Biggest 4 news stories of 2023
From student loan debt cancelation to anti-Semitism on campus, here are the biggest news stories this year.
College campuses became the focus of national attention in 2023, but hardly ever for the right reasons. From student loan debt cancelation to anti-Semitism on campus, here are the biggest news stories this year:
4. President Biden pushes student debt cancellation
On Oct. 30, the Department of Education announced a new round of student loan forgiveness that brought the total debt cancellation to $127 billion for 3.6 million Americans. The Biden administration has pursued a piecemeal approach since the Supreme Court ruled his attempt to cancel loans for all Americans unconstitutional.
Campus Reform | Biden admin uses new tactic to circumvent SCOTUS, forgive more student debt
3. Free speech becomes a wedge issue on campuses
Free speech lawsuits, activism, and regulations are becoming more numerous on college campuses. The topic covers a host of other divisive issues including the mandated use of preferred pronouns. On March 9, Stanford Law DEI Dean Tirien Steinbach shut down a conservative judge’s speech on campus after leftist activists tried to disrupt him. Stanford later put Steinbach on leave.
2. Supreme Court Rules Against Affirmative Action
On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled that private and public universities (excluding military schools) could not use race as a factor in admissions decisions. The majority opinion effectively ended the practice of affirmative action in higher education. For the rest of the year, activist administrators vowed to defy the Supreme Court or find another way around the ruling.
1. Anti-Semitism on College Campuses
The terrorist organization launched a brutal attack on innocent Israeli citizens on Oct. 7. In the United States, the terrorist attack inspired a vitriolic wave of violent Jew-hatred on college campuses. Both students and staff have been involved for calls for genocide against Jews, as well as physical attacks or intimidation against Jewish students. The horrifying trend dominated headlines in the last months of 2023 as presidents from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania testified before Congress on campus anti-Semitism.
Campus Reform | MARSCHALL: It’s not hyperbole, it’s real. Your professors and classmates hate Jews.