Mission:
To get you into the college of your dreams.
Method:
Coaching you through the process of writing a brilliant essay that will get you noticed. My method begins with your story — what makes you unique.
And we go from there.
About Me:
I’ve been teaching writing for decades. In addition to being a college admissions essay consultant, I'm a tenured professor at The University of Tampa, as well as a freelance writer with bylines from CNN, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Newsweek, and Columbia Journalism Review. Under my photo (below), you can view my author pages at these outlets and many others.
Some things I’m proud of: My Atlantic article “Do Students Still Have Free Speech in School?” was cited in an amicus brief in the 2021 Supreme Court case Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. In the case, the Court ruled 8-to-1 that a Pennsylvania school violated a student’s First Amendment rights by punishing her for an off-campus Snapchat message. I’m extremely grateful that the citation of my article in the amicus brief on behalf of the student means my work will always be associated with this major case, and will remain available on the Supreme Court’s website from now on.
The same article is required reading for a class at Harvard (week five on the syllabus), and is cited in the Yale University Press book Free Speech on Campus by Erwin Chemerinsky (the dean of Berkeley Law School) and Howard Gillman (law professor at The University of California, Irvine).
Another one of my Atlantic articles involving student media, “The Plot Against Student Newspapers,” was cited in an amicus brief before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, just one step below the Supreme Court. In a victory for student press rights, the Ninth Circuit ruled in Koala v. Khosla that a student newspaper’s First Amendment rights were violated when its funding was revoked by a University. “The Plot Against Student Newspapers” is also cited in The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies, published in May 2019 by Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication, under the entry “College and University Student Media.”
My writing on the First Amendment is widely cited in law reviews and journals. Click these links to read specific law review articles that have cited my work: Law and Inequality, Widener Law Review, BYU Law Review, and Indiana Law Journal.
My article “Don’t Press the Panic Button Yet: An Analysis of Federal Student Press Law Cases at the University Level” was chosen as the lead article in Volume 54 of College Media Review, the flagship peer-reviewed journal of the College Media Association.
In 2018, I was honored to give the Hosokawa Distinguished Journalism Lecture at Whitman College in Washington State.
The Atlantic
I've been writing for The Atlantic since 2011 on topics such as student rights, the slow death of the signature, and the transition from print to digital media in Gutenberg's hometown. My Atlantic article "Do Students Still Have Free Speech in School?" is required reading for a seminar course at Harvard.
CNN
For CNN, I've written more than 30 opinion articles on technological and political topics. Articles include “Stop Worshipping Guys Like Elon Musk” and “Silicon Valley to Millennials: Drop Dead.”
NBC News
For NBC News’ op-ed section, I wrote about Elon Musk’s reckless decision, early in the pandemic, to force employees back to work against the orders of local California health authorities.
The New York Times
As a freelancer for The New York Times, I've written about the narrowing knowledge gap between parents and pediatricians, as well as the phenomenon of high schoolers who "commute" to their part-time jobs.
Columbia Journalism Review
A Gallup poll found that 66 percent of the public believes the media does a poor job of separating fact from opinion — up from 42 percent in 1984. And that abysmal statistic comes on the heels of another sobering finding: Americans’ trust in the mass media is at its lowest point in the 83-year history of the Gallup poll. Can today’s young journalists, as they enter the workforce, begin to reverse this crisis of confidence in the press? That’s the question I explore in this article for Columbia Journalism Review.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
An evangelical college president’s speech went viral because it seemed like a strong denunciation of “snowflakes” at liberal universities. “This is not a day care. This is a university!” the president exclaimed. But it turns out his college has a curfew, a ban on dancing, and a strict policy against all non-heterosexual relationships. Instead of being a David-and-Goliath story of a small college standing up to PC culture, it turns out to be a story of a closed-minded evangelical college pretending to be above the political fray. Read all about the hypocrisy in my article “Not a Day Care? Really?”
Newsweek
When Elon Musk speaks, people listen, even when it's not clear he has any idea what he's talking about. In my Newsweek article, “Elon Musk, Keep the Hell Away from my Brain,” I argue that American society should be suspicious of Musk’s brain-hacking company, NeuraLink.
The Week
Why, in our increasingly busy lives, are we still taking customer surveys for free? In one of my articles for The Week, I look into the growing number of consumers who are starting to rebel against this practice. As part of my research, I went on a quixotic six-month journey demanding $20 any time a company asked me to take a survey. In another article, I explore the phenomenon of evangelical colleges welcoming heterosexual atheists while rejecting gay Christians.
The New Republic
In "The Rise of the Passport Professor," written for The New Republic, I explore the disappearance of tenure-track positions in the U.S. and the increasing number of American Ph.D.s who immigrate to other countries in search of full-time jobs.
The Florentine
How about travel writing? Yep, I do that too. For The Florentine, the English-language news-magazine of Florence, Italy, I had the pleasure of writing about Tuscany's best hostels — including a converted fourteenth-century monastery — as well as its finest beaches, including Vada, the white-sand paradise on the Tyrrenhian Sea.
Photography Portfolio
Although I'm primarily a writer, I also teach a photojournalism course, shoot portraits and events, and take photos for professional news outlets, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal. This link takes you to my SmugMug photo portfolio.
BBC Newsday Interview
My CNN article on Scotland's independence referendum led to a guest segment on Newsday, one of the BBC's most popular radio shows with a weekly audience of more than 5 million listeners. Click to listen.
BBC Business Matters Interview
My CNN article "Stop Worshipping Guys Like Elon Musk" led to a guest segment on BBC Business Matters. Roger Hearing, one of my favorite journalists, interviewed me about the advantages and disadvantages of having a CEO who is indistinguishable from his or her company. My five-minute segment starts at 27:45.
WBEZ Chicago Interview
My Atlantic article "The LGBT Politics of Christian Colleges" led to an interview on Morning Shift, WBEZ Chicago's weekday morning show. Click to listen.