For decades the entire University of California system had strict rules prohibiting all forms of political speech on campus. But after Freedom Summer, a group of students from across the political spectrum decide it's time to force change.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Academics were in classrooms, at conferences, on stages around the world, defending the safety of GMOs and herbicides. They looked independent. They weren't. Some of the most credentialed voices in agricultural science were quietly collaborating with Monsanto, taking money from the company whose products they were defending.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Over the last decade, college football has undergone a dramatic transformation. Universities now have a growing financial stake in the game, blurring the line between college athletics and professional sports. Few people embody that shift better than Lane Kiffin. Read Nicole Auerbach’s work: http://www.nauerbach.com/about

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Baylor is the largest Baptist university in the country. The rules there revolve around scripture. For most of its history, the school banned premarital sex. That meant no policy on sexual assault. No recourse for survivors.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

In 1997, a young out of town reporter moves from Los Angeles to Minnesota to cover the University of Minnesota Gophers. That year, the Gophers basketball team had made it to the NCAA Final Four in a stunning show of force. Two years later, the reporter broke a story that would throw the state into an uproad, and wipe that Final Four appearance from the history books.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

AI has arrived on college campuses, and professors and administrators are racing to respond. But there’s no clear rulebook, and the stakes are high. At Ohio State, one professor believes many universities are getting the response all wrong.

Read here: 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/colleges-ai-education-students/685039/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/magazine/ai-higher-education-students-teachers.html

And here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/students-ai-cheating-solutions_n_6a173aa3e4b062ca52d7e393?hp_auth_done=1#comments

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Speech on campus is the defining issue of higher education today. Many call for a return to the past when nearly anyone was received with respect. So, this week we look back to a moment in 1965 when the National Party of America, an openly fascist and anti-semitic political party was invited to speak at Reed College in Portland Oregon.

Read Seth's writing: https://rightlandia.ghost.io/

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Transylvania University houses one of the most valuable rare book collections in the country. In 2004, four college students decided to steal them. In broad daylight.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

"It’s the middle of a September night at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and two young men light themselves on fire. Both are later rushed to the hospital. The resulting investigation uncovers alleged hazing, and possible public corruption within the justice system.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts"

Pick up any history of women in higher education and you'll find sororities in a footnote, maybe a paragraph. But that's not the whole story. The first sororities weren't social clubs - they were academic lifelines for women. So how did that get forgotten?

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

In 2022, famous young entrepreneur and founder of the student financial aid startup Frank was charged with fraud and conspiracy, facing up to a 100 years in prison. How did this wunderkind turn into an alleged con-artist, and how did America's largest bank get duped?

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts