We have yet another story of educators showing no regard for the interests of students in the imposition of a thoughtless and baseless punishment. In this case, the Wayne-Westland Community Schools had children using discolored and tainted water in their restrooms. Hazel Juco took a picture of the disgusting water and posted it in the hope of getting action. The school administrators responded by suspending her.
Category: Academia
I recently expressed unbridled pride in my alma mater, The University of Chicago, in taking a stand for free speech and rejecting the notion of sheltering students from opposing or disturbing views with “safe spaces” and speech codes. Now, across town, my other alma mater, Northwestern University, appears intent on embracing the opposing view. Northwestern President, Morton Schapiro, has called faculty and students who adhere to views underlying the “Chicago Principle” as nothing more than “lunatics.” Fortunately, I only went to Northwestern for graduate school and was able to secure my undergraduate degree at Chicago in a free and robust community of free thought and free expression. The contrast in the two schools on different sides of the city captures the deep division among academics. However, as one of those “lunatics” and “idiots” denounced by Schapiro, there is no question in my view where the better educational environment can be found in light of Schapiro’s comments. He also denounced those with opposing academic views as just speaking from their privileged backgrounds and lifestyle.
Continue reading “Northwestern University President Calls Faculty And Students Opposed To Safe Zones “Lunatics””
I have been a long critic of the erosion of free speech on college campuses and the use of the ill-defined concept of “micro aggressions” to sanction students and faculty alike. Now there is a national campaign by the National Association for Bilingual Education and the Santa Clara County Office of Education that indicates that a teacher who mispronounces a student’s name is causing an offense to the student’s identity. negative emotional state that can lead to poor academic success.
The campaign, titled “My Name, My Identity” says on its website, “Did you know that mispronouncing a student’s name negates the identity of the student? This can lead to anxiety and resentment which, in turn, can hinder academic progress.” The author of an influential report on the issue, Rita Kohli, an assistant professor of education at the University of California at Riverside, maintains that such mistakes can be deemed a “microaggression.” That is chilling for some of us who are notoriously bad at pronouncing names.
Continue reading “Is Mispronouncing A Name A “Microaggression”?”
Another university has cancelled a conservative speaker under the guise of security concerns. The speaker is Milo Yiannopoulos who has repeatedly been disrupted or cancelled in his effort to speak on campuses (as well as being barred by Twitter). Yiannopoulos attracts considerable opposition and seems to relish the controversy with his “Dangerous Faggot” tour.
Continue reading “University of Miami Cancels Milo Yiannopoulos Event In The Name Of Security”
We recently discussed the dubious research grant on lesbian drinking habits. Now, researchers in Switzerland have used a research grant to establish what would seem the most obvious fact known to most anyone over 10: drinking a single glass of beer can make people more sociable. It turns out that Mackeson Beer was right: “It looks good, it tastes good, and by golly it does you good.”
Continue reading “Swiss Study: People Become More Sociable After A Single Beer”
Marquita Alston, 24, was a teacher at Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet High School who pleaded guilty to five counts of statutory rape with five different 17-year old boys, including encounters on school property. What is very surprising is that five counts of statutory rape by a teacher results in no jail time and only five years of probation.
One of the highest stress moments for academics these days is the announcement of the U.S. News and World Report rankings that continues to drive applicants and donors alike. The new ranking is out on undergraduate schools. Princeton University, Harvard, and the University of Chicago (tied with Yale) took the top three spots. The University of Chicago is particularly gratifying for many faculty members rallying around UChicago over the “Chicago Principles.”
Continue reading “U.S News And World Report Issues New Ranking Of Universities”
I will testify this morning before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on the controversy over dueling state and federal investigations involving the climate change debate. After various state attorneys general announced investigations of Exxon Company over its opposition to climate change theories (including subpoenas either to or concerning conservation public interest groups), the Committee issued its own subpoenas to the prosecutors and environmental public interest groups involved in the campaign. That has triggered a confrontation as the prosecutors and environmental groups raised constitutional objections to the House subpoenas. The full committee hearing will start at 10 am in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building.
Continue reading “TURLEY TESTIFIES IN HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE ON CLIMATE CHANGE CONTROVERSY”
I had to share this amazing picture from NASA of Mercury.
We have been discussing the increasing reintroduction of racially segregated spaces on college campuses as well as the reduction of free speech protections. The latest controversy has arisen at California State University Los Angeles where the school has created alternative housing for African American students. I have long been a critic of such segregated spaces — even voluntary — as inimical to the mission of universities to offer inclusive, pluralistic institutions. I recognize the good-faith concerns behind such housing but, in the end, I feel such spaces are a step back from the progress that we have made since the 1960s.
Lafayette College professor Juan Rojo found a rather unconventional way of protesting the denial of tenure at the small college this month. When College President Alison Byerly rejected a department recommendation for tenure, he announced that he was going on a hunger strike to force action from the college board. On August 30th, he swore that he would not take anything other than water and sports drinks until the board yielded. However, he announced a few days later that he had decided to break the fast with some tacos at a favorite restaurant. It was all a rather curious response for any academic but it seems to make sense to Rojo. He even brought Donald Trump into the mix of comments.
We have previously discussed the controversy surrounding University of Missouri Assistant Professor of Communication Melissa Click who was caught on videotape obstructing a student journalist and calling for “muscle” to prevent him from covering a protest. She was charged with assault in that case. Eventually she was sacked by Missouri in what should have been one of the easiest decisions ever made by an educational institution. Now however Gonzaga University has given Click another faculty position, a move that is likely to result in considerable controversy. The effort to “muscle” a student journalist and keep him from reporting on a protest is viewed by many academics as unpardonable, particularly in a market filled with people trying to secure jobs in higher education.
Continue reading “Gonzaga University Hires Fired Missouri Professor Melissa Click”
We recently discussed the courageous stand of the University of Chicago against the growing speech codes and “safe spaces” in campuses around the country. Now, Purdue University has taken its own stand in favor of free speech in adopting “the Chicago principles.”
Continue reading “Purdue Follows University of Chicago In Standing Ground In Favor Of Free Speech”
Below is my column on free speech on college campuses and the courageous decision of the University of Chicago to reject “safe spaces” and speech regulation. We are facing a growing movement to curtail free speech on campuses. Conservatives rightfully complain that they are being silenced as hecklers bar speakers and administrators punish unpopular speech. The forced silence of students and faculty will be the death knell for American higher education. Too many faculty are unwilling to speak against these measures in fear that they will be labeled racist or micro aggressors. Others like University of Chicago Professor Eric Posner have readily embraced speech regulations by belittling college students as just impressionable children.
They think universities are treating students like children. And they are right. But they have also not considered that the justification for these policies may lie hidden in plain sight: that students are children. Not in terms of age, but in terms of maturity. Even in college, they must be protected like children while being prepared to be adults.
So now people who are adults legally will be dismissed as children to justify the imposition of speech codes where faculty dictate what is acceptable or unacceptable viewpoints. It is incumbent upon the rest of us to fight the rising tide of speech regulation and intolerance. To that end, every faculty senate should consider replicating the letter of the University of Chicago to its incoming class, as discussed in the column below.
The University of Missouri continues its free fall after the Black Lives Matter protests. “Mizzou” has now lost almost a quarter of its freshman class. That is devastating for any academic institution and Mizzou is reportedly closing dorms due to lack of students.