Straws in the Wind - Part 247

From the Brown Daily Herald: Brown is working with global consulting firm Teneo for its two external security assessments following the Dec. 13 shooting... According to the announcement, the reviews are set to continue throughout the semester, after which “key outcomes” will be shared with the Brown community and the public. The first assessment is an after-action review, which will assess campus safety before, during and after the shooting. The second assessment is a comprehensive campus safety and security assessment, which will look into Brown’s security practices and infrastructure. 

When University President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 first announced the security assessments Dec. 22, the external organization that would be carrying out the reviews had not yet been announced, but that the Brown Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, would be overseeing the reviews. The two co-leads of Teneo’s review team for their work with Brown are Courtney Adante and Bill Bratton.Adante is the president of Teneo’s security risk advisory team, and she has a master’s degree in cybersecurity risk and strategy from New York University, according to Teneo’s website. Bratton is the executive chairman of risk advisory at Teneo, and he formerly served as commissioner of the New York and Boston Police Departments and chief of the Los Angeles Police Department...

Full story at https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2026/01/consulting-firm-teneo-to-assist-with-post-shooting-security-reviews.

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From Inside Higher Ed: Faculty members in the University of Houston’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Science were asked to sign a three-page memo pledging not to “indoctrinate” their students, the Houston Chronicle reported. In a November email to faculty, Houston president Renu Khator wrote that the university’s responsibility is to “give [students] the ability to form their own opinions, not to force a particular one on them. Our guiding principle is to teach them, not to indoctrinate them.” The recent memo, sent by college dean Daniel O’Connor, asks faculty to “document compliance” with Khator’s note. It’s a way to ensure all faculty members are compliant with Texas’s Senate Bill 37, O’Conner told associate English professor María González in a meeting. The law mandates regular reviews of core undergraduate curriculum but does not address indoctrination or what material can or cannot be taught.

By Feb. 10, faculty must signal their agreement with the following five statements: “A primary purpose of higher education is to enhance critical thinking;” “Our responsibility is to give students the ability to form their own opinions, not to indoctrinate them;” “I understand the definition and attributes of critical thinking;” “I design my courses and course materials to be consistent with the definition and attributes of critical thinking;” and “I use methods of instruction that are intended to enhance students’ critical thinking.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/06/houston-faculty-must-pledge-not-indoctrinate-students.