Category: Education (higher ed)
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A’s for All!
by James A. Bacon Grade inflation in American universities is a well-documented phenomenon. Nearly half of all grades handed out at Harvard are A’s. The average Grade Point Average (GPA) at the University of Virginia, having drifted steadily upward over the past 30 years, is moving higher at an accelerating rate. One possible explanation —…
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Foreign Student Influence in Students for Justice in Palestine Chapters at Virginia Universities and their “Allies”
by James C. Sherlock The SJP organizations at three Virginia state universities, the University of Virginia, George Mason University, and the University of Mary Washington, have been active since October 7th on the Hamas side. Some attempt to thread two needles simultaneously: to separate Gazans from their elected government, the terrorist organization Hamas, and to…
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Hey NCAA, Let JMU Go Bowling!
by Kerry Dougherty File this under “Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Nut Occasionally”: Louise Lucas, one of the worst members of Virginia’s General Assembly and the ringleader of the obstructionist “brick wall” in the state Senate that blocked chunks of Gov. Glenn Youngin’s popular agenda, is on the right side of an issue. For…
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In Defense of Painful Free Speech
by Allan Stam The horrific attacks of October 7th on Jews in Israel have prompted pro-Palestinian groups, including several at UVA, to rally in support of Hamas. In recent days, we have heard growing calls for support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as the Israeli Defense Forces and Iran’s proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic…
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Crime and Punishment in Charlottesville
by James C. Sherlock UVa and Harvard are the two campuses most often cited by the national and world press as homes to the worst actors after October 7. It is easy work. I posted a column on Saturday making a series of recommendations for actions by the University of Virginia to protect its Jewish…
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“Hate” Speech Does Not Make Students “Unsafe”
by James A. Bacon There is a widespread notion among militant leftists at the University of Virginia, as there is in universities across the Commonwealth, that exposure to objectionable ideas causes “harm” to those who hear them and, thus, should be suppressed. This logic is a totalitarian wolf in sheep’s clothing. While I do not…
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The Impact of Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need Laws on Nursing Home and Home Health Care Availability and Expenditures
by James C. Sherlock I have come across a major study in the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine that made a point that I have not explored sufficiently to this point. It discusses the intersection of nursing homes, home health care, CON laws like Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law, and…
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What the Heck Does “a Historical Connection to Slavery” Mean?
by James A. Bacon Project Gabriel, an initiative of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, discussed ideas this summer on how to circumvent the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling restricting the role of race in college admissions, Do No Harm has found through a public records request. “VCU and other medical schools are trying their…
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Anti-Jewish Extremism at UVa — Next Steps
by James C. Sherlock The University of Virginia has made quite a national name for itself over the responses of its campus anti-Jewish extremists to the slaughter of babies in Israel. It is not a reputation it wants. On October 8th, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UVa, an organization officially recognized by the…
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The Incomplete Case for Higher Tuition at UVa
by James A. Bacon As the Board of Visitors ponders how much to raise tuition & fees in the next two academic years, the University of Virginia is grappling with strong inflationary pressures and a long-term shortfall in state aid, senior university administrators said Wednesday. Even so, administrators told the Board’s Finance Committee, UVa offers…
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Hatred of Jews at UVa – A Pot Brewed in the Faculty Lounge Boils Over
by James C. Sherlock Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 7. On October 8, this letter was issued in Charlottesville. “Events” were “a step towards a free Palestine.” On October 11, President James Ryan issued a strong message condemning the savage Hamas massacre in Israel. He deserves credit for that, but has not gotten…
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Lose the Masks
by Kerry Dougherty Last Saturday’s horrors of Hamas were followed here and abroad with another kind of horror. There were anti-Israel rallies at colleges and in major cities across the nation. These heartless people were demonstrating for just one reason: to show support for the barbarians who had just invaded a country, slaughtered innocent people,…
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“Seeking a Better World” by Defending the Beheaders of Babies
by James A. Bacon A week ago the Students for Justice in Palestine at UVA created a furor by publishing a statement defending Hamas’ attack on Israel. “Yesterday’s rebellion was not ‘unprovoked,’ as many have claimed, but is the consequence of years of mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and oppression from Israel,” the group wrote. “The…
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“Completely Ignored by Our School”: Roanoke College Swimmers, Part 4
by Scott Dreyer At Hotel Roanoke on October 5, members of the Roanoke College women’s swim team calmly and clearly delivered blistering indictments of what they described as failed, unresponsive leadership at their school, the NCAA, and USA Swimming. Some of their gut-wrenching stories about being forced to train, compete, and share facilities with a…
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Dumb and Getting Dumber
Two years after the COVID school lockdowns, the collapse in K-12 learning still has significant downward momentum. Of the 1.4 million high school seniors who took the ACT college preparedness test in 2023, the percentage meeting all four benchmarks — English, math, reading, and science — was 20.8% — down 1.3 percentage points from the…