Karen W. Arenson (born 1949 in New York) is an American retired journalist for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Early life and education

Arenson earned an undergraduate degree in economics from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1970, where she was an editor for the student newspaper, The Tech. In 1972, she received a master's degree in public policy from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

Arenson spent most of her career as a reporter covering higher education for ''The New York Times''. She began with the Times in 1978, and retired from her position in May 2008. The

Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to rea ...

called Arenson "one of the most visible higher-education reporters in the country" during the twelve years she covered higher education for the Times. According to the Chronicle, "She was one of the first journalists in the mainstream press to write about early decision in admissions, the aggressive investments colleges were making with their endowments, and the growth of for-profit colleges." In 2005, Arenson was the first to report on the results of a widely reported committee investigating

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

related to

Joseph Massad Joseph Andoni Massad ( ar, جوزيف مسعد; born 1963) is a Jordanian academic specializing in Middle Eastern studies, who serves as Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. It had been provided by Columbia officials before its official release on the condition that she did not "seek reaction from other interested parties" including the students who had lodged the complaints, though Columbia agreed to allow a professor who had "exceeded commonly accepted bounds of behavior" to respond. The ''Times'' was obliged to append a note detailing a departure from its policy that "writers are not permitted to forgo follow-up reporting in exchange for information", which they noted Arenson and editors had not recalled.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arenson, Karen 1949 births Living people American newspaper reporters and correspondents American women journalists Harvard Kennedy School alumni MIT School of Engineering alumni The New York Times writers 21st-century American women