Category: Education (higher ed)
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The Fix Was In: Burying the Athlete Issue
by James A. Bacon Ascertaining the state of race relations is a tricky task in these politically polarized times. The job is made all the more difficult at the Virginia Military Institute by a factor that exists few other places: tension between athletes and other students. Athletes enjoy exemptions from participation in parades, inspections and…
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The Fix Was In: Use and Abuse of Survey Data
by James A. Bacon The Barnes & Thornburg final report into racism at the Virginia Military Institute has done its job of generating loads of negative headlines about the military academy. “Run by White men, for White men,” seems to be the most quotable quote. Predictably, there is no evidence that a single reporter read…
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VMI Investigation Provides Thin Gruel for Racism Allegations
by James A. Bacon Barnes & Thornburg (B&T), the law firm hand-picked by the Northam administration as an “independent” investigator, has delivered its final report on racism and sexism at the Virginia Military Institute. The report concluded that racial and gender disparities persist in how cadets are treated at the military academy. VMI’s “culture” reinforces…
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Who Does UVa’s Alumni Association Serve?
by James A. Bacon As the anti-Vietnam War protests were peaking in May 1970, board members of the University of Virginia Alumni Association were alarmed by student unrest at their alma mater. They took the unprecedented step of sending a telegram to the parents of every undergraduate student and urged them to speak to their…
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Dishonoring the Dead
by Jake Spivey Earlier this month, the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors voted to “expand the symbolism” of the Virginia Mourning Her Dead statue that memorializes the 10 VMI cadets who died in the Battle of New Market to include all former cadets who have died in battle. The board also approved a motion to…
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School Closings Negatively Affect Female Employment
by D.J. Rippert Mom at home. An article from The Center Square summarizes a number of studies relating COVID-19, school policies during the pandemic, and the number of women in the workforce. A study by the journal “Gender & Society” characterized the matter as a “tidal wave of women” leaving the workforce in 2020. Center…
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Virginia Needs More Brave Teachers Like Christel Coman
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) closed out comments on its proposed new guidelines for evaluating teachers on its Regulatory Town Hall two weeks ago. Jim Sherlock critiqued the standards on Bacon’s Rebellion, but nary a peep was heard anywhere else in the media. If accepted in the current form, teachers will be evaluated on…
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The Case Against Structural Racism at VMI
Alternatively headlined: There Will Be Heat Death in the Universe Before You Read These Quotes in a Washington Post news article. Carmen Villani, Virginia Military Institute class of 1976, recently compiled a list of perspectives given by African-American alumni as well as actions taken by staff and professors that illuminate the military academy’s record on…
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UVa President Ryan on UVa Religious Studies Professors Attacking Evangelicals
by James C. Sherlock University of Virginia President Jim Ryan was kind enough to read my column detailing the unacceptable behavior of two Department of Religious Studies professors. There are two “counts” I charged against them: First, slander. All speakers trashed all white evangelicals as racists and “confederates” who are sorry the South lost the Civil…
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Would Someone Please Explain the “Science”?
by James A. Bacon Let me get this straight. The University of Virginia has just announced that all students returning to the university starting July 1 must be fully vaccinated, or they will be barred from entering the grounds. But employees, while urged to get vaccinated, are under no such mandate. Exemptions will be allowed…
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Three Card Media
by William Moore Three Card Monte is a classic short con. The Dealer places three cards face down and the Shill, who is in on the con, attempts to pick the money card. They play boisterously, hoping to catch the attention of some poor sap, the Mark. Thinking himself quite good at following the money…
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We Are Losing the Soul of Our University
TO: All UVA Alumni and Friends Who Care About Our University FROM: The Jefferson Council RE: We Are Losing the Soul of Our University DATE: May 20, 2021 On the eve of Final Exercises at our University, we, the founding members and Board of the Jefferson Council, feel the need to send out this letter…
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The VMI Story You Haven’t Heard
by James A. Bacon The Washington Post and Northam administration have done a fine job of wrecking the reputation of the Virginia Military Institute. On the basis of a dozen anecdotes shorn from any context, the Post declared VMI guilty of “relentless racism” and elaborated upon the charge in more than 20 articles since. Declaring…
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Slater Resigns from SCHEV, Citing Political Interference from Governor’s Office
by James A. Bacon Thomas G. Slater, Jr., a prominent Virginia Military Institute alumnus, submitted his resignation from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) today, citing political pressure from the office of Governor Ralph Northam to bias the outcome of the VMI racism investigation by an outside law firm, Barnes & Thornburg.…