Journalist and Author

Naomi Schaefer Riley

40 articles 1999–2018

Naomi Schaefer Riley is a journalist and author who writes about education, religion, family policy, and Native American child welfare issues. She contributed extensively to The Weekly Standard from 1999 to 2018, covering topics including higher education, adoption policy, and the Indian Child Welfare Act. She is also a regular contributor to other major publications and the author of several books on faith, education, and family life.

The Mom Crunch

August 12, 2018 · Magazine, culture, Books & Arts

Naomi Schaefer Riley reviews the sequel to Allison Pearson’s ‘I Don’t Know How She Does It.’

Campus Disrupter

April 6, 2018 · Arizona State University, Arizona, Features

"How many of you drive for a living? How many of you want to?" That's the question Michael Crow, the president of Arizona State University, posed recently to an audience assembled in Washington, D.C., to learn about the future of driverless cars. Crow, who participated in a discussion called…

Science Reveals Something Old

March 9, 2018 · Rape, college education, men

Is there anything left to be learned about the mating habits of college students? For years, we have been subjected to a barrage of books about the rituals of drunken sex. In addition to Hooking Up and American Hook-up, there’s the recent Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus…

Prodigies and Parenting

January 12, 2018 · Books and Art, children, Parenting

In a recent conversation with an administrator who spent years at one of Manhattan’s most prestigious prep schools, I brought up the subject of gifted education. “I don’t know what you mean,” she responded without a trace of irony. “Every child is gifted in his or her own way.” In a culture where…

Solving the Pre-K Mystery

October 27, 2017 · children, Department of Education, Naomi Schaefer Riley

"Here, you can be the policeman." Jenna (not her real name), a 4-year-old, hands me one of the dozen small figures spread in front of her, a black woman in a police uniform. “I’m going to be the doctor,” she says as she picks up another black woman dressed in a doctor’s coat. For the next few…

Rewarding Rigor: U.S. News Tweaks its Rankings Formula

September 27, 2017 · magazine_repost, College, STEM

How bad is grade inflation in the humanities? So bad that when U.S. News & World Report issued its annual college rankings last week, it gave more credit to schools for graduating students in math and the hard sciences than it did in other disciplines. According to the publication’s press release:…

Rewarding Rigor

September 22, 2017 · College, STEM, higher education

How bad is grade inflation in the humanities? So bad that when U.S. News & World Report issued its annual college rankings last week, it gave more credit to schools for graduating students in math and the hard sciences than it did in other disciplines. According to the publication’s press release:…

Married, Bored, and Confused

September 20, 2017 · magazine_repost, Books and Art, Marriage

Even if you hold no religious beliefs, you might want to consider adopting some simply for the sake of your wedding. That’s the conclusion I reached after attending several secular nuptial ceremonies in the years after college. There was little worse than listening to vows that had been made up by…

Married, Bored, and Confused

September 15, 2017 · Books and Art, Marriage, Naomi Schaefer Riley

Even if you hold no religious beliefs, you might want to consider adopting some simply for the sake of your wedding. That’s the conclusion I reached after attending several secular nuptial ceremonies in the years after college. There was little worse than listening to vows that had been made up by…

Middling But Costly Colleges are Scrambling

August 31, 2017 · magazine_repost, College, Naomi Schaefer Riley

When is a college acceptance letter not a college acceptance letter? When a school suddenly realizes that it has 800 more freshmen than it knows what to do with. This is what happened last month at the University of California, Irvine, which—in an effort to reduce that number—started rescinding…

An Alarming Admission

August 25, 2017 · College, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Magazine

When is a college acceptance letter not a college acceptance letter? When a school suddenly realizes that it has 800 more freshmen than it knows what to do with. This is what happened last month at the University of California, Irvine, which—in an effort to reduce that number—started rescinding…

Harvard Finds a Scapegoat

July 25, 2017 · magazine_repost, social clubs, final clubs

It looks like the finale for the final clubs. A Harvard faculty committee released a report last week recommending that all fraternities, sororities, and similarly “exclusionary” single-sex social organizations be phased out by the spring of 2022. The committee determined that it would not be…

Harvard Finds a Scapegoat

July 21, 2017 · social clubs, final clubs, Harvard

It looks like the finale for the final clubs. A Harvard faculty committee released a report last week recommending that all fraternities, sororities, and similarly “exclusionary” single-sex social organizations be phased out by the spring of 2022. The committee determined that it would not be…

A Welcome Victory Against the Indian Child Welfare Act.

June 28, 2017 · magazine_repost, Native Americans, Naomi Schaefer Riley

Maybe the welfare of Indian kids should come before the interests of tribal governments. That seems to be the conclusion of the Arizona Supreme Court last week, which allowed a child born to a member of the Gila River Indian Community in 2014 to be adopted by non-native parents.

Put the Kids First

June 23, 2017 · Native Americans, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Indian Child Welfare Act

Maybe the welfare of Indian kids should come before the interests of tribal governments. That seems to be the conclusion of the Arizona Supreme Court last week, which allowed a child born to a member of the Gila River Indian Community in 2014 to be adopted by non-native parents.

Closing Options for Adoptions

June 20, 2017 · magazine_repost, Law, Family

"Fostering kids is not an easy thing to do,” Christi Dreier of Round Rock, Texas, recently told the Wall Street Journal. Dreier and her partner have fostered several children and adopted three of them. Complaining about a bill that recently passed the Texas house of representatives, she explained,…

Closing Options for Adoptions

June 20, 2017 · Law, Family, Naomi Schaefer Riley

"Fostering kids is not an easy thing to do,” Christi Dreier of Round Rock, Texas, recently told the Wall Street Journal. Dreier and her partner have fostered several children and adopted three of them. Complaining about a bill that recently passed the Texas house of representatives, she explained,…

Closing Options for Adoptions

June 16, 2017 · Law, Family, Naomi Schaefer Riley

"Fostering kids is not an easy thing to do,” Christi Dreier of Round Rock, Texas, recently told the Wall Street Journal. Dreier and her partner have fostered several children and adopted three of them. Complaining about a bill that recently passed the Texas house of representatives, she explained,…

Interracial Marriage and the Liberal Mind

May 30, 2017 · television, Today's Blogs, Naomi Schaefer Riley

"First Black Bachelorette shines in debut, but is America ready for interracial love?" When NBC executives tweeted that question last week, what exactly did they expect the answer to be? Were they hoping for some racial unrest to boost their primetime ratings? Have they noticed Kanye West and Kim…

A Jesuitical Way to Help Native Americans

May 24, 2017 · magazine_repost, Georgetown University, Catholicism

The Jesuits are sorry. Last fall, Jesuit-founded Georgetown University apologized to the descendants of 272 slaves sold by the institution in 1838. In addition to the formal apology, the school announced plans to rename some buildings, construct a public memorial, and possibly offer scholarships or…

No-Collateral Damage

May 19, 2017 · Catholicism, Native Americans, Georgetown University

The Jesuits are sorry. Last fall, Jesuit-founded Georgetown University apologized to the descendants of 272 slaves sold by the institution in 1838. In addition to the formal apology, the school announced plans to rename some buildings, construct a public memorial, and possibly offer scholarships or…

Dollars for Science

February 23, 2017 · magazine_repost, liberalism, Gender Issues

Higher education had a very good year. That's the news from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which reports that "during an election year soaked in populism, some of America's biggest philanthropists bestowed an unusually large chunk of their charity on colleges and universities, including several…

Techie Largesse

February 17, 2017 · liberalism, Gender Issues, Gender Pay Gap

Higher education had a very good year. That’s the news from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which reports that "during an election year soaked in populism, some of America's biggest philanthropists bestowed an unusually large chunk of their charity on colleges and universities, including several…

Faith and Politics (Not Necessarily in That Order)

January 9, 2017 · Pope, magazine_repost, Pontiff

What is the Francis Effect? Recent surveys show that despite all the hype since Jorge Mario Bergoglio first became pope in March 2013, there has been little change in how often Roman Catholics in America attend Mass. This is not to say, though, that the pope has not deeply changed the lives of many…

One Man's Pontiff

January 6, 2017 · Pope, Pontiff, Pope Francis

What is the Francis Effect? Recent surveys show that despite all the hype since Jorge Mario Bergoglio first became pope in March 2013, there has been little change in how often Roman Catholics in America attend Mass. This is not to say, though, that the pope has not deeply changed the lives of many…

Stop Worrying and Say 'Merry Christmas'

December 17, 2016 · Christmas Music, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Conservative Newsstand

Almost two decades ago, shortly after moving to New York City, I was set up on a blind date—a nice Jewish lawyer my aunt had met at her synagogue. Shortly after the small talk ended, he told me that he had just finished registering a complaint with his employer, a midtown white shoe law firm. "They…

He's No Mitt

September 30, 2016 · 2016 Elections, Donald Trump, Mormons

How did Donald Trump lose the Mormons? According to a recent Pew poll, only 48 percent of Mormons now describe themselves as Republicans, compared with 61 percent during the last election cycle. For decades, Mormons have been the most reliably Republican religious group in the country. What…

The New Campus Confidential

August 12, 2016 · college education, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Magazine

New York University will be making it easier for applicants with criminal records to gain admission to the school: NYU announced at the beginning of August it will now ignore the Common Application’s questions about criminal history. Instead, the school will ask more specific questions that focus…

Of Philanthropy and Phonies

July 29, 2016 · Charitable Giving, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton

Philanthropy is on the rise in the United States, hitting a record $373 billion last year, according to the Giving Institute. And yet the image of charity is taking a beating during this election season, a campaign featuring a businessman remarkably stingy with his fortune and an entrenched…

David Weekley, Philanthropist Extraordinaire

October 26, 2015 · Naomi Schaefer Riley, Charity, Blog

A third of Americans have little or no confidence in charitable organizations. That’s according to a poll out earlier this month from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Many of those surveyed felt that leaders of charities were paid too much and that the organizations were not good at spending the…

Peak Koch Derangement Syndrome

June 27, 2014 · Naomi Schaefer Riley, Blog, liberals

The City University of New York must really be rolling in dough. The school’s administration recently turned down a $10 million grant from the Koch brothers to establish a new financial center at Brooklyn College. The business dean explained that he would have to focus on the school’s accreditation…

School Girls

December 22, 2003 · Magazine, Naomi Schaefer, Books and Arts

The Miseducation of Women

Witchcraft Lite

June 5, 2000 · Magazine, Naomi Schaefer, Books and Arts

The Triumph of the Moon

Lies Our Students Tell Us

January 31, 2000 · Magazine, Naomi Schaefer

AT THE BEGINNING of Christmas break, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was reeling from a string of rapes perpetrated, possibly by the same man, in November. The police presence on campus grew as the university expanded its campus escort services, installed additional outdoor emergency…