Why The New York Times Might Not Want A Buyout By The Nation's Wealthiest Universities

In today's Chronicle of Higher Education, by former Fortune senior writer Lee Smith:

The time has come for the nation's wealthiest colleges and universities to rescue its leading newspapers — resources almost as vital to higher education's purpose as libraries, laboratories, classrooms, and concert halls. The plan I have in mind would call upon the richest institutions to set aside 3 percent of their endowments to buy The New York Times. That's for a start. Additional purchases of other newspapers by other endowments should follow.

His argument in convincing, with one caveat: who, then, will cover the nation's wealthiest universities? How will the Times cover Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Columbia, and Penn? (The Ivy League is certainly a favorite topic in the Education section.)

Must we leave it to the Washington Post? Or are they too suspect with their Kaplan higher education ties?