Northwestern University on Thursday released an independently prepared report on one of its founders, John Evans, and his links to mistreatment of Native Americans when he was governor of the Colorado Territory. The report concludes that there is no evidence Evans helped plan the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. The study was commissioned in part because Native American students and others said it would be inappropriate for the university to continue to honor someone linked to that massacre of Native Americans. Read more...

Senator Clare McCaskill on Thursday stepped up pressure on a top higher education lobbying group to turn over copies of a presentation that advised colleges on how to respond to her survey on campus sexual violence. The Democratic lawmaker sent a letter to the American Council on Education on Thursday that said the group should either provide the webinar materials she previously requested or offer a legal justification for its refusal to hand over the documents. Read more...

By Michael Stratford and Paul Fain. As the public comment period for the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed “gainful employment” regulations ended last night, the department had received thousands of comments, most of which argued either that the rules go too far or that they don't go far enough. Read more...

By Elizabeth Redden. The main sources of dissatisfaction for international undergraduate students at U.S. institutions relate to finances, according to new research on retention released today at the annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference. Read more...

By Elizabeth Redden. There’s no place like Cuba, at least as far as study abroad is concerned. That was a main takeaway of a session here at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference on things U.S. universities should consider in offering study abroad programs in Cuba. Read more...

By Michael D. Shear. The college presidents were appalled. Not only had President Obama called for a government rating system for their schools, but now one of his top education officials was actually suggesting it would be as easy as evaluating a kitchen appliance. Read more...

By Len Findlay. Findlay is a professor of English at the University of Saskatchewan, and chair of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee, Canadian Association of University Teachers. Lawrie McFarlane (Academic freedom misunderstood in Canada, SP May 23) remains as ignorant today about academic freedom as he was when he was deputy minister of advanced education in the 1980s.
Indeed, he now seems even more bent on reducing such freedom to a political alibi and bureaucratic toy, seeking to trump a key set of rights and responsibilities via appeals to corporate loyalty and executive obedience. More...