Category: Education (higher ed)
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How UVa Offsets Bureaucratic Bloat
by James A. Bacon College Simply‘s 2023 Best Value Colleges in America ranks the University of Virginia as the 2nd “best value” among public colleges and universities in the United States in 2023. The best-value distinction is conferred upon institutions that provide students the most academic prowess for the money (defined as net tuition after financial…
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Glen Allen Va’s “Do No Harm” Doing a Great Deal of Good
by James C. Sherlock Do you assume that Virginia’s medical schools are strict meritocracies, taking only the most well prepared and accomplished applicants? And that their efforts are then focused entirely on creating the most skilled physicians possible? If so, you are mistaken. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), written by the American Medical Association…
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DEI Has “Gone Off the Rails”
by James A. Bacon Finally, we’re getting an open debate about “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” in Virginia — not an honest debate, mind you, but a debate which, whether honest or not, is long overdue. Last month, Virginia’s chief diversity officer Martin Brown proclaimed that DEI was “dead” at the Virginia Military Institute. Various parties,…
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Update: Dissident VMI Alumni Lawsuit
by James A. Bacon Last week Bacon’s Rebellion published a column by Bob Morris which mentioned a lawsuit that dissident Virginia Military Institute alumni had filed against the VMI Alumni Association. The petition demanded records that would allow dissident alumni access to 20,0000+ alumni emails to communicate with other alumni ahead of the association’s annual…
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ODU Graduation: Snotty Brats In Caps and Gowns
by Kerry Dougherty Last month we wrote about snotty brats at George Mason University — a state-supported school — who’d rather stick their fingers in their ears than spend 10 minutes listening to someone who doesn’t share their radical agenda. That was Gov. Glenn Youngkin who they found so objectionable, incidentally. Depending on what news…
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Virginia Democrats – “Progressive for Who?”
by James C. Sherlock “Progressive for who?” That question was asked by Al Sharpton directly to a gathering of his supporters at a conference hosted by his National Action Network while flanked by Lori Lightfoot, Eric Adams and two other big city Democratic mayors. “Anybody that tells you they’re progressive but don’t care about dealing…
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Is Stingy State Funding to Blame for UVa Tuition Increases?
by James A. Bacon In explaining the cause of rising tuition & fees at the University of Virginia, we described last week how the driving force over the past 20 years has been a relentless increase in spending. Expenditures in the academic division of the University of Virginia, fueled by an expansion in salaries, increased…
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UVa’s 20-Year Expenditure Explosion
by James A. Bacon Tis the season for Virginia’s universities to announce how much they are raising tuition & fees for the upcoming academic year. Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors has jacked up tuition by 4.9% and the College of William & Mary by 4.5%. Virginia Commonwealth University is considering an increase of 4% to…
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Where are Virginia Colleges and Universities Headed with “Test Optional”
by James C. Sherlock The left despises standardized tests in schools. Teachers unions have fiercely opposed them for years as measures of accountability in K-12. Because SOLs, SATs and ACTS expose both good and bad educational results and measures of student growth over time; Colleges and universities oppose them because they interfere with diversity, equity…
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Washington Post Editorial Board is Pushing Back on Censorious Students. Finally
by James C. Sherlock After years of silence, The Washington Post editorialized yesterday that censorship of speech on America’s college campuses had gone too far. Better late than never. We welcome them to the fight. The Post does not note that too many students are arriving on college campuses as already-radicalized warriors of the left,…
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The Ideology of Transgenderism Critiqued at JMU
by John S. Buckley James Madison University recently showed how it ought to be for a conservative student group to sponsor a speaker on a controversial topic and be received with respect for principles of free speech and open inquiry. Bravo to JMU students, the JMU college administration, and the Harrisonburg community for setting such…
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“DEI Is Dead” at VMI
by James A. Bacon The Youngkin administration has just unloaded a HIMARS rocket attack on Virginia Military Institute’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion program. Speaking Friday in a session of mandatory “inclusive excellence training,” Martin D. Brown, Youngkin’s chief of Diversity, Opportunity & Inclusion, left steaming rubble where VMI’s DEI program had been standing. “Let’s take…
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How the Digital Rumor Mill Fed Incoherent Social-Justice Hysteria
by James A. Bacon When Emma Camp was a student at the University of Virginia in 2020, she heard the tale of Morgan Bettinger, another UVa student, who was said to have approached left-wing protesters in downtown Charlottesville and threatened to make “speed bumps” of them. The story, says Camp, was repeatedly endlessly on social…
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The Unsettled State of Lee Chapel
by Kenneth G. Everett “Show me the manner in which a nation or a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals.” — William E. Gladstone, British Statesman The respect with…
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Tuition, Room, Board and Fees Up 7% Next Year at Tech – Zero Cuts in Massive Administrative Overhead
by James C. Sherlock From The Roanoke Times Faced with inflationary pressures and state budget uncertainty, the school’s Board of Visitors voted unanimously to markup overall student costs by about 7%, increasing tuition and fees, plus room and board. It was not an easy decision, said Rector Tish Long. ”This is one of the most…