Almost as soon as the news surfaced that Simon Newman was quitting as president of Mount St. Mary's University, faculty members at that institution and elsewhere started to celebrate. On social media, they said they hoped to see fewer presidents like Newman -- a business executive and consultant, not an academic -- leading colleges. One comment on Twitter: "Dreaming: All corporate-style #highered leaders resigned." Newman struck many faculty members as the ultimate example of why they fear presidential candidates who are not academics. There was his Bain consulting background, his Darwinist arguments for culling students by treating those at risk as bunnies to drown, his discussion of how the liberal arts curriculum was difficult to "sell" to students, his firing faculty members for not showing "loyalty," and more. Many of his critics attributed some of his errors to a lack of appreciation for academic culture and values. While Mount St. Mary's is a small private college, concerns have been raised about the nonacademic background of the new president of the University of Iowa, Bruce Harreld, and about others.

March 2, 2016 ・ From Inside Higher Ed