Today Peter Wood posted an article explaining how academic freedom should be a privilege for anyone who is committed to the search for truth through rational inquiry and dispassionate and scrupulous use of evidence. That includes students and administrators. His article is a response to this essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Last week, the Pope Center released its latest paper, in which author Melana Zyla Vickers investigated the shadowy world of mandatory student accommodations for those who have (or at least have documentation saying they have) some learning disability. In today’s Clarion Call, I discuss several of the issues raised by her paper.
Our friends at FIRE continue their meritorious work on behalf of free speech on campus, this time at Duke, which, as you may recollect, has had some problems with the idea over the years. In this instance, the Duke University Women’s Center had refused to allow a group of undergraduate women, members of Duke Students for Life, to use its facilities for a presentation on motherhood. Apparently, some of the others at the women’s center got quite exercised about the topic, and complained loudly, prompting one of the DWC’s staffers to refuse the request. Remember that the Women’s Center, like many other student organizations on Duke’s campus and elsewhere, is supported by the activities fees that come out of everyone’s tuition. Its use, in principle at least, isn’t restricted to a specific set of viewpoints or groups. Ah, but as I’ve learned over the years, that’s often exactly how it works in practice, especially at Women’s Centers, where being a “woman” is less about being female, and much, much more about feminist ideology. Sad to say, but I’ve heard this record many, many times before. That’s why it’s so heartening that FIRE has been able to talk sense to Duke’s administration, and that they’ve responded by doing the right thing and rescinding the ban. Too bad, though, that there was ever a need for such action in the first place. There’s a long, long way yet to go, but FIRE’s efforts certainly have us moving in the right direction.
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Cross posted from NAS.org
NAS President Peter Wood appeared on the University Talk radio program to speak about federal direct lending as included in the reconciliation bill. He talked about how the former student loan system was rife with corruption, but that the new system will be even worse because it will give the government a foothold in higher education.
To listen to the segment, click here.
Under pressure, 48 states have proposed common standards for grades K-12. Some of them are having second thoughts. Chester Finn says the standards should be taken seriously because they’re intellectually solid, voluntary, and will help parents make better school choices. But others such as Sandra Stotsky, say the standards are much too low.
What do you think?
“A lack of intellectual diversity hurts both left and right,” contended John Ellis in a statement last week to the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education of the California Legislature. John Ellis is president of the California Association of Scholars.
For those readers who serve on faculty hiring committees, Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, offers strategies for speaking up when the committee begins to talk about “diversity.” Here are his recommendations, in brief (to read his accompanying remarks in the original article, click here):
1. I think we need to check with the university counsel on this.
2. The Supreme Court has rejected the role model justification.
3. Title VI is not the same as Title VII.
4. Suppose we were doing X in order to increase the number of white males – would you say that wasn’t discrimination?
5. Why are we using race or sex as a proxy for something else?
6. You know, we’re discriminating against some minorities in favor of other minorities.
John Leo, editor of Minding the Campus, published an article on National Review Online called “Code Words.” He links Glenn Beck’s warning about “social justice” to other code words of the campus left, such as “cultural competence” and “sustainability,” words that sound like wholesome ideas but which really have hidden political meanings.
On campus today students are urged to embrace fashionable ideologies; we need to know what lies behind these terms. Leo quotes NAS president Peter Wood’s article “What Does ‘Sustainability’ Have to Do with Student Loans?” which begins to unpack some of the nebulous buzzwords.
Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter was scheduled to speak at the University of Ottawa last week, having been invited by a student group at the campus. In anticipation of her speech, the University’s Vice President and Provost 
Francois Houle wrote her a letter warning her to use restraint, since “Canadian law puts reasonable limits on the freedom of expression,” and “promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges.”
The night of Coulter’s scheduled appearance, about 2,000 angry student protesters crowded the entrance to the venue, and the fire alarm was pulled, causing everyone to have to evacuate the building. Coulter’s speech was cancelled due to fears of the protests turning violent. Apparently the chanting students had been emboldened by Houle’s letter.
It’s ironic that, rather than the calming effect it purportedly intended, Houle’s threat opened the door to so much outrage. It prompted Ed Morrow to jeu d’esprit. And Mark Steyn has an excellent response here.
NAS.org articles
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