Untitled

[davidpotash]

Communication Matters

The old saw “never judge a book by its cover” is especially true when it comes to the self-help genre. Book jackets promise to reveal secrets, to unlock the mysteries of success, and to help leaders transform themselves into being exceptional, wealthy and wise. If only it were so. I sort self-help books into three categories. Those deemed useless you will never read about here. Sadly there are…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

A Shameful History

Baseball, apple pie, mom and hatred of Jews? Is that prejudice so deeply woven into American history? Sadly, as Pamela S. Nadell writes in Antisemitism, An American Tradition, the “persistence of old ideas about evil Jews and the evolution of new ones” has been and remains a “powerful American tradition.” Nadell is exactly the right expert to shine a light on this shameful history. A professor…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Lessons and Inspiration from a Teacher, Educator & Leader

A resume is a fine way to document professional accomplishments, from academic degrees to job titles. A resume falls short, though, when it comes to issues of challenge, perseverance and accountability, the curve balls that life can throw at us. A resume can summarize a career, but it cannot tell much about a person’s character. John B. King, Jr., the Chancellor of the State University of New…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Casualties From A Forgotten War

In Jack London’s dystopian 1908 science fiction novel, The Iron Heel, the threat of socialists gaining power stirs oligarchs to mobilize the power of the state to crush opposition. They use propaganda and force, along the ways making sure to differential the “good” unions from those that might cause problems for those in power. The grim novel came to mind as I read Jane S. Smith’s account of her…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

American Higher Education - A History of Racial Inequity

Public higher education in the United States has a long and problematic legacy when it comes to issues of racial equity. In fact, the history is profoundly inequitable. The State Must Provide: The Definitive History of Racial Inequality in American Higher Education is an accessible, non-academic treatment of the topic with a focus on Black Americans. A skilled journalist with years of experience…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

The Upper Middle Class Striving Squeeze

Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It is a thoughtful critique of an American upper middle class problem. We think that we live in a meritocracy, we hope that we know the rules, and we have faith that ticking the right boxes for our children will lead them to happy, healthy and successful lives. The reality, though, is that for many parents and their…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Authenticity in Education: Modeling Good Men

Widely considered one of the best preparatory private schools in the United States, Deerfield Academy is located in a scenic small town in central Massachusetts. Slated tuition and fees are nearly $75,000 a year for boarding students. The school’s endowment, almost $1 billion, helps students with financial aid. Admissions is difficult and exclusive. Many think it well worth the effort, for…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Education Scholar on Higher Education

David Labaree is an emeritus professor of education at Stanford University. A prolific and influential scholar with a host of honors and accolades befitting a lengthy and influential career, Labaree remains active – with or without any teaching responsibilities. He has begun writing for the popular press (think The Atlantic) and recently made a collection of his essays available on Amazon Kindle.…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Class For Whom?

Several years ago Stephanie Land published a fascinating memoir of her work as a house cleaner, struggling to be a college student, mother and writer. Maid was very well-received for good reason: it tells a compelling story of a smart woman struggling with poverty. Land writes well and her observations, coming from a place that often does not have an informed voice, resonate. Maid was developed…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Law Professor On SCOTUS/In SCOTUS

Amy Coney Barrett is an associate justice of the US Supreme Court. She joined in 2020, taking the seat formerly held by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett recently wrote Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution. The book’s stated goal is to answer questions about the court and its role. But for a sitting justice to write this sort of book, considering her extraordinary…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Reasons Why

A little time off at the end of the year, some moments for looking back and forward, and all manner of thoughts will creep into my head. Inquisitive tendrils poke up and about, searching for sunlight and sustenance. They can be helpful, facilitating movement and growth. They can also corrode, pulling down structures. One of those lines of inquiry has been about the the point, the purpose, the…

[davidpotash]

Public Libraries: Overdue For A Close Look

Several years ago I worked with a librarian at our college, crafting a strategic plan for the library, when he said something that made me sit up and take notice. “Everyone says nice things about a library, but no one will tell you anything real.” I pressed him, curious about his frustration. Libraries are hard to figure out, he explained. People like to have them around. But no one really gives…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Growth Mindset Matters

Daniel Porterfield, now president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, served as president of Franklin & Marshall College from 2011 – 2018. During his tenure, F&M, a private liberal arts college in rural Pennsylvania, significantly increased civic outreach and student access, all while strengthening academic excellence. Porterfield came to the post with an impressive history: professor at Georgetown…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Investiture Address

My college’s system, SUNY, has a tradition. Approximately a year after a president is appointed, the institution holds an inauguration, capped with a formal investiture. It’s a celebration. Ours was held on October 23, 2024. It was a very good day for the college and I’m extraordinarily grateful on many fronts. My address follows (edited, slightly, for the blog). While it was written for my…

[davidpotash]

Inspirational First Comes With Costs

Alejandra Campoverdi, by just about every measure, is an amazing person with an inspirational success story. The first in her family to graduate from college, she’s an author, a women’s health advocate, a public intellectual, and a former White House aide under President Obama. Campoverdi was a brilliant student, graduating cum laude from the University of Southern California’s School of…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Amping Up Civic Power

Some works of political philosophy and action belong on library shelves. Others have a home in the classroom and community. K. Sabeel Rahman and Hollie Russon Gilman’s Civic Power: Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis belongs in the latter . The book examines current problems with American democracy (inequities, disengagement, lack of trust) and proposes viable solutions to give…

View On WordPress

[davidpotash]

Thought Experiment: Climate Justice Universities

Jennie C. Stephens is a scientist, academic, feminist and provocative thinker. With a PhD from Caltech in Environmental Science and Engineering, along with decades of faculty appointments, Stephens knows about energy systems and the move from old to new technologies. The focus of her latest book, Climate Justice and the University: Shaping a Hopeful Future for All, does not draw from that…

View On WordPress