Monday, February 20, 6:00 pm, Reitz Union Auditorium, join us for a screening of Steve Mims’s documentary Starving the Beast: The Battle to Disrupt and Reform America’s Public Universities. Lively discussion to follow!
“A strong narrative and compelling cinematography” – Daphne Howland, The Village Voice
“A polished and provocative documentary about debates over funding — or defunding — state colleges and universities.” -Joe Leydon, Variety
“…clear-eyed and urgent… lays out the ways that public higher education has wound up in the free-enterprise crosshairs of profitability-focused reformers. “ – Sherri Linden, Los Angeles Times.
“In an hour and a half, the film attempts to point out how, across the country, conservative groups like the Texas Public Policy Foundation and people like Wallace Hall and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, have sought to scale back funding for programs and even professors.” -Emily Deruy, The Atlantic
“…Starving the Beast” makes all too clear, what happened to public higher education in America was no accident. Instead, it was one of the most ingenious and nefarious elements of a long-term right-wing assault on the public sphere.” -Andrew O’Hehir, salon.com
“… argues that conservative think tanks want students in a free market to bear the costs of their own education, disregarding higher education as a public good.” -Elena Mejia Lutz, Texas Tribune