Category: Education (higher ed)
-
A Time To Mourn
Many questions arise from the mass shooting at the University of Virginia two days ago. Why’d he do it? Were there warning signs? Could the murders have been prevented? There will be a time and a place to answer those questions. But not now. Now is the time to mourn the loss of three fine…
-
UVa Slayings
by Kerry Dougherty Unimaginable. The fear, the dread that crept across the University of Virginia grounds Sunday night as reports of a fatal shooting spread and students were cautioned to shelter in place. The gunman was on the loose. He was armed and dangerous. The manhunt for Christopher Darnell Jones Jr, lasted 12 terrifying hours.…
-
UVa Tragedy Reasonably Preventable? State Investigation Required
by James C. Sherlock Updated Nov. 15, 2020 at 8:36 AM (see end of article) We have two related pieces of information about the UVa tragedy that call into question the effectiveness of the University’s state-mandated threat-assessment process. We have the statements of senior University officials. And we have Code of Virginia § 23.1-805. Violence prevention…
-
Why a VMI Alumnus Yanked a $1 Million Bequest
An open letter to the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors, Virginia Military Institute Alumni Association, VMI Corps of Cadets, VMI Alumni/ae, Parents Council, and The Cadet Newspaper. November 11, 2022 I am a member of the VMI class 1975. In the nearly 50 years since my graduation, I have taken great pride in being one…
-
The Commissars of Charlottesville
by James C. Sherlock Leon Trotsky, who headed the Red Army from 1917-22, did not trust it. On 6 April 1918, he wrote in Isvestia: The military commissar is the direct political agent of Soviet power within the army. His post is of the highest importance. Commissars are appointed from the ranks of exemplary revolutionaries,…
-
Optional SATs Are Here to Stay
by James A. Bacon There are two broad trends driving change in the admissions policies of higher-ed institutions these days. The first is the declining number of students enrolling in colleges and universities. The other is the increasing philosophical commitment to increase demographic diversity, which in practice means admitting more “under-represented minorities.” Arising from the…
-
Transparency and Accountability at VMI… and Every Public University
by James A. Bacon Virginia Military Institute Superintendent Cedric T. Wins was awarded a $100,000 bonus after his FY-2022 performance review, and the Spirit of VMI PAC (SOVP) wants to know what criteria the Board of Visitors used in granting him the award. The bonus, which was four times his previous $25,000 award, lifted Wins’…
-
UVa Employee Donations Down to a Mere 91% for Dems
The percentage of campaign donations from University of Virginia employees fell from 95% in 2020 to only 91% this electoral season, according to data compiled from Federal Election Commission records by Walter Smith, a member of The Jefferson Council. Polls show that Hispanics, Blacks and suburban White women are deserting the Democratic Party in droves…
-
Internships and Upward Mobility
by James A. Bacon From time immemorial, it has been a priority of Virginia governors of both parties to promote workforce development through community college, job training programs, apprenticeships, and the like. An under-utilized strategy, suggests Beyond Academy, is college internships. Beyond Academy, which markets international internship programs, has published a report ranking the 50…
-
UVa Faculty Senate Censures Ellis for Thought Crime
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia Faculty Senate has voted to censure Bert Ellis, a Board of Visitors member, for violating the university’s “foundational values” two years ago when he “prepared to vandalize a protest sign” by a resident of the Lawn. Ellis acquired a paint-scraper razor with the aim of removing a…
-
Three Strikes and You’re Out, Mr. Ryan
by James A. Bacon If University of Virginia President Jim Ryan wants to recruit more African-American students, faculty and staff to the university, here’s some advice: stop reinforcing racial paranoia. Stop lending legitimacy to the idea that Blacks at the University of Virginia are under threat. So far this semester, there have been three racial…
-
Racism at VMI? Not That This Hispanic Alum Ever Saw
Virginia Military Institute alumni share much of their correspondence with me. I can’t come close to publishing it all on this blog. But sometimes a letter illuminates aspects of the ongoing discussion about VMI’s future that have not yet made it into the public domain. The letter below comes from José J. Suárez, an Hispanic…
-
Wins Defends LGBTQIA+ Performance Artist at VMI
The rhetorical battle at the Virginia Military Institute rages like the Bloody Angle in the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. In this ongoing war of words, VMI Superintendent Cedric Wins is like the corps commander who wanders dangerously close to the battlefront. Rather than rely upon subalterns and proxies to speak for him, he has waded…
-
Diversity Done Right… and Wrong
by James A. Bacon The drive to institutionalize Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in elite colleges and universities is profoundly destructive, according to presenters at a Friday conference of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). Far from contributing to intellectual diversity, as it purports to do, DEI constrains free expression and free inquiry. It…
-
Not Gilly Sullivan’s Alumni Association Anymore
by James A. Bacon Aiming to address the lamentable decline in state/local news coverage, States Newsroom supports local news operations in 29 states, including Virginia. As Jim Sherlock detailed here, the nonprofit organization was launched in 2017 by the left-of-center Hopewell Fund, which itself is managed by the left-of-center Arabella Advisors. Its Virginia Mercury digital…