Category: Education (higher ed)
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Policies at War With Themselves
by James A. Bacon University of Virginia President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom have finally begun to engage in a discussion about university “cancel culture.” In the abstract, they’re against it. Their latest musings represent a step beyond the mere protection of free speech, which the Board of Visitors had endorsed previously, toward respectful…
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Forgive Student Debt? Nope. Cut College Costs
by Kerry Dougherty I’m tired of bickering with millennials. Every time the topic of student loan forgiveness comes up and I point out that it’s bad form to borrow money you can’t repay, they come at me: College was so much cheaper when you went to school, they whine. Indeed, it was. You know what…
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Even Loathsome People Have the Right to Free Speech
by James A. Bacon I’m very pro-Israel, which like every country on the planet is flawed but is more committed than most to democracy and human rights. Likewise, I have little sympathy for Palestinians, whom I regard as, for the most part, the authors of their own miseries. Therefore, I am inclined to take a…
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EVMS Settles Free-Speech Lawsuit for 38K
The Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) has reached a settlement with medical student Edward Si over a lawsuit filed after the school prohibited him from forming a Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP) club. The medical school will pay Si and SNaHP $38,000. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) represented Si. In…
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Should UVa De-Platform Mike Pence?
by James A. Bacon One might think that former Vice President Mike Pence would have earned a little cred for standing up to Donald Trump in overseeing the counting of electoral votes that resulted in the 2020 election of Joe Biden. So furious about this supposed betrayal is Trump that he has declared he would…
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Asleep at the Wheel
Letter to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors from Walter Smith. Ladies and Gentlemen: I expect you will ignore me, as usual, but, for purposes of establishing a record when the time for your contextualization comes, I must document your many failures and refusal to do your fiduciary duties, because I believe, if you…
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Search for Community College Chancellor Left Youngkin Out of the Loop
by James A. Bacon Community colleges across the country are suffering declines in enrollment. The drop-off in Virginia is particularly acute. Enrollment has fallen 27% over the past 10 years, even as there are 300,000 unfilled jobs in the state. Virginia’s job recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic has been dismal — 43rd out of 50…
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DEI Training Comes to VMI
by James A. Bacon As other Virginia universities rushed to build Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) programs over the past decade, the Virginia Military Institute was long a holdout. In the mythos of the military academy, the infamous Rat Line — an adversarial system that leveled all first-year students and built them back up as…
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No Woke-ism to See Here, Move Along Now: UVa Update
by James A. Bacon As Woke-ism deniers ramp up their obfuscations of the implementation of Woke social-justice ideology in Virginia’s schools and colleges, the evidence keeps pouring in. Yesterday, a source forwarded to me the following communication by Elyse Girard (She/They) at the University of Virginia regarding the hiring of a new Dean for Inclusion,…
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Speech on Virginia Campuses Less Unfree than Elsewhere
by James A. Bacon Three of Virginia’s universities scored in the top 25 in the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) 2021 annual free speech rankings of more than 150 higher-ed institutions across America, but Virginia Tech, once in the top 10, fell precipitously to the bottom third. The College of William & Mary…
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VMI Conflict Now Focused on DEI Implementation
by James A. Bacon Aside from the occasional Washington Post hit job, the Virginia Military Institute has faded from the daily headlines. But the controversy over race has not diminished in the slightest, and several conflicts are percolating out of public view. For now I’ll settle for outlining the big picture, and I’ll fill in…
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UVa Board Extends Ryan Contract for Three Years
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia Board of Visitors voted unanimously Friday to extend President Jim Ryan’s employment agreement for three years to 2028. His existing contract doesn’t expire until 2025. “Jim Ryan has been a strong and focused leader for this community under extraordinary circumstances,” University Rector Whitt Clement said, as quoted…
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JMU, Social Justice and the Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices (OSARP)
by James C. Sherlock Yesterday I wrote of the pressures on Tim Miller, Vice President of Student Affairs at JMU, to balance competing views on masking. Mr. Miller has had plenty of practice. If he walked a tightrope on masks, he tried and fell flat on his face on diversity training. He also oversees something…
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Youngkin Decries Higher-Ed Cancel Culture
by James A. Bacon Glenn Youngkin didn’t have much to say about “cancel culture” in Virginia’s colleges and universities when he was on the campaign trail, aiming his fire instead at radical social-justice policies in K-12 schools. But at a speech delivered at the University of Virginia law school Friday, he criticized intolerance in higher…
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University Managers Deserve Our Empathy on Mask Policy Decisions
by James C. Sherlock JMU student newspaper The Breeze posted a story about strong differences of opinion on lifting the mask mandate across campus. These types of situations put university officials between a rock and a hard place. While they understand that comes with the job, it is impossible not to feel some empathy. Tim…