Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
If you follow higher education like we do, you know that the sector is ripe for controversy. From misused money, to smoking-gun emails, to the occasional sex scandal, colleges and universities routinely make news for all the wrong reasons. But what makes for a delicious higher-ed controversy? And what can be learned from the embarrassing failures of otherwise respectable institutions? To dig into those questions, Chronicle staffers gathered recently for a first-of-its-kind higher-education controversy draft. Who built the best roster? That’s for you to decide.
Related Reading:
•
Uproar at Mount St. Mary’s (chronicle.com/package/uproar-at-mount-st-marys/?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l1) (Chronicle)
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Is That Our Chancellor in the Porno (podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/is-that-our-chancellor-in-the-porno/id1766357400?i=1000679025830?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l2) (College Matters podcast)
•
Discredited: The UNC Scandal and College Athletics’ Amatuer Ideal (https://press.umich.edu/Books/D/Discredited2?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l4) (Andy Thomason)
•
Auburn President’s Permanent No Comment (insidehighered.com/news/2005/05/02/auburn-presidents-permanent-no-comment?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l3) (Inside Higher Ed)
Guests:
•
Sarah Brown (chronicle.com/author/sarah-brown?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l5) , senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education
•
Andy Thomason (chronicle.com/author/andy-thomason?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversey-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l6) , assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters (chronicle.com/podcast/college-matters-from-the-chronicle?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l7) . We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
If you follow higher education like we do, you know that the sector is ripe for controversy. From misused money, to smoking-gun emails, to the occasional sex scandal, colleges and universities routinely make news for all the wrong reasons. But what makes for a delicious higher-ed controversy? And what can be learned from the embarrassing failures of otherwise respectable institutions? To dig into those questions, Chronicle staffers gathered recently for a first-of-its-kind higher-education controversy draft. Who built the best roster? That’s for you to decide.
Related Reading:
•
Uproar at Mount St. Mary’s (chronicle.com/package/uproar-at-mount-st-marys/?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l1) (Chronicle)
•
Is That Our Chancellor in the Porno (podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/is-that-our-chancellor-in-the-porno/id1766357400?i=1000679025830?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l2) (College Matters podcast)
•
Discredited: The UNC Scandal and College Athletics’ Amatuer Ideal (https://press.umich.edu/Books/D/Discredited2?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l4) (Andy Thomason)
•
Auburn President’s Permanent No Comment (insidehighered.com/news/2005/05/02/auburn-presidents-permanent-no-comment?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l3) (Inside Higher Ed)
Guests:
•
Sarah Brown (chronicle.com/author/sarah-brown?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l5) , senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education
•
Andy Thomason (chronicle.com/author/andy-thomason?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversey-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l6) , assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters (chronicle.com/podcast/college-matters-from-the-chronicle?utm_campaign=che-pcm-pd-ep-sn-controversy-draft&utm_medium=aud&utm_source=mgp&utm_content=25-03-25-slnk-e024-l7) . We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
