The Problem with Mandated Diversity Statements in Faculty Hiring and Promotion
Improving diversity is a worthy endeavor. But compelled “diversity statements” are a form of social engineering that, ironically, can be exclusionary.
Education
Public School Superintendent Who Warned Pod-Based Learning 'Causes Inequities' Is Sending His Own Kid to Private School
Alexandria City Public Schools is still in virtual mode, and top education official Gregory Hutchings has enrolled his child elsewhere.
Corey DeAngelis: COVID-19 Is Super-Spreading School Choice
Lockdowns are forcing students, parents, educators, and even taxpayers to look for all sorts of alternatives to the status quo.
Why a Broad View of Academic Freedom Is Essential
Most things faculty publish don’t lead to a backlash. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not an academic freedom problem.
Three Core Beliefs that Define the Boundaries of Free Inquiry and Discourse on Many Campuses
These beliefs shouldn’t be considered the only legitimate way to see the world.
Trump's Student Visa Disaster
There are 1.2 million foreign students in the United States, and ICE keeps leaving them in the lurch, threatening to kick them out (and then rescinding that guidance).
How Social Media Have Changed Campus Climate
The dynamics of the information ecosystem have impacted research and teaching.
"Unassailable Ideas: How Unwritten Rules and Social Media Shape Discourse in American Higher Education"
Profs. Ilana Redstone and John Villasenor are guest-blogging this week about their new book.
Amy Coney Barrett Condemns Purdue University's 'Fundamentally Unfair' Adjudication of Sexual Assault Claims
The opinion, which suggests a strong concern about due process, will nevertheless be cited as evidence of the SCOTUS nominee's "uniformly conservative" record.
USC Marshall Business School Dean E-Mail on the Greg Patton / "Neige" Controversy
"The university's Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX (EEO-TIX) ... concluded that ... Professor Patton's actions did not violate the university's policy."
Louisiana School Threatens 9-Year-Old Boy with Expulsion for Having BB Gun During Virtual Class
"They’re applying on-campus rules to these children, even though they’re learning virtually in their own homes."
Unlock the Damned Playgrounds, Already
Playing outside is one of the safest group activities kids can do, yet Gavin Newsom and other pols are extending the pandemic misery indefinitely.
K-12 Schools That Reopened Have Avoided COVID-19 Surges So Far
In communities where young kids returned to classes, it's mostly good news.
Are 'Pandemic Pods' a Symptom of the Public School Monopoly? A Soho Forum Debate
The University of Illinois' Jon Hale and Reason Foundation education analyst Corey DeAngelis go toe to toe
USC Faculty Reaction to the Great USC Chinese Homonym Panic
"Scathing comments" from an anonymous faculty survey (reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education), plus an article in the Atlantic. You can't buy publicity like that, as they say, or faculty morale like that.
Petition to "Impose Further Disciplinary Actions" on University Students for TikTok Singalong
The students are at Florida International University, "Miami's first and only public research university."
Could All Parents Have 'Pandemic Pods' If There Were More School Choice? A Soho Forum Debate
As K–12 education goes remote, groups of parents are hiring teachers to teach their kids in person. Is that wrong?
Affirmative Action in College Admissions Will Be on California's Ballot in November
A November ballot initiative would pit minority communities against each other.
Trump's 1776 Commission to 'Promote Patriotic Education' Is Executive Overreach
Plus: Child mortality has dropped sharply, progressives have retro ideas about sex, farmers get $14 billion, and more...
NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Delays School Reopening at the Last Minute, Infuriating Parents
He also refused to apologize.
Department of Education to Investigate Racism at Princeton University
An open letter from the university's President acknowledging pervasive racism at the school prompts an inquiry
An Online Student Attended a Rooftop Party. He Was Reported to NYU and Suspended Indefinitely.
Universities are punishing kids for partying—after cashing their tuition checks, of course.
"Students Demand Skidmore College Fire an Art Professor for Observing a Pro-Cop Rally"
"David and Andrea Peterson didn't even participate in the rally—they just watched it. The students don't care."
The Great USC Chinese Homonym Panic of 2020
Global reactions, plus a question [UPDATE: which has been answered, see below]. (This post, put up yesterday afternoon, was bumped so people can see the UPDATE.)
Students Demand Skidmore College Fire an Art Professor for Observing a Pro-Cop Rally
David and Andrea Peterson didn't even participate in the rally—they just watched it. The students don't care.
How Should Universities (Especially Law Schools) Treat The Powerful?
a response to an important and thoughtful argument by Jacob Levy
Statements from USC Dean and Provost About the Greg Patton / "Neige" Controversy
The framing is now that Prof. Patton's example was unduly "polarizing" -- but does that normally call for a professor to be switched in the middle of the course?
University's Center for Social Justice and Inclusion Hosts Race-Segregated Virtual Events
University of Michigan-Dearborn offers one discussion space for students of color, and another for whites.
Should We Quit Teaching Cursive in a Digital Age?
While script may wire the brain, connect to history, and come more naturally to many kids, digital print is winning.
Trump's Struggle To Win the Gary Johnson Vote
Sadly for the president, 2016 Libertarians are not "all Republican voters." Sadly for us, his opposition to "endless wars" doesn't translate into ending them.
Letter from USC Marshall School of Business Alumni About the "Neige" / Prof. Greg Patton Controversy
"This current incident, and Marshall's response so far, seem disturbingly similar to prevalent behavior in China [during the Cultural Revolution]—spurious accusations against innocent people, which escalated into institutional insanity."
School Calls Cops on 12-Year-Old Boy Who Held Toy Gun During Zoom Class
Isaiah Elliott also received a five-day suspension, but plans to transfer.
This Labor Day, Police and Teachers Unions Are Making a Bad Year Worse
Americans are being forced to confront the downsides of powerful organized labor in an already miserable year.
Study Finds More School Arrests In Florida After the State Doubled The Number of Police in Schools
There were four times as many incidents of physical restraint against students the year after Florida doubled the number of police in its schools.
Hispanic Parents Want More Choices for School
School choice programs can help Hispanic families ease their fears about the coronavirus.
Teachers Unions Push Families Out of Public Schools
Kids are beside the point when government officials and union leaders keep them waiting on labor negotiations that serve everybody but students and their families.
USC Communications Professor "on a Short-Term Break" for Giving Chinese Word "Neige" as Example …
in a class discussion of filler words in conversation (which "neige" apparently is).
USC Suspended a Communications Professor for Saying a Chinese Word That Sounds Like a Racial Slur
Greg Patton was describing the Chinese filler word "nega," which earned him a temporary suspension.
Tenured Professor Fired for Accurately Quoting Leading Campus Speech Code Case
The professor, chair of the Central Michigan University journalism department, was teaching a media law class, and quoted a case that discussed the use of the word "nigger" at public universities.
"Some [Academics] Fear for Their Career Because They Don't Believe Progressive Orthodoxies"
From Prof. John McWhorter (Columbia) in The Atlantic.
Should Universities Recommend (or Demand) Epithet Filtering on Students' and Professors' Internet Devices?
A thought experiment that came to my mind; I'd love to hear what others think about it.
The Controversy Over Quoting Racial Epithets, Now at UC Irvine School of Law
Plus a new draft law review article on the subject, by Prof. Randall Kennedy (Harvard Law School), a leading scholar of race and the law, and me.
