Nuclear Powered Campus, Red Red Colleges, and More - Around the College Town

Links related to urbanism and higher ed for the week of Nov. 1 - 7.

Note: each week Around the College Town will feature a list of links from stories I am reading that are related to urbanism and higher ed, often combining both. This will include a brief commentary on each link. These may grow into future articles by me. Submit a link if you think it fits.

Trump Gained Ground in Battle for Wisconsin College Voters, Even Flipping One UW Campus Ward - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

First up, everyone is talking about the US presidential election, including my previous post on moving abroad if your preferred candidate loses (looking at you, Harris supporters). One of the most curious results was that Trump saw big gains amongst college students. This is a pretty surprising development, since students have historically been more liberal. As reported in the article, Trump won college dorm districts throughout Wisconsin.

The move red for college students is a development that warrants deeper exploration. One thing to consider for now, though, is that often our national attention is glued to elite colleges like Columbia or Harvard, where students are usually further left outliers. We sometimes miss that students at regional institutions or community colleges come from very different classes with widely diverging politics than students at the Ivys.

Rockefeller University to Sell 2 Abstract Expressionist Paintings - Inside Higher Ed

Of course, now many in higher ed are wondering what the next Trump administration may bring to the sector. Regardless of the possible changes, the entire sector is in a major shift with many universities struggling. One trend that I have seen recently is that institutions have turned to their art collections as possible revenue generation. That’s the case at Rockefeller University, where it was just announced the New York City-based institution would sell off two Joan Mitchell paintings to raise $32 million. It’s kind of funny to compare the art world spin in Art News relative to the framing in the higher ed sector via Inside Higher Ed. I am in the early stages of a research project looking at this university-selling-art phenomenon.

I appreciate that people care about this art, but I must admit, I do not get it. Photo via Christie’s.

History Lost: Knoxville College Building Destroyed in Fire - Knoxville Today

In an even sadder story of a struggling college, a historic building part of Knoxville College burned to the ground this past week. Knoxville is a historically black college located in Tennessee that has hit hard times, including losing its accreditation. With few to basically no students, a lot of the campus and its historic buildings sit semi-abandoned. The local community has raised concerns about vagrants and vandals causing damage, including fires like the one that engulfed Elnathan Hall. It’s a story I have seen many times…

Nuclear Companies Want Land To Build New Plants. Texas A&M Is Inviting Them To Come to Bryan - Houston Chronicle

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you know a university isn’t struggling when it’s attempting to build a nuclear reactor on its campus. That is exactly what Texas A&M has been trying to do. We have already heard recently Microsoft and other tech companies doing the same, so perhaps this is the future for big institutions, businesses or universities. My main thought is how this will get by NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard; definitely not Nuclear In My Back Yard)? I follow a lot of campus construction stories, and I have seen how enraged locals get about mere dorms—I can only imagine how bananas the debate around building a nuclear plant on campuses will be.

Universities Encouraged to Offer Single Dorm Rooms to Meet Student Demand - Korea Joongang Daily

Finally, a couple of weeks ago in an Around the College Town post, I highlighted an essay from a Harvard student asking the university to consider more micro units that had individualized spaces (e.g. tiny solo rooms with shared space). A similar plea has arisen in South Korea, where a local commission has petitioned the Ministry of Education to consider a conversion away from traditional dorms and into these more private setups.

I lived in something very similar back in Korea.

Interestingly, South Korea already has a strong and active tradition of these kinds of spaces called Gosiwons. I used to live in one while in grad school at Yonsei University in Seoul. They are perfect for young people trying to make their way in big cities. I will make a future post on this housing style.