The web journal Inside Higher Ed is a go-to source for anyone interested in the American university. Founded in 2004 as a competitor to the well-regarded but stodgy Chronicle of Higher Education, IHE is an indespensible daily guide to the nation’s campuses.
So why isn’t it covering the biggest student story of the year?
We’re now five days into the wave of student protest that has engulfed California since the UC regents approved huge fee increases for their system’s students. Since then thousands have demonstrated on campuses across the state, often clashing with police. Six university buildings at five universities have been occupied. More than a hundred students have been arrested. And IHE has given the story a total of four words.
“As students protested outside, the University of California’s Board of Regents on Thursday reluctantly approved a 32 percent increase in ‘fees’ …” That’s how the IHE opened a one-paragraph piece on the fee increases in its “Quick Takes” section on Friday. That one clause, “as students protested outside,” was the only mention of student organizing in the piece, and the IHE has yet to return to the topic.
At the time the IHE put up that story, students had taken over four UC buildings in response to the fee hikes. Three of those occupations were still ongoing as of Friday morning, and the fourth had ended with mass arrests. Fourteen students had been arrested within the regents meeting itself, and several — despite UCLA’s initial denials — had been Tasered by campus police during the demonstrations that accompanied it. After the meeting, students blockaded the building in which it had been held, blocking the regents’ exit and at one point compelling them to abandon the van in which they were attempting to leave campus.
Since Friday morning, IHE has covered a lawsuit filed by a woman who was fired by the University of Nebraska when they learned she was a witch. It has published a lengthy piece on academic plagiarism. It has written about a physical fitness requirement for obese students at Lincoln University and an athletics director who quit after applying for reimbursement for expenses relating to an extramarital affair. It has run two stories on tax issues.
But on the largest student uprising in recent American history? Nothing so far.
Now, granted, it’s Sunday, and IHE generally doesn’t publish on the weekends. Only one of the stories I list above went up yesterday, and that one was a blog post. But as I say, this was a huge story by Friday morning, and it only got bigger as that day went on.
I’ll be eager to see what they have on it tomorrow.
Monday morning update | Well, it’s tomorrow, and IHE has a 108-word “Quick Takes” story up reporting on Friday’s events at three universities.
The piece makes no mention of the 52 arrests at UC Davis on Thursday, and declares that UCSC’s Kerr Hall “remains occupied,” even though that occupation ended on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the journal finds room for 645 words on the end of football at Northeastern.

5 comments
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November 22, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Matthew V
Very great blog you have here. I wanted to send you a YouTube channel that was started by Vassar students
http://www.youtube.com/user/VassarWorks
Only two videos up but there’s more to come. Take special note of the more recent one, shot by students featuring Vassar profs and one staff member.
Keep fighting the good fight! It’s going on all across the country.
November 22, 2009 at 11:11 pm
ketlan
Looks as if your stodgy Chronicle of Higher Ed has already published three blog posts, a video, and a full story about the protests.
November 22, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Angus Johnston
My well-regarded Chronicle, you mean.
November 23, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Scott Jaschik
Readers of this blog who are interested in Inside Higher Ed’s coverage
of the California budget crisis may want to check out some of these
recent articles:
A three-part series — “California Beating” — about fallout from the
budget crisis:
–On U. of California —
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/13/california1
–On Cal State U. — http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/17/california2
–On California’s community colleges —
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/21/california
An analysis of the debate over spending on athletics at Berkeley at a
time of severe budget cuts:
–http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/30/ucsports
On the meaning of a proposal asking some UC instructors to teach for free:
–http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/11/10/stipends
On the terrible choices facing California community colleges:
–http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/05/delta
–http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/08/17/ccsf
On actions taken against professors who backed a peaceful protest:
–http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/26/southwestern
–http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/11/02/southwestern
Essay on the experience of being a California faculty member on furlough:
–http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/08/14/moreno
There’s more coverage on the way, of course, given the severity of the
budget situation in California and the importance of the state’s
higher education system. I welcome your ideas.
Scott Jaschik
Editor
scott.jaschik@insidehighered.com
November 24, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Angus Johnston
Thanks for writing, Scott, and apologies for the spam-queue difficulties with your comment.
Those are solid, important articles you linked to, and I was being entirely sincere when I said your site is indispensable — over the last year, I’ve linked to IHE more than a dozen times. Y’all do great work, and you’re a great resource for students.
But it’s worth noting that none of the articles you cite are primarily about student organizing. Even in the two stories you ran on the Southwestern College situation, the hook was the suspension of faculty members, not the student-led protest itself. At the risk of being (perhaps fairly) accused of playing gotcha, I’ll note that the word “student” doesn’t even appear in your comment.
There is a strong tendency among higher education journalists to see students as peripheral to the institutional life of the university. (The Chronicle of Higher Education, for example, has a “Faculty” section on its site and an “Administration” section, but no “Students” section.) That perspective is understandable on many levels, even rational, but it is, I think, unfortunate.
Students are not mere consumers of higher education, they are active participants in shaping the institutions they attend. They are not only acted upon, they act as well, and the IHE would, in my opinion, be an even more valuable resource if it took note of that fact more often.
(lightly edited after posting)