Professor Van Ry

A man in Fort Worth recently offered his friends advice on Twitter: “Do not go to college for a major in liberal arts you will have no job!!” Soon after, a Twitter account he’d probably never heard of called his tweet a myth. “FACT: The unemployment rate of liberal arts majors is roughly the same as most other majors,” said a follow-up tweet, which linked to a report with more information.

The intervention came from a Twitter account fronted by two cartoon characters who swoop in whenever the value of the liberal arts is besmirched on Twitter: “Libby,” an auburn-haired student, and “Art,” a bespectacled, tweed-wearing counselor.

Libby and Art’s tweets are one prong of a public-information campaign organized by the Council of Independent Colleges to respond to a rush of “really negative, incorrect, factless stories,” about college affordability and outcomes, says Laura Wilcox, the association’s vice president for communications. <Read more.>

Via Beckie Supiano, The Chronicle of Higher Education.