College Matters from The Chronicle

The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, who was killed on Saturday during an encounter with federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, has further escalated tensions in a metropolitan area dotted with college campuses. As the region reels with civil unrest, area universities are grappling with how to maintain safe operations. They’re also facing pressure to exert stronger moral leadership as their institutions’ values are tested in real time.Related Reading

Navigating Campus Life Amid ICE Enforcement (The Chronicle)

After Another ICE Killing, Minnesota’s Flagship Faces a Test (The Chronicle)

Guests

Scott Carlson⁠, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education 

Fae Hodges, University of Minnesota Twin Cities student

Alexander Boni-Saenz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota

Politics. Culture. Affordability. The biggest issues facing the country are playing out in higher education, and College Matters from The Chronicle is here to make sense of it all. Beginning January 28, tune in for all new weekly episodes of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s podcast.

Catch up on previous episodes

Interview: Chris Rufo Floats Calling in the ‘Troops’ 

Why Faculty Hate Teaching Evaluations 

Has Harvard Gone Soft?

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

As 2025 comes to a close, higher education is at an inflection point. Political pressure, rising costs, and the dizzying pace of technological change are putting new stress on an already beleaguered system. It’s tempting at a time like this to obsess over the precarious present, but it’s worth pausing for a moment to consider the past. With the benefit of hindsight, what trends and developments of the past 25 years have proved to be the most consequential for higher education? More simply put: How in the heck did we get here?

Related Reading

Explore the Quarter-Century Project (The Chronicle)

A Year of Challenges and Uncertainty, as Told Through Data (The Chronicle) 

Behold, the Decade of Monsters and Men (The Chronicle) 

U. of Richmond Leader Pushes City to Face Its Slave History (The Chronicle)

Guests

Edward L. Ayers, professor of the humanities and president emeritus at the U. of Richmond 

Sarah Brown, senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education 

Andy Thomason, assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education

It’s been a pivotal year for higher education, and that’s particularly true for college professors. The ubiquity of artificial intelligence, the enormity of political pressure, and the severity of financial constraints on many college campuses have conspired to create learning environments of profound unease and uncertainty. At the same time, many faculty members look at 2025 as a year when the promise of new technologies became more clear, and the strength of collegial communities became more crucial. Can a year like this be summed up in a single word? We’ll find out.  

Related Reading: 


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AI Has Joined the Faculty (The Chronicle) 


How to Restore Joy in the Classroom (The Chronicle)  


Grading is Broken (The Chronicle) 

Guest: 


Beth McMurtrie, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education


Beckie Supiano, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education 

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Nearly three years after ChatGPT first came on the scene, college students are using generative AI to help with myriad tasks. Outlining and brainstorming are a breeze. A tough concept, skimmed over by a professor during a lecture, can probably be explained succinctly by a chatbot. This kind of AI use is happening on college campuses across the country, and much of it wouldn’t be considered unethical. But the line between efficiency and academic dishonesty is blurry, and some experts are concerned that an AI-infused education could essentially rewire students’ brains. So, how do colleges weigh the promise of AI against its much-discussed perils?Related Reading:

These Students Use AI a Lot — but Not to Cheat (The Chronicle)  

The Cheating Vibe Shift (College Matters: Apple / Spotify) 

Should College Graduates Be AI Literate? (The Chronicle) 

Guest:Beth McMurtrie, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher  Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.