—to 8 percent—by the fall of 2022. In a news release, the university celebrated the online courses for offering students access and flexibility.
But some experts are now questioning whether the quality also scaled.