Higher Education Quick Takes

Three artists whose work was to have been displayed in an exhibit at Brandeis University in the fall have pulled permission as a protest of the university's policies on its own collection of art, The Boston Globe reported. The university originally planned to sell its noted collection of modern art, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars. While the university -- facing widespread criticism -- put the plan on hold, it has yet to rule out sales. The three artists are Bill Viola, who works with videos, and the painters April Gornik and Eric Fischl. Gornik told the Globe: "Frankly, I had thought the whole controversy had been resolved and that the collection was safe and not in danger of being sold.... I didn’t realize there was so much possibility of it being sold. We’ve been very encouraged that the president of the university apparently stated that he doesn’t intend to sell the collection, but without some sort of legally binding evidence, we’ve decided to postpone the show.’’

NBC News today announced "Education Nation," a week of events in September that will bring together leaders from politics, all levels of education and policy experts, focused on a two-day summit at Rockefeller Plaza. Attendees are expected to include U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and Al Sharpton. University presidents who will be participating include Susan Hockfield, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Bill Pepicello, president of University of Phoenix. Several hundred people -- including students and parents -- are expected at the summit. Content from the summit and special stories on education issues will be featured on “NBC Nightly News,” “Today,” “Meet the Press,” “Your Business,” MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, msnbc.com and nbclearn.com. NBC announced that the effort is also being supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Phoenix, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, American Express, Raytheon, Tishman Speyer and Scholastic.

The University of Texas Investment Management Company is worried enough about the state of the markets that it spent $500 million (about 3 percent of its value) on buying gold, The Houston Chronicle reported. Bruce Zimmerman, CEO of the fund, told the University of Texas Board of Regents this week that the move reflected "a lack of confidence in financial markets," adding that " I wish I could tell you the future looked rosy. Unfortunately, that's not our view. At best, we believe the future is uncertain."

An Education Department study published Wednesday examines the outcomes of a wide range of ethnic and racial groups through the entire educational pipeline, from pre-kindergarten through graduate school, and into the work force.