Can Professors be Patriotic?, World Wishes US Happy Birthday, & More
Around the College Towns: Links and commentary related to urbanism and higher ed for the week of June 22 - July 5.
Note: Around the College Town is my weekly-ish links roundup article on urbanism and education. These posts mostly cover news that may have fallen through the cracks rather than the big events.
This week falls on the July 4th holiday weekend, so this edition will be a little light.
Yes, Professors Can Be Patriotic?
The stereotype of American professors is that we hate the country. This is certainly the view of my profession within some top conservative circles, with Vice President JD Vance leading the charge. "The professors are the enemy," the Ivy League-trained VP assails.
This line of attack is not even a new one. "Do Colleges HAVE To Hire Red Professors?" asked The American Legion Magazine back in 1951. The issue was published during the days of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) mania, so it may be wrapped up in questionable intentions. Yet, the symmetry from now to then is unmistakable.
As much as I defend US higher education here on College Towns, I must admit that some of these accusations do seem generally correct: many professors are simply not patriotic, at least not in the US. Indeed, FIRE reports that a “vast majority” of professors are left-leaning, while Nate Silver finds that pride in the country has collapsed among left-leaning Americans.
This means that they do not celebrate the Fourth of July, they get queasy with the American flag, and they dwell on national negativities. The sentiment can be described as doomerism, and it has become a common ideal among American professors. Today, so many professors want to be Howard Zinn.
But this form of national doomerism is not universal in the profession. There are some professors who are proud of the country, its people, and its history. Of course, I know this firsthand as the author of three installments in my United States Semiquincentennial Series. But I am not alone in the profession either.
Over the holiday weekend, other academics offered their celebrations. Alexander Kustov, Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame, proclaimed, “I’m an American nationalist, too. Not just a patriot in the sense of being proud of America, but a nationalist,” on Popular by Design. Likewise, Marc J. Dunkelman, Fellow at Brown University, labeled the “America is bad” take as “a stone-cold loser” on the Searchlight Institute. Finally, former classmate of mine and Assistant Professor at Leiden University, Steven Denney, makes “The case for liberal nationalism” through a rich data narrative on his new Pixels and Patterns Substack.
US higher education needs these kinds of pro-national sentiments because these are generally what the everyman American believes. Our sector has recently been looking for answers to why trust from the public has tanked. I won’t pretend to have the full answers to this quandary (it is quite complicated), but I do think making sure that the public knows some of our professors are patriotic can help.
None of this patriotism means there can be no criticism of the country. I provide my fair share of national critique on this very website. I lean on the famous quote from J. William Fulbright, the late Arkansas senator who championed international education. He was also a former professor, derisively called an “egghead” by rivals like Lyndon B. Johnson. Fulbright wrote:
To criticize one's country is to do it a service and pay it a compliment. It is a service because it may spur the country to do better than it is doing; it is a compliment because it evidences a belief that the country can do better than it is doing.
I understand that many are disillusioned with politics in the country right now. That’s fine, but sometimes you just have to take a break from politics, eat a hot dog, grab a Coors, watch some fireworks, and celebrate the holiday with the rest of the country. Happy 250th, America.
If you haven’t already, check out my Semiquincentennial Series. I should have one more (or possibly two) coming out by the end of the summer. Thanks for reading.
World Cup Visitors Remind Americans to Celebrate Our 250th Birthday
This article is the third installment of my United States Semiquincentennial Series. This series is a celebration of the country, its history, and the American people. See the previous editions on the Space Race and National Geographic.
Bicentennial on Semiquincentennial: Did the Smartest Guys in 1976 Predict 2026?
This article is the second installment of my United States Semiquincentennial Series. This series is a celebration of the country, its history, and the American people. It also offers direction moving forward to the next 250 years of our country. See the previous edition on the
The US Needs a New Space Race
This article is the first installment of my United States Semiquincentennial Series. This series is a celebration of the country, its history, and the American people. It also offers direction moving forward to the next 250 years of our country.
Education
California will vote on a $350 million bond to build more affordable student housing. My guess is that it fails, as it combines two things the voters hate most: housing and students, not to mention the state’s long tax revolt.
On the flip side, UT San Antonio and Indiana University are adding more student housing options in their metropolitan downtowns. I am always a fan of this strategy to help juice the atmosphere of downtowns. Students bring life.
Virginia Wesleyan becomes Batten U. This is not the worst name change that I have seen, but losing the geographic descriptor might not be ideal.
Across the pond, Chinese companies are closing fancy private schools in the UK, annoying parents and worrying local education officials.
In educational-adjacent news, I’m somewhat of a book collector, and I am always surprised by how much some rare books are worth. See the fair with $100M in books:
Urbanism-ish
Disneyland is offering twilight rates at just 59 bucks. I might have to try this as a Southern California resident.
But if you are planning a visit, the LAX People Mover has been delayed… again. At this point, I am wondering if we are going to make the 2028 Olympics. We already missed the World Cup!
Fodor’s is releasing an AI modeled after the founder. It seems the travel book genre is basically dead; thrift stores cannot give them away. Perhaps AI can save these companies.
Boise, Idaho, might be getting an intercity passenger train. Cool for the region!
Mark R. Brown, AICP, CNU at Car Free America tells us why infill housing can help save dying cities.
Over in self-driving car news, Zoox has a new design. Looks a bit too futuristic for my taste.
I’m getting some real shades of the Johnny Cab from Total Recall (1990) with these new Zoox. I’d only be into the redesign if they add a robot driver. China’s Xiaomi self-driving car impresses in Germany. I think from EVs to AVs, Chinese car companies are going to dominate the future.
American-built Japanese cars are worse than Japanese-built, a feature that does not help in the competition with Chinese manufacturers, as the Japanese continue to lose ground.
Speaking of struggling industries, this over-a-century-old woodworking shop in New York City is shutting down. Sad, but these are the realities these days.
Closing Time… The World Wishes the US a Happy 250th
I loved seeing all the various Semiquincentennial celebrations across the country, but I might have enjoyed the images from throughout the world even more. Yes, other countries paid homage to the country’s 250th birthday. I found this heartening, given that our reputation and standing have taken a hit recently. Here are some of my favorites that I saw on social media (there are many more):
Emmanuel Macron, President of France:
Lin Chia-lung, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China:
The German Embassy in DC:
The Republic of Kiribati:
The Eiffel Tower in Paris:
And my absolute favorite comes from the celebration in Japan. The Japanese government gifted 250 cherry blossom trees to the US, adding to the gifts that inspired the DC festival going back to 1910. Tokyo also held a fireworks celebration as the Rainbow Bridge lit with American national colors.
Japan wished the US a happy Bicentennial back in the 1970s, too. What an image from that celebration below. Since I work at a university with roots in Japan, I am pleased to see that the two nations have strong relations. Many of my colleagues and students come from Japan. I even celebrated July 4th with a few this year. Yes, I did buy some Sapporo for the BBQ. Don’t worry, we also had hamburgers.
I have to close with the post below, which I had a good chuckle at on July 4th. Thanks to all who celebrated in the US and across the world! Here’s to 250 more.
The Battens have given a very large amount to Virginia Wesleyan. A similar name change worked well for Trinity College after Buck Duke started showering money on them.
I don't have access to the Times; does it mention last year's tax change? The standard VAT was, for the first time, applied to private school fees, implicitly increasing prices by 20% across the board. This has triggered a wave of school closures.