Senior Writer, Chronicle of Higher Education
Peter Schmidt is a senior writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education and a blogger at Color and Money. He is the author of Color and Money: How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War over College Affirmative Action
Diversity in higher education is back in the crosshairs Despite decades of legal actions, legislation, and US Supreme Court decisions, "affirmative action" in college admissions is still a political hot potato. The New York Times reports that the Trump Administration is recruiting from among its political appointees to the Justice Department's Civil Rights division for lawyers who want to bring challenges to race-based policies in university and college admissions. Critics fear that will weaken protections for blacks and Latinos. Caught in the middle is the fastest-growing minority, Asian-Americans. Is the Administration aiming for real change — or signaling to its base of supporters? Is the real enemy of "diversity" not race after all--but economic inequality?
Activists Take Aim at California's Proposition 209 In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209 , which banned public institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity. Today, an activist group known as BAMN filed a lawsuit against the University of California, challenging Prop 209 . Peter Schmidt, senior writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education , is author of Color and Money : How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War over College Affirmative Action.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.