Last week, the president of the University of Michigan, Domenico Grasso, did something that should trouble anyone who cares about higher education: he waved the white flag. Facing a wave of media criticism, much of it dishonest and politically motivated, he unilaterally suspended a carefully developed grading policy that was meant to help first-year students adjust to college. The policy, designed by the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, would have allowed students in their first semester to receive their usual letter grades internally, but those grades would not appear on their transcripts and would not count toward their…

Here is a humanized summary of the news, expanded into six reflective paragraphs. — There is a peculiar rhythm to the United Nations General Assembly, a kind of global theater where nations step up to the microphone to declare their virtues and indict their adversaries. But for those who have watched the India-Pakistan debate unfold year after year, there is also a deep sense of déjà vu. This week, India once again found itself responding to Pakistan’s predictable performance, and this time the tone was less about anger and more about weary, pointed exasperation. When Pakistan’s delegate rose to deliver…