Monthly Archives: June 2012

Troubled Grounds

The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors (trustees) forced out the popular new president, Teresa Sullivan, little more than a year after her formal installation, and less than two years after she took office. Ere yet those shoes were old. … Continue reading

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Dear Alma Mater, Kind the Fate!

College and university alma maters are of two kinds: the singable and the unsingable. The unsingable are of two kinds, the manifestly unsingable, and the subtly unsingable. This last category, more numerous than you might imagine, is where my interest … Continue reading

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Jump and Shout!

Sometimes you just have to jump up and shout. I do, anyway. I was in Moorhead, Minnesota, taking part in a seminar on the future of the liberal arts. The occasion was the inauguration of Bill Craft as president of … Continue reading

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But I Digress

Things have come to a pretty pass indeed when you find that you want to decline even the pale comfort offered by grammarians. I will not be consoled. I’m talking about the word “but.” Things would be fine but that … Continue reading

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