The week in higher education – 5 January 2023

A mammoth housing project dubbed “dormzilla” has been deemed a safety threat by an independent panel, despite recent modifications to the plan. The University of California, Santa Barbara’s planned 11-storey building is now intended for 3,500 students – down from an original 4,500 – and will contain a mix of apartments and private rooms. But, the Los Angeles Times reported, most of the rooms were originally designed without windows, with mock-ups instead showing they would have only LED panels that “mimic windows”. A 13-member panel reviewing the project called for a “robust redesign” of the block with more windows, air shafts and bedroom space. Reviewers were especially concerned about the spread of diseases in such a densely populated building, having enough safe evacuation routes and the psychological effects of lack of natural light. The panel said the problems were “predictable enough, probable enough, and consequential enough that it would be unwise for UCSB to proceed without significant modifications” to the design. Back to the drawing board again, then.

It is hard to believe that many people would be browsing the UK education secretary’s Twitter account on Christmas Day. Those who were may have hoped to see a message of festive solidarity for underpaid academics or promises of gifts for the sector in the new year. Instead, Gillian Keegan apparently chose the holiday season to embark on a career move – and start flogging cryptocurrencies online. The Guardian reported that advertisements began to appear on Ms Keegan’s account on the evening of 25 December promising a “giveaway” for the “crypto community”. The handle once controlled by the MP for Chichester was stripped of all identifying references and advised a YouTuber called MrBeast of “awesome” crypto investment opportunities. This surprising social media strategy comes weeks after the Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, told MPs to use basic security, update software and delete old messages to prevent mobile phone hacking.

Stanford University’s IT department has embarked on a mission to expunge potentially damaging language from its websites and computer code, according to The Times. The so-called “elimination of harmful language initiative” cautions against calling website users “users” in case the term likens them to drug addicts. Incidentally, the word “addict” is also a no-no, as it reduces people to one of their characteristics. Those who write websites should avoid the term “webmaster” as it has connotations with slavery, per the guide. They should also steer clear of phrases such as “killing two birds with one stone” as the expression supposedly “normalises violence against animals”. A spokesperson for the university defended the guidelines, saying they were “specifically created by and intended for use within the university IT community”.

Women in academia ultimately suffer as a result of discrimination in their favour. That is the somewhat out-there view of John Marenbon, honorary professor of medieval philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge. He warned of the damaging effects of affirmative action for the “great majority” of female scholars “who would have won their places in a genuinely open competition but can now never be sure of that” accomplishment, The Times reported. Professor Marenbon said policies that artificially raise the number of women in academic positions hold the social aim of numbers-based parity above that of intellectual rigour, “[putting] the reputation of all female academics at risk”. Instead, academics should “patiently await” a change in their ranks, which will happen in due course. “Nothing needs be done except what always should have been done in academic appointments: the best person academically and intellectually for the job…should be chosen,” Professor Marenbon said.

The brutal killing of four University of Idaho students threw the institution into international headlines for the most tragic of reasons. Idaho’s campus sits in the sleepy town of Moscow, and both have been left reeling by the still-unsolved murders. Adding insult to an injured community, a user of social media platform TikTok has outlandishly accused the chair of the university’s history department of being behind the deaths. In response, the historian, Rebecca Scofield, has sued TikTokker Ashley Guillard for defamation, The Guardian reported. Ms Guillard ignored police requests not to speculate about the tragedy, posting dozens of videos hypothesising about the killings through tarot card readings. Professor Scofield has denied ever meeting the victims, let alone engaging in the romantic relationship that Ms Guillard claims was her motive for the murders. Rather than being chastened, Ms Guillard told her viewers she was “ON FIRE with excitement” and said she would see the professor in court.