Category: Education (higher ed)
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There Will Never Be Enough
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Those of us at the state Department of Planning and Budget (DPB) who worked closely with the capital budget used to marvel at the submissions from higher ed institutions. It did not matter how much had been approved and funded in the recent past; each year there were more and bigger requests.…
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What Criteria Are We Looking For In University Board Members?
by James A. Bacon As Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin selects cabinet members and other key members of his administration, he has more pressing concerns to occupy his attention at this moment than replacing members on Virginia’s public university boards whose terms don’t expire until June 30. But as soon as he has the opportunity to do…
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A Speech Notable for Its Banality, Vanity and Hypocrisy
by William L. Respess “A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.” — Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965), former governor of Illinois and twice unsuccessful democratic candidate for president against Dwight Eisenhower. I assume most persons aware of the turbulent year…
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A Mathematical Impossibility
by James A. Bacon Someone needs to teach Washington Post reporters basic arithmetic. In an article published today, writers Nick Anderson and Susan Svrluga write how Virginia’s higher-ed institutions face a “racial reckoning.” That reckoning won’t end with the purge of memorials to men who were slaveowners and segregationists, or when memorials are erected to…
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Allyn Walker and ODU to Part Ways
by Kerry Dougherty It’s official. Allyn Walker, the Old Dominion University assistant professor who wants to normalize perceptions about pedophilia is out at ODU. Or rather, Walker will be out at the conclusion of the spring semester, when the professor’s contract expires. Walker was placed on administrative leave earlier this month when an interview of…
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Why Is UVa Hiding Its Campus Climate Survey Results?
by Walter Smith Jim Bacon recently posted an article urging Governor-elect Youngkin to take full advantage of his higher-ed Board of Visitors appointments if he wishes to remain true to the education reform momentum that played a big part in his election. Bacon’s bits (pun intentional!) on the Boards as political plums with a go-along-to-get-along…
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VMI Alumnus Redirects Intended $900,000 Gift
by James A. Bacon Colleges and universities have long been prone to clashes between strong-willed presidents and prominent alumni. Over the years there have been numerous well-publicized episodes of donors retracting their benefactions after some run-in with the forces of political correctness. But as “wokeness” becomes the prevailing ideology on many college campuses, and as…
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Mr. Youngkin, Pay Heed to Your University-Board Appointments
by James A. Bacon Glenn Youngkin’s winning campaign issue in the 2020 gubernatorial election was expunging Critical Race Theory from Virginia’s public school system. An endlessly repeated trope of the Left is that CRT is an academic legal theory not taught in schools. I (and others) have explained that “CRT” is short-hand for policies based…
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An Open Letter to the VMI Corps
by Carter Melton Ladies and gentlemen of The Corps, greetings. My name is Carter Melton, a history major from Salem who graduated in 1967. For 30 years I was the president and CEO of one of the largest hospitals in Virginia and served two terms on the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors. I know…
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In Defense of Intellectual Diversity
Here follows the Founder’s Day message from Hampden-Sydney President Larry Stimpert to the Hampden-Sydney College community, Nov. 10, 2021. — JAB Two hundred forty-six years ago today, Hampden-Sydney College held its first classes. Founded on the eve of the American Revolution “to form good men and good citizens” who would be the leaders of the…
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Wake Up Call for Higher Ed
by James A. Bacon How does a college or university stand out from the crowd these days and establish a competitive advantage in the higher-ed marketplace? One way is to focus on the U.S. News & World-Report annual “Best Colleges” rankings and manipulate metrics such as graduation rates, faculty compensation, student selectivity, alumni giving and…
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Principled Leader or Pandering Politician?
by Carmen Villani As a Virginia Military Institute graduate and former [resident of the Honor Court, I find the remarks made by the Governor of Virginia Monday night before the Corps of Cadets appalling. I do not mention him by name intentionally because I believe that he has placed “personal gain above personal honor.” On…
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In Speech to Cadets, Northam Defends His Treatment of VMI
by James A. Bacon A year after denouncing the “clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism” at his alma mater the Virginia Military Institute, Governor Ralph Northam extended an olive branch of sorts. Delivering a speech last night to VMI’s 1,700 cadets, he offered praise of the Institute while also justifying measures he took…
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Was UVa’s Vax Mandate Justified? We’ll Never Know.
by James A. Bacon This academic year the University of Virginia mandated that all students get vaccinated. With few exceptions, all have done so, as have most of the university’s 30,000 faculty, staff and employees. According to the Daily Progress, only 173 are estimated to be out of compliance. They have until January 4 to…
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Northam to Address VMI
by James A. Bacon “Northam heads to hostile terrain — VMI — to speak to 1,700 cadets.” That’s the headline on the Washington Post’s latest update on the hardball politics of racism and anti-racism at the Virginia Military Institute. The headline is a stretch, even if you believe, as the Washington Post has insisted, the…