Afternoon Update: Why an outsider is the right choice to be chancellor in Chapel Hill (opinion)

New anti-union law kills Florida’s adjunct unions; debt strains mount for American colleges; for-profit college in Conn. delays fall term; and more. ADVERTISEMENT [Afternoon Update Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. THE REVIEW | OPINION [Why an Outsider Is the Right Choice to Be UNC’s Chancellor]( By Peter Hans [STORY IMAGE]( Opposition to the appointment of Lee Roberts ignores the current reality. ADVERTISEMENT [Why an Outsider Is the Right Choice to Be UNC’s Chancellor ]( THE REVIEW | ESSAY [An Anthropologist’s Reach Exceeds His Grasp]( By Jacob Mikanowski [STORY IMAGE]( Harvey Whitehouse’s overambitious new book. ACADEMIC LABOR [Florida’s Adjunct-Union Movement Collapses in the Face of a New Anti-Union Law]( All eight unions for adjunct faculty members at the state’s public colleges and universities have been decertified, under a law that makes it more difficult for unions to collect dues and that raises the proportion of dues-paying members that they must maintain in order to be certified. The law, described by critics as a union-busting measure, will affect 8,400 adjuncts statewide. (Orlando Weekly) FINANCES [American Colleges’ Debt Strains Mount in One of Worst Years Since 2009]( Fifteen institutions have already revealed new technical or payment defaults this year, according to data from Municipal Market Analytics, a research firm. Last year’s total was 17. (Bloomberg) TROUBLED COLLEGE [Paier College, Small For-Profit Institution in Connecticut, Postpones Fall Semester]( The college, which recently had an enrollment of fewer than 150, said in a letter last week to students that the semester’s start would be delayed while it waited for approval from the state to open. Connecticut authorities are in the process of reviewing the college’s sale. Paier says it offers classes in design, art, business, communications, and coding. (WFSB) PHILANTHROPY [Catawba College Receives Second $200-Million Gift in Three Years]( The donation, which like its predecessor was anonymous, will go to the endowment of the liberal-arts college in North Carolina. Two-thirds of the gift’s annual proceeds will provide unrestricted funding. One-third will support programs in environmental education and sustainability. (News release) CAMPUS SAFETY I [Ex-Student at Cornell U. Is Sentenced to 21 Months for Making Antisemitic Threats]( Patrick Dai [pleaded guilty]( in April to online posts last fall in which he threatened to stab, rape, and behead Jewish people after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The posts “terrorized” the New York campus for days, a prosecutor said. Dai’s public defender said he had autism and sometimes acted like a child. The former computer-science major has been in jail since his arrest. (The New York Times) CAMPUS SAFETY II [Former Student at U. of Kentucky Who Spouted Racial Slurs Pleads Guilty to Assault]( Sophia Rosing, who is white, physically assaulted and shouted racial slurs at a Black student who was working at a residence hall’s front desk in late 2022. Video of the attack and Rosing’s subsequent arrest went viral. She pleaded guilty to assault, disorderly conduct, and public intoxication, and faces up to 12 months in jail and 100 hours of community service. 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