Tag: University of Virginia
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How UVa Is Addressing the Online Challenge
by James A. Bacon Eight years ago the forced resignation of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan embroiled Virginia’s flagship university in a controversy that played out nationally. Rector Helen E. Dragas saw an “existential threat to the greatness of UVa” from demographic, financial and technological forces reshaping the higher-education landscape. The most controversial of…
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A Glimpse into UVa’s Fund-Raising Juggernaut
by James A. Bacon Alumni unhappy about recent developments at the University of Virginia claim to have withdrawn $150 million or more in pledged financial support for the institution. Money talks in academia as elsewhere. President Jim Ryan and Rector James Murray have engaged disgruntled grads in spoken and written communications and have given them…
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Orwellian Aspirations, a False Alumni Association Narrative, and Adult Supervision at UVa
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes things come together that confirm one’s worst fears but improve hope for the future simultaneously. Such a turning point happened with me not long after UVa’s alumni magazine, Virginia (Winter Edition 2020), arrived at my house earlier this month. The first story in the magazine was a piece written…
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UVa Builds Scholarship Endowment to Half-Billion Dollars
by James A. Bacon Over the past four years the University of Virginia has raised $500 million, enough to endow 350 undergraduate and graduate scholarships, President Jim Ryan informed the Board of Visitors Friday. He highlighted two programs in particular that share the goal of “fostering excellence and diversity of the student population, and ensuring…
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They Came for the Basketball….
This cartoon is circulating among University of Virginia alumni… along with a link to an essay by Joel Gardner on the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal website, “UVA and the Dangerous Politicization of Our College Campuses.” — JAB
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UVa Vice Provost’s Tough Job: Recruiting More Blacks to a “Racist” University
by James A. Bacon Pity poor Stephen Farmer. The newly appointed vice provost for enrollment at the University of Virginia has a thankless job: fulfilling the goal of admitting more African Americans and Hispanics, even as Virginia’s flagship university has inadvertently branded itself as a racist institution. Farmer’s appointment was highlighted in the most recent…
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What Must Jim Ryan Do to Earn a $100,000 Bonus?
by James A. Bacon When the University of Virginia hired Jim Ryan as president in 2018, the terms of his employment were spelled out in a contract. Anyone can obtain a copy of the document under the Freedom of Information Act, as Bacon’s Rebellion has done. You can view it here. Among other things, the…
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Darkness Descends upon Mr. Jefferson’s University
by James A. Bacon In the previous post I gave a chronological account of how a classroom joke delivered by Associate Professor Jeffrey Leopold in University of Virginia business class exploded into a full-fledged racial controversy. The post was a straightforward, just-the-facts-ma’am narrative of what happened. I made every effort to give all sides of…
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Anatomy of a Racial Incident at UVa
by James A. Bacon Jeffrey Leopold, a University of Virginia assistant professor, was assigned this fall to teach “COMM 1800 — Foundations of Commerce,” a prerequisite for students entering the McIntire School of Commerce. On October 22 he lectured the class on the topic of globalism. His purpose was to explain the necessity of adopting…
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Some First Amendment Rights More Important than Others
Cartoon circulating among University of Virginia alumni…
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Daniel Invokes Honor Code to Clean up UVa’s Lawn
by James A. Bacon Aubrey M. Daniel III, author of two widely read letters critical of the University of Virginia administration for its handling of the controversial “F— UVA” sign posted on the door of a Lawn resident, has issued a third, which he says will be his last. Following the advice of university counsel,…
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A Challenge to the University of Virginia Ed School on the Teaching of K-12 Black Children
by James C. Sherlock I provided an extensive review in this space of the latest book by Dr. Bettina Love, an assistant professor in the education school of the University of Georgia. She advocates separate but equally funded schools for black children and a radically revised curriculum unique to black children. Readers can see in that…
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Is Love More Powerful than Hate on UVa’s Lawn?
A University of Virginia student shared the photo above and appended the following anonymous note: I am a student at UVA. I put out these signs this morning (10/31) to show my support for the University, and to counter the hate in the messages posted on the doors behind the signs. All they say is…