Category: Culture wars
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With the Tents Down, the Blowback Begins
by James A. Bacon Following the decision to take down the tents in the UVA Solidarity Encampment for Gaza “liberated zone” at the University of Virginia on Saturday, UVA President Jim Ryan is facing strong blowback from leftist elements in the UVA and Charlottesville communities. Pro-Palestinian protesters had rebuked the administration’s orders to take down…
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Virginia Is Not California. Or New York.
by Kerry Dougherty By pro-Hamas standards, the protests at the University of Virginia were anemic. Estimates placed the size of the “crowds” that began gathering on Grounds – as they say in Charlottesville – last week ranged from about 12 to perhaps as many as 50. The Hamas fan club was clustered near the chapel…
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Militants to Ryan Administration: “Bullshit”
by James A. Bacon Pro-Palestinian militants erected tents last night at their “liberation zone for Gaza” near the University of Virginia chapel in defiance of orders to take them down. The administration’s immediate response: engage in dialogue. “We are writing to acknowledge the document you shared with us early this morning outlining the interests of…
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At UVA, One Pro-Palestinian Protest Disperses, a Second Persists
by James A. Bacon One of two pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of Virginia wound down around 5 p.m. yesterday without incident. Although the rally was marked by all-too-familiar anti-Israel chants and sloganeering, protesters dispersed at the scheduled time. A parallel demonstration, a tent-free “encampment,” continues this morning. University officials set clear expectations from…
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Congress Values Names More Than Housing for Service Members
by Donald Smith “Removing the last vestiges of Confederate history from the U.S. military, including renaming nine Army posts, will cost more than $62 million, a congressional commission said Tuesday.” That quote is from Alex Horton’s Washington Post article on the recommendations of the Naming Commission, dated September 13th, 2022. “For the base names,” wrote Horton, “the changes will…
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Unmask the Death-To-America Rioters
by Kerry Dougherty It’s time. Time to burn the last foul-smelling remnant of the Ralph Northam regime. Actually, it’s long past time to once again enforce an important part of the Code of Virginia: 18.2-422. “Prohibition of wearing masks in…any public place. This law was active from 1950 until Northam the Awful – the doctor…
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UNC’s Lee Roberts Gets My Vote for Best University President in America
BREAKING: The American Flag is back up at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chancellor Lee Roberts came out and did it himself. pic.twitter.com/Be5HimksfH — Stu (@thestustustudio) April 30, 2024 At UNC-Chapel Hill the Palestinian flag comes down, the American flag goes up. Hear the chants of “USA! USA!” I haven’t heard anything…
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Amid Arrests on Other Campuses, Tensions Mount at UVA
Many concerned alumni and students have reached out to us. We are keeping an eye on UVA’s Encampment for Gaza and monitoring social media. At this time, we are putting our faith and trust in @presjimryan. From what we have seen and heard, @UVAPolice is doing an exceptional job… pic.twitter.com/iGoXUylU9Z — The Jefferson Council (@TheJeffersonC)…
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A Creative New Way to Use Children as Human Shields
BREAKING: The Encampment at Virginia Tech has been told that they will be arrested if they don’t disperse. They are pleading with the administration to not arrest anyone because children are present. “Do our children scare you?” pic.twitter.com/eAiZkWsn3T — Stu (@thestustustudio) April 28, 2024 Stu Smith, producer of StuStuStudios, captured this video yesterday from the…
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Virginia Tech Cleans up Encampment. UVA Faces Similar Test.
by James A. Bacon Virginia Tech arrested two dozen or more students Sunday night while dispersing an “encampment” similar to other anti-Israeli protests spreading around the country, according to media reports. The gathering of several hundred people on the lawn of the Graduate Life Center was “not a registered event consistent with university policy,” Tech…
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A Rejoinder on the TJ “Fall”
Before folks got carried away with sarcasm and “I told you so,” it would have been best to examine a few facts regarding the ranking by U.S. News and World Report of the Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology (TJ): The ranking fell to fifth last year. The data for that ranking pre-dated the…
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TJ High School Falls From 1st to 14th Place
Score a big victory for “equity.” The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, ranked the top high school in the country by U.S. News & World Report two years ago, has fallen to 14th place, tweets the Coalition for TJ. TJ had been the center of an admissions controversy after progressives, who found…
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Keffiyehs, Yarmulkes and “Belonging” at UVA
by James A. Bacon It’s “Palestinian Liberation Week” at the University of Virginia this week, and the Students for Justice in Palestine have organized loads of activities for antizionists, culminating with a “Die-In for Gaza” Friday. “Wear your keffiyeh,” urges UVA’s Students for Justice in Palestine on its Instagram page. Keffiyehs are traditional Arab scarfs,…
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UVA Report Finds No Pay Inequity for Black, Hispanic Profs
by James A. Bacon The Racial Equity Task Force, a 2020 document that transformed governance at the University of Virginia, listed 12 top priorities for addressing the legacy of historical racism. One was to address “serious challenges to racial equity in staff hiring, wages, retention, promotion, and procurement” by auditing where policies and procedures might…
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Jewish Parents Decry Double Standards at UVA
by James A. Bacon A half year after Hamas terrorists assaulted Israel, hostility at the University of Virginia toward Israel and Jews is unrelenting, according to parents of Jewish students there. In collaboration with other parents, Julie Pearl complained in a letter Tuesday to Rector Robert Hardie that a “blatant double standard against Jewish students…