This has been a busy year, indeed. Like so many of you, I have been multitasking on various projects and assignments — teaching, consulting, and writing. And this month has been an over-the-top publishing moment. My memoir, Big Man On Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education, has been released by Simon and Schuster’s Touchstone Press. While it was in production, I had time to engage in another endeavor — editing a book entitled, Letters to the Next President: Strengthening America’s Foundation in Higher Education. I know how difficult it is to write a book. What I hadn’t realized until I started this project is what hard work it is to edit a book. Good fortune brought me a lot of help, principally from my colleague and associate, Gerry...

There is something particularly offensive to me in the forging of academic credentials. It compromises and devalues scholarship and the effort that it takes to earn authentic academic recognition. In some ways it is more troubling even than counterfeiting currency, which has less personal integrity on the line.

A rightfully earned degree demonstrates not only that one has completed a tour of academy duty, by passing the necessary courses, but also shows that a person has the grit to master subjects that grow increasingly more difficult as the effort progresses. Someone earning an honest diploma jumps through the required hoops; buying an unearned degree allows someone to display a piece of paper without actual gravitas, substance or knowledge. It is fraud.

Years ago when I was a lawyer for Boston University, I was part of a group of university attorneys that took action against a ...

I’ve always liked obituaries. They appeal to the undergraduate history major that lies deep within me. Usually brief, they encapsulate not only the story of the deceased life, but also if you read them with a third eye tell something of the years during which the person lived. There are references to wars, businesses, and professional events, to relatives and universities — all very interesting. I read a book the other day called, Farewell, God’s Speed a collection of excellent eulogies, edited by Cyrus Copeland.

And then this morning, my wife brought me a clipping from The New York Times, the headline of which is, “Vic Hershkowitz, Dominant Handball Star, dies at 89.”

Hershkowitz, a New York City...

For the first time in its history, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst has rescinded an honorary degree, the one awarded in 1986 to Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe. According to The Boston Globe, the chairman of the Massachusetts house’s Joint Committee on Higher Education, Kevin J. Murphy, had urged UMass “to take the step in light of escalating state-sponsored violence.” He went on to say that “he did not blame the university for the initial decision to honor Mugabe,” saying at the same time he “appeared to represent the hope of a self-determined Africa.” Times change, people change — in this case, not for the better.

In 1959 I traveled to Cuba representing Columbia University, as part of a student delegation invited to attend the official ceremonies...

Like so many of us, I care about books, and bookstores, and libraries, too. I like the feel of a hard cover; it adds gravitas to my reading even when the plot is thin. And I know I’m proprietary about my books, as I don’t really like to lend them out, even to friends. If someone appears terribly interested in what I am reading, I gift her or him with a copy, keeping my own close at hand. When a friend or colleague writes a book, I usually buy one, recommend it to others, and try to get the library to purchase one. It is all part of the ritual of friendship.

I have a special place in my heart for independent bookstores, those quirky shops where books are arranged to the owner’s taste, sometimes in recognizable categories and sometimes not. It makes the hunt all the more enjoyable, roaming from area to area, searching out favorite authors or themes, collecting volumes under my arm a...

Over the past several decades, the general counsel’s office on many university and college campuses has grown in size and nature of the work undertaken. In part this is due to the increasing number of compliance matters schools deal with on a regular basis and in part it is because our society has become extremely litigious — perhaps, overly so.

In some sense, we have lost the ability to look each other in the eye and shake hands, to talk an issue through and settle matters person-to-person, face-to-face. For every action and reaction we seem to need third party intervention. The slightest of slights is cause for the threat, “You’ll hear from my lawyer” or “I’m going to file a claim.” Hardly anyone or any institution is immune from the scourge of the rush to go to court. The plague of litigation has hit our lives. Civility is gone from so many aspects of our business and personal...

I For those of you who may be interested, I’ve done a book. It is modestly titled, Big Man On Campus: A University President Speaks Out On Higher Education, published by Simon & Schuster; it was released last week and The Chronicle recently ran an excerpt. I can’t help but notice that within 24 hours of its delivery, used copies were available on amazon.com. Where do used copies come from the day after a book hits the market? Is it possible that reviewers offer them immediately upon receipt? In any case, they are for sale from prices ranging from the full list to deeply discounted on a variety of book Web sites. I hope that some of you will find it of interest.

II I have in the past posted on the subject of public service. I find that there is a burgeoning interest in the subject. A few days ago I attended a meeting here ...

While informing freshmen about the hazards of irresponsible alcohol consumption and giving lessons in safe sex, our educational institutions should also be providing instruction into the mysteries of money. Too many students drink more than they should, hook up playing Russian roulette without condoms, and haven’t a clue about the relationship between working, earning, spending, and saving. Not all. It is a socio-economic thing. Those from the middle are most vulnerable.

I think it was in the fifth grade at P.S. 254 that banking was first introduced to me. A representative of Lincoln Savings, which had a branch only a few blocks from school, visited my class. With the encouragement of our teacher, the banker extolled the virtue of saving and by explaining compound interest, he demonstrated how the pennies put away each week would over time mount up to something meaningful. A few...

We’ve all heard of West Point and the other military academies that train leadership for the armed services. A less visible institution, established by Congress in 1984, is the U.S. Institute for Peace. This independent, nonpartisan government agency, called by some a “think-and-do tank,” is crafted to research and disseminate information on managing international conflicts. In a nutshell, they seek alternatives to war, host scholars, and train peacemakers in the United States and elsewhere. USIP operates with three goals: prevent and resolve violent international conflicts; promote post-conflict stability and development; and increase conflict management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. Noble in spirit, strong in results.

This week, it broke ground on a home of its own, located in Washington, D.C., proximate to the State...

The headline about West Virginia University should have read, “The university announces the largest pay raise for faculty and staff in recent memory,” but alas, that was not to be. Instead, it is the resignation of the school’s president, Mike Garrison, that commands top billing. It is a sad and difficult situation all the way around. There are no winners.

I never met the embattled Mike Garrison. I’ve never visited West Virginia University. All my information comes from the media; and I’ve read more than one story of recent events (see The Chronicle). Most accounts share the following: The Pittsburgh Post reported last December that a woman named Heather Bresch, the daughter of the Governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin III, received an M.B.A. from WVU even though she did not complete all the necessary coursework. After...