A jury finally as the case of Priscilla Slade, former president of Texas Southern University, a small predominantly black institution. Slade is accused of spending more than half a million dollars on decorations and high lifestyle at a school with fewer than 10,000 students – 85% of whom are on financial aide. Continue reading “Former University President’s Case Goes to the Jury”
Category: Academia
Oral Roberts University has long been controversial, ever since God was going to “call him home.” Now his son and new head of the university is involved in a raging scandal involving his family and has said, as with his father, God has intervened to tell him to deny everything. Continue reading “Professors Sue Oral Roberts University Alleging Corrupt and Seedy Practices by Roberts Family”
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has asked President Bush to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the late Virginia Tech professor Liviu Librescu, who gave his life for his students. Continue reading “Medal Sought for Liviu Librescu”
The Army appears to have solved an age-old problem with getting a college education: going to college. Continue reading “The Army Offers College Credits Without the Need of Going to College”
The President of Duke University today apologizes to the Duke Lacrosse students for failing to do more to protect their rights — an act strikingly transparent and tragically too late. Continue reading “Duke President Apologizes for “Not Getting it Right””
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit after a well-known anti-war activist was barred from the United States without any explanation or known justification. For the story, click here Adam Habib is deputy vice-chancellor of Research, Innovation and Advancement at the University of Johannesburg. He is also a muslim and anti-war scholar. Continue reading “Academic Freedom: Anti-War South African Scholar Banned from U.S.”
In a story that can only make Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad feel more comfortable visiting the United States, a community college professor says that he was fired after stating in his Western Civilization class that the story of Adam and Eve should not be read literally. A community college instructor in Red Oak claims he was fired after he told his students that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted.
Steve Bitterman calims that officials at Southwestern Community College fired him after a handful of students threatened legal action.
For the full story, click here
Columbia President Lee Bollinger was supposed to introduce Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday. While many expected a speech on freedom of speech and academic freedom, Bollinger launched into a personal attack on Ahmadinejad. Bollinger has been getting great criticism for the invitation and seemed to want to fend off critics with his attack on Ahmadinejad. Continue reading “Columbia President Bollinger Abandons Principle and Attacks Ahmadinejad”
While an atheist soldier litigates a claim of discrimination by the military (discussed below), an atheist high school students found her home vandalized for challenging “God Bless America” as an appropriate song for her school. Continue reading “Atheist student’s home attacked by poor-spelling religious extremists”
With today’s speech by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, legislators are threatening to pull state funds unless Columbia engages in self-censorship and bars the speech. Columbia has not been a particularly reliable first amendment advocate in the past. In a shocking display of anti-free speech conduct, students shutdown a speech by the head of an anti-immigration movement and did not have punishment. Continue reading “Academic Freedom Under Attack: Legislators Threaten to Punish Columbia for Ahmadinejad Speech”
For years, academics have been divided over the movement to bar military recruiters from campus as a discriminatory organization. It is clear that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is discriminatory and therefore violates the standard bar on potential employers who engage in discrimination based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. However, while I have been a vocal support of gay rights on many fronts, I was one of those who opposed the litigation that my law school joined. At the time, I stated that it was not only a clear loser on the law but it represented a type of hypocrisy: we insist that we cannot allow discrimination but, if money is at stake, we will allow it. The only principled decision would have been bar the military regardless of the consequences. For an column on the issue, click here
Now Yale has reached its price. However, one must ask if, considering the outrage in court papers, this is like saying that we will allow racially discriminatory employers on campus if they offer us enough money. For the article, click here.
Published in January 2006
Following oral argument on Dec. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court is now pondering the wisdom of Solomon.
The Solomon Amendment withholds federal funds from any school that does not provide the same access to military recruiters as it does to other potential employers. Law schools have rallied against the rule for violating their nondiscrimination policies as well as their constitutional rights of speech and association. In the balance are the right of Congress to condition the receipt of federal funds, the right of free speech-and literally billions of dollars that could be lost by schools unable to reconcile anti-discrimination policies with their receipt of federal money. Continue reading “The Solomon Amendment and Hypocrisy”
The videotaped incident involving Andrew Meyer and Senator John Kerry has caused an uproar among students and faculty. Meyer’s begging security staff not to “tase me, bro” struck a nerve among students who feel that security and police often over-react. Continue reading “Meyer Case Raises Significant Questions of Campus Speech and Student Responsibilities”
In what appears to be case of unnecessary force and arrest directed against students, Orlando police arrested individuals at a college Rosh Hashanah prayer service. It is a common complaint from students: they object to treatment by officers and are promptly arrested. I have seen a number of these abuses, where officers punish citizens for voicing objections by making them spend the night in jail or face arraignment. For the most recent story, click here This follows a shocking video recently of another officer openly taunting a young man with his ability to make up reasons to arrest him. For the vido, click here
In what could be a very significant torts case, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a trial judge and found that the University of Colorado can be sued for the alleged gang rape by football recruits. Continue reading “University of Colorado to Face Trial for Alleged Off-Campus Gang-Rape”