Tag: University of Virginia
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Ryan Defends UVa’s Diversity of Viewpoints
Earlier this week, University of Virginia alumnus Joel Gardner wrote a letter to President Jim Ryan outlining his concerns about the decline of intellectual diversity at the university. Writing in response, Ryan defended the diversity of viewpoints found at UVa. He cites numerous instances which have not gotten play on this blog, and I present…
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UVa Needs to Shut Down the Echo Chamber
The following passage is the second excerpt from a letter written by Joel Gardner, author of “From Rebel Yell to Revolution,” to University of Virginia President Jim Ryan. We published the first excerpt yesterday. — JAB Without being able to accurately substantiate the following with specific facts and figures … I believe there are virtually…
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The Greatest Threat to Academic Freedom and Integrity in UVa’s History
The following passage is excerpted from a letter written by Joel Gardner, author of “From Rebel Yell to Revolution,” to University of Virginia President Jim Ryan. — JAB Our University community is more divided than at any time since the anti-war turbulence of 1969-70. I lived through that period on Grounds and chronicled in my…
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An Intellectual-Diversity Agenda for UVa
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia’s insurgent alumni have made it very clear what they’re against. They don’t like profane signs on the Lawn that disrespect the University. They oppose contextualizing the Thomas Jefferson statue. They’re unhappy with the endless self-flagellation for the institution’s association with slavery and segregation, as if nothing has…
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Envision This: a Lawn with No Signage
by James A. Bacon In a letter written to Aubrey Daniel, one of the strongest critics of the UVa administration, Rector James B. Murray Jr. brings out new facts and arguments regarding Jim Ryan’s handling of the “F— UVA” Lawn sign controversy. Criticism has focused on a student’s use of profanity in a sign on…
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UVa’s Lawn Scandal — Bad Leadership and Worse Lawyering
by James C. Sherlock, University of Virginia, College of Arts and Sciences, 1966 Hira Azher’s profane sign on the door of her room on the University of Virginia’s Lawn has made headlines, and the ensuing controversy has raised many questions. This article will highlight a new issue. University administrators, I will argue, botched the handling…
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The “F— UVA” Girl Speaks
by James A. Bacon Hira Azher, the young University of Virginia woman thrust into the limelight after she posted the infamous “Fuck UVA” sign on the door of her Lawn residence, has written a column in the Cavalier Daily to defend her action, lambaste UVa President Jim Ryan, and attack the university as a white…
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The Cancel Culture Knows No Bounds. Where Does It End?
by James A. Bacon Thomas M. Neale, a lead organizer of the University of Virginia alumni revolt, has written a letter with 200 co-signatories to the Board of Visitors decrying the “cancel culture” permeating the university. The board has voted to rename the Curry School of Education, remove the George Rogers Clark statues, and contextualize…
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UVa Lawn Controversy: Daniel Strikes Again
In the wake of the controversy over profane political statements posted on room doors on the Lawn, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan penned a defense early this month of the university’s decision not to compel removal of the offending signage. In the statement, entitled “Good and Great Revisited,” he argued that the University can…
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Profanity Proliferates on the Lawn
by James A. Bacon After a resident of the Lawn at the University of Virginia posted signage saying, “Fuck UVa,” outraged alumni raised a stink in a series of letters to UVa President Jim Ryan. For the time being, said Ryan, Lawn residents’ free speech is protected by the First Amendment, but the administration is…
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Fraternities as Bastions Against the Cultural Totalitarians
by James A. Bacon Back when I attended the University of Virginia many moons ago, I was a GDI — an acronym for a God-Damned Independent. During the fall rush my first year I attended two fraternity parties on Rugby Road and found nothing entertaining about hanging out with people whose sole purpose seemed to…
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Newspeak for a Racial Spoils System
Letters from disgruntled alumni continue to pour into the office of University of Virginia president Jim Ryan. Bacon’s Rebellion is privy to some of them, and when letter writers add something new to the ongoing discussion, I will endeavor to publish the relevant passages in the blog. In this post, I’m extracting from a letter…
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UVA Legal Counsel Opines on Free Speech
The “F— UVa” sign on the door of a University of Virginia resident of the Lawn violates no university policy and is protected by the First Amendment, concluded University Counsel Timothy J. Heaphy. However, a new policy banning all signs on lawn room doors could pass constitutional muster if applied prospectively instead of retrospectively. “A…
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The Jaw Dropping Political Contributions of UVa’s Board of Visitors
By DJ Rippert Waiting for Godot. A recent article on this blog titled, “UVa Board Backs Ryan on Lawn Signage Issue,” seemed to suggest that The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors (BoV) was a critical link in UVa’s governance structure. My interpretation of the article was that the author (Jim Bacon) believed the BoV…
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UVa Board Backs Ryan on Lawn Signage Issue
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia Board of Visitors has issued a statement backing President Jim Ryan for his handling of offensive signs posted on the doors of rooms on the Lawn. “Simply put, there are no exceptions to the protections afforded by the First Amendment against state attempts to regulate political speech,”…