Campus Files: Scandals, Secrets & Crimes at American Universities

In 1997, a young out of town reporter moves from Los Angeles to Minnesota to cover the University of Minnesota Gophers. That year, the Gophers basketball team had made it to the NCAA Final Four in a stunning show of force. Two years later, the reporter broke a story that would throw the state into an uproad, and wipe that Final Four appearance from the history books. For a transcript of this episo...

AI has arrived on college campuses, and professors and administrators are racing to respond. But there’s no clear rulebook, and the stakes are high. At Ohio State, one professor believes many universities are getting the response all wrong. Read here:  https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/colleges-ai-education-students/685039/ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/magazine/ai-higher-educati...

Speech on campus is the defining issue of higher education today. Many call for a return to the past when nearly anyone was received with respect. So, this week we look back to a moment in 1965 when the National Party of America, an openly fascist and anti-semitic political party was invited to speak at Reed College in Portland Oregon. Read Seth's writing:  https://rightlandia.ghost.io/ For a...

Transylvania University houses one of the most valuable rare book collections in the country. In 2004, four college students decided to steal them. In broad daylight. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

"It’s the middle of a September night at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and two young men light themselves on fire. Both are later rushed to the hospital. The resulting investigation uncovers alleged hazing, and possible public corruption within the justice system. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts "

Pick up any history of women in higher education and you'll find sororities in a footnote, maybe a paragraph. But that's not the whole story. The first sororities weren't social clubs - they were academic lifelines for women. So how did that get forgotten? For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

In 2022, famous young entrepreneur and founder of the student financial aid startup Frank was charged with fraud and conspiracy, facing up to a 100 years in prison. How did this wunderkind turn into an alleged con-artist, and how did America's largest bank get duped? For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Poe Hall, an academic building on NC State’s campus, shut its doors abruptly. It later emerged that the building was contaminated with PCBs, a known carcinogen, and had been for decades. Faculty, staff, and former students say they raised alarms after developing cancer, only to be ignored. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

For the last decade at least, the question of free speech has been the defining issue of American higher education. One school set out to tackle those problems head on, but appears to have lost its way in the process, struggling to define itself even before opening its doors. Read Evan's piece:  https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/16/civil-war-university-of-austin-bari-weiss-00729688 Fo...

They were ambitious students at Cambridge University who went on to climb the ranks of British government and intelligence. But they had a secret. All the while, they were working for the Soviet Union. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

The story of the New College of Florida becoming a pawn in Ron Desantis' campaing for president, and what happens when a school is reshaped by force and against the will of students and faculty. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

In 1950, the City College of New York pulled off one of the greatest Cinderella stories in sports history, winning both the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same season. The team, made up largely of Black and Jewish players, became a symbol of possibility. Within months, a point shaving scandal shattered that legacy. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

In the first weeks of Donald Trumps second term, the Department of Government Efficiency ransacked the federal government. One student at Brown University decided to take the same approach and bring DOGE to campus. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

What was supposed to be a light workout during football orientation ended in tragedy. Calvin Dickey, a freshman with sickle cell trait, collapsed and died days later. His parents say Bucknell failed to follow basic safety protocols and then withheld what really happened. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

The fight at Utah Valley University over whether or not to install a memorial to Charlie Kirk after his assassination on campus Read Matthew's work:  https://www.uvureview.com/author/matthewfranke/ For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Sorority recruitment has grown increasingly competitive, with more applicants and the same limited number of spots. A new industry has emerged to meet the pressure: sorority rush consultants. For thousands of dollars, they promise to coach students through every step of the process. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

The story of Mark Welsh III, the beloved president of Texas A&M who was dramatically forced out as part of a conservative backlash to academic freedom in higher ed. Read Kate and Nico's Reporting:  https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/10/texas-a-m-mark-welsh-regents-abbott-fired/ Read Jessica Priest's Reporting on Melissa McCoul's firing:  https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/texas-a-m-wels...

For decades, freshman orientation came with an unusual requirement: students had to pose for a photograph - completely naked. It wasn’t a fringe practice. Colleges across the country, including several Ivy League schools, did it. Why? And what happened to all those photos? For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Last season, we brought you 35 stories from American colleges. Stories of drug rings, fraternity hazing, stolen body parts, campus cults and more. And now, Campus Files is coming back for another season, at a time when universities are all over the news. Starting March 11th, we’ll have a new episode every week. Listen to and follow Campus Files wherever you get your podcasts.

In our last episode of the season (season 2 is in the works), we look at MIT's Media Lab, which long dazzled the public with its bold ideas and groundbreaking projects. But behind that reputation was a secret: much of the lab’s funding traced back to Jeffrey Epstein. Read Noam Cohen’s reporting:  https://www.wired.com/story/for-jeffrey-epstein-mit-was-just-a-safety-school/ For a transcript of this...

Cornell's oldest and most historic a capella group was suddenly shut down in 2017 when allegations of severe hazing came to light. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Most Chinese nationals at Stanford never intended to be intelligence assets. But under Chinese law, if the government demands information, they must comply. Two student journalists investigate the sprawling espionage campaign taking place on their own campus. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Just a few years ago, colleges across the country were pouring resources into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. Today, many of those same offices are being dismantled. In some states, the pressure runs so deep that professors are stripping DEI from syllabi and renaming courses—steps they feel are necessary to avoid scrutiny, and to safeguard their jobs. For a transcript of this epis...

Since World War II, America has led the world in science and medicine by making an unusual choice: instead of keeping research in government labs, it invested directly in universities. That partnership fueled decades of discovery and breakthroughs. But today, that pipeline is under serious threat, and nowhere is the impact clearer than at Harvard. This week, Dr. Joan Brugge, director of Harvard’s...

Lately you’ve probably been hearing about the Department of Education a lot as the Trump administration moves to dismantle it. For many, this move feels shocking and unprecedented. In reality, it's just the latest chapter in a long-running battle over who controls education in America. For a transcript of this episode:  https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts