More broadly, being perfect according to all standard expectations does not necessarily make you interesting or unique.

I can't access the article for some reason, but that graph has me thinking that they're talking about the most dependent nationally-famous universities. I bet there's a much bigger group of not famous colleges that were already on the edge of bankruptcy before the international market was killed

Yes, but i also get the sense that fewer people are listening to mindless partisanship. Either that or I have lost touch with the mindless partisans.