We have been discussing the alarming erosion of free speech on our campuses and the increasingly twisted view of free speech by students calling for speech codes and regulations. At the same time, we have seen campus police denounced as being a “triggering” element on campuses (Here and here). Both trends were evident this month at the University of California at Berkeley, including the alarming published comments of a student senator, Juniper Angelica Cordova-Goff. Cordova-Goff denounced the large presence of campus police to deal with the protests as triggering while reaffirmed that free speech should not protect speakers who she views as part of a “violent conversation” like conservative Ann Coulter.
Category: Academia
The new catchword on campuses is “triggering.” Universities now warn students about any possible “trigger” that might upset them in curriculum or even faculty lectures. Monash University now issues triggering warnings for courses like Surgeon General warnings on a pack of cigarettes. At the University of Glasgow, theology students are being warned in advance that, in courses dealing with Christ, they may see distressing images of crucifixion.
Continue reading “TRIGGER WARNING: THIS ARTICLE ON CRUCIFIXION MAY REFERENCE CRUCIFIXION”
Altheia Richardson, Clemson University’s director of the Gantt Multicultural Center has triggered a controversy with a proposal that all students should pass an “intercultural competency” test before they’re allowed to run for office or hold positions in the South Carolina college’s student government. Clemson students are already required to to take a social justice course following enrollment. Richardson’s proposal has enraged some students as an ideological test for office — a position that Richardson denies.
Drexel University Professor George Ciccariello-Maher is an unabashed lightning rod for controversy. Last Christmas, he wrote how he longed for “white genocide”. Then recently he wrote how he wanted to “vomit” when an airline passenger gave up his first class seat to a soldier. It is chilling and obnoxious rhetoric, but he made these comments on his private social media sites. The investigation by Drexel appears to be the direct result of donors threatening to withdraw support for the university. As such, it is a highly troubling intrusion into the right of free speech of faculty.
It appears that being shy could now be part of the ever-widening and ill-defined ranger of “micro aggressions.” Oxford’s Equality and Diversity Unit has issued a statement to student that avoiding eye contact or “not speaking directly to people” could be deemed a “racial microaggression.” Such a failure to maintain eye contact is cited as a possible cause for “mental ill-health”.
Azhar Hussain, an assistant professor at Indiana State University, has been arrested for allegedly making false reports of anti-Islamic threats and an attack. Hussain, 56, teaches aviation technology.
The officials at the University of California at Berkeley have had a change of heart and agreed to the planned speech by conservative Ann Coulter. The decision to cancel the speech was criticized on this blog and in other forums as the latest example of mob rule on our campuses. The decision is a welcomed change. However, Coulter has objected to the scheduling change in the speech when no students are likely to be on campus. Coulter has rejected the change and plans to move forward as previously set for the event.
Continue reading “Berkeley Reverses Decision On Coulter Speech But Coulter Rejects New Conditions [Updated]”
Western Kentucky University’s Student Government Association has passed a resolution that declares standardized scores as a tool for “white supremacy.” They also demanded reparations for African-American students by guaranteeing free tuition.
We have been discussing the erosion of free speech on our campuses across the country through speech codes and increasingly violent protests. Conservative speakers are now routined denied the opportunity to speak on campuses by university officials who cite security concerns or by mob action preventing events from occurring. The latest example is Ann Coulter whose speech was cancelled at the last minute by the university even though she agreed to additional conditions set by officials. Coulter however pledges to show up to speak regardless of the decision. That could produce a confrontation with the university in its continued failure to protect free speech on its campus.
Continue reading “Berkeley Cancels Coulter Speech . . . Coulter Vows To Defy University”
We have previously discussed how some schools are abandoning the use of traditional pronouns to reflect a growing list of possible genders for students. Brown University has pushed these changes even further in its acceptance letters this year by using “they” as the “gender-inclusive” pronoun. Thus the letter refers to “their” achievements when referring to the singular admitted student. For many, the use of such plural pronouns for a single individual is confusing and ungrammatical. However, the Associated Press recently adopted the use of “they” as a preferred pronoun in recognition of transexual and other individuals who may not be comfortable with traditional genders.
There is an interesting study out this week by two University of Kentucky researchers that the number of atheists may be twice as large as previously estimated. The number may be closer to 26 percent — an fascinating prospect given the politics surrounding faith-based initiatives and policies. As I have previously discussed, both parties have courted the religious vote and largely ignored the sizable number of Americans who are either agnostic or atheist. That number may be finally reaching a political tipping point for office holders to heed their preferences for secular government and the separation of church and state. We have previously discussed studies indicating that one out of four Americans may not believe in God. This study would seem to support those earlier estimates.
We have been discussing the erosion of free speech on our campuses across the country. Much of that trend is the result of faculty members who have taught that free speech itself is a threat to students. The erosion of free speech has come in stages. First, schools began to declare speech to be hate speech while creating “safe zones” from the exercise of free speech. Second, schools began to enforce the ill-defined “microaggressions” to punish speech that is deemed as contributing to hostile environments or fostering stereotypes. Now, faculty and students are increasing declaring opposing views as simply outside of the definition of free speech. That extreme argument was advanced this week by the editors of The Wellesley News who published a column entitled “Free Speech Is Not Violated At Wellesley.” It is chilling message from the Editorial Board composed of Co-Editors in Chief Sharvari Johari and Michele Lee and opinion editors Maya Nandakumar, Genae Matthews, and Tabitha Wilson. Once the champions of free speech, students have become the new censors and have adopted the perfectly Orwellian notion that the protection of free speech requires the denial of free speech. Continue reading “Wellesley Students Editors Endorse Silencing Opposing Speakers And Declare “Hostility May Be Warranted””
Benedictine College has found a budding cell of Hindu mysticism in its small Catholic college in Atchison, Kansas. The school has gotten rid of the “yoga” classes to avoid the taint of a Hindu association. A new course will be renamed as “lifestyle fitness” and involving “stretching” to sanitize the classes of exotic religious influence.
Continue reading “Catholic College Bans “Yoga” To Protect Against “Hindu Mysticism””
We recently discussed how Harvard dropped its long use of “House Masters” as racially insensitive. Now it is dropping the last line of its 181-year-old “Fair Harvard” hymn as “insufficiently inclusive.” The line refers to “Till the stock of the Puritans die” and some feel the reference is problematic because it refers to white ancestors. As many on this blog know, I am an ardent traditionalist and oppose such revisionist moves whether it is the removal of names or portraits or seals. The change at Harvard is the result of the work of the Presidential Task Force for Inclusion and Belonging created by University President Drew G. Faust. Frankly, it is a Faustian bargain for Harvard in further stripping away historical elements to satisfy contemporary attitudes. I do not believe such changes are nearly as beneficial as teaching students to use history with an understanding and perspective of institutional change.