Tag: Guest contributors
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What Is a Farming Landowner to Do?
by Jim Kindig My 3rd great grandfather came to Augusta County in the 1820s, cleared land and established crops on land that is still in our family. Several of my neighbors could tell similar stories. We love farming, but it’s a hard life. Incredible increases in productivity have kept agricultural commodity prices depressed for 80…
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Hmmm… Implementing DE&I Might Be Trickier Than It Sounds
Here follows the transcript of an entirely fictional videoconference between University of Virginia President Jim Ryan and his Executive Cabinet. The author is not intending to be satirical. He is illuminating the issues that any honest effort to implement a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion agenda will encounter. — JAB by Jon Jewett President Ryan: I…
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VMI, Character and the Blessings of God
by Carmen Villani At the conclusion of sporting events, the Corps of Cadets, players, and alumni join as one in singing the VMI Doxology. It ends with – “God Bless our team and V-M-I!” During its nearly 182-year history, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) has aligned itself with Judeo-Christian values, emphasizing character and servant leadership.…
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Some Peoples’ Pain Matters More than Others’
by Catesby Leigh After George Floyd’s fatally brutal arrest, dozens of Confederate monuments were banished from civic settings throughout the South. And their ranks were further thinned last weekend, when Charlottesville’s equestrian statues to Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were finally hoisted off their pedestals after a prolonged legal battle. But the fate of…
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The Authoritarian Nature of DE&I Training
TO: The President, the College Board, the Faculty, the Staff, and the Constituents of Northern Virginia Community College FROM: Dr. A Schuhart (DACCE), Professor of English, NVCC-Annandale DATE: 04/19/2021 RE: Letter of Dissent After completing the required DEI training, it is clear to me that the claims of this training are a direct expression of…
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Community College Libels the Man It Was Named For
by John Thomson Present-day controversies on renaming institutions are often about whether we judge the worth of our historical figures by the singular issue of slave-owning. One particular controversy needs a referee to call a foul: over a historian’s error in a biography of the English lord, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693-1781).…
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A Cavalier Disregard for Historical Documentation
The University of Virginia in recent years has devoted considerable resources to an excavation of unpleasant aspects of its past, from slavery and Jim Crow to the dispossession of land from the Monacan Indians. Other than the controversy over Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, the scholarly findings have rarely been disputed. Perhaps…
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All Equal. All the Same. Structured and Systemic.
by Gilbert Piddington Perhaps in more ways than any school in the world, Cadets at the Virginia Military Institute are all treated equally and the same in a very structured and systemic environment. Let me explain. The VMI Honor Code, “A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do,” applies equally to…
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Yes, Virginia, There Is Critical Race Theory In Our Schools
by Elizabeth Schultz School districts across Virginia have been expending resources, directing staff time, and hiring consultants to address “equity” in curriculum delivery and for professional development of teachers and other employees. Fairfax and Loudoun County, the two largest counties in the Commonwealth, have set the lead in driving the changes in education and embracing…
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Yes, Virginia, There May Be Alien UFOs — Off Your Coast!
by Bruce Majors If you spend any time on the internet, you will almost daily see geographical rankings: the best colleges, the best small towns, the best places to retire, the cities with the worst drivers, the states with the worst tippers or the rudest residents. Apparently whoever or whatever is behind the UAPs (the…
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Critical Race Theory in Virginia Beach Schools
by Victoria Manning Critical Race Theorists reject colorblindness and equality and they center their goals on equal outcomes (equity) rather than equal opportunity. Merit-based individualism is replaced with group-think collectivism and the dominant white culture is a privileged oppressor. What the public doesn’t understand is that CRT is already here in Virginia Beach. Teachers won’t…
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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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The Great Scattering
Richmonder Doug Monroe is the founder of The Praxis Circle. an organization that explores philosophical and theological world views, primarily though not exclusively from conservative and Christian perspectives. Doug has interviewed dozens of literary and philosophical giants in the United States and United Kingdom and distilled key insights into short, digestible video clips. He also…
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A Jewish Community Heartbroken and Distraught
by Ellen Renee Adams and Daniel Staffenberg Richmond’s Jewish Community has watched the developments in Israel and Gaza with sadness, empathy and trepidation. The suffering of innocent Israelis and Palestinians is unacceptable. We are pained by the ways in which this conflict is being misunderstood and mischaracterized by some members of the media and our…