Harvard’s idea of diversity is for everyone to look different and think alike.
–Harvey Silverglate
Silverglate, a distinguished lawyer and a long-time liberal, helped found FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
Sadly, it is not just Harvard. It is virtually all elite liberal-arts colleges.
Brown University will offer segregated student dinners for black, Muslim students (The College Fix)
The contorted logic is straight out of Orwell’s Big Brother state.
Separate dining, they say, will promote “racial reconciliation” as the segregated groups discuss common issues.
It looks like the Muslim group is only for women.
Private donors are actually paying for this.
Funds come from Newman’s Own Foundation and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation via the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Comments:
Student discussion groups are valuable. Nothing wrong with them. Discussing common issues is good, too.
Sometimes students want to get together with like-minded people. That’s usually okay, barring some forms of invidious discrimination, but more and more university administrators want veto power over such private associations. That’s dreadful.
Still, there are some problems with Brown’s new arrangements.
Does anyone really think that Brown University, one of the most progressive, selective institutions in the country, needs segregated dining to promote “racial and religious reconciliation” on campus? If Brown students are this intolerant, what hope is left for the rest of us?
By the way, do you notice one missing “oppressed victims group?” Hispanics. Know why? Because most Hispanic students see themselves as upward bound and taking advantage of America’s opportunities. For the most part, they aren’t buying into “victimization as a political strategy” on campus. Of course, progressive leaders and teachers in ethnic studies programs hate this attitude, which portends successful social integration. These “leaders” are trying their best to stamp it out. Let’s hope they keep failing.
The Brown initiative comes as Cal State LA offers segregated housing for black students, while students at Michigan demanded a “no-whites-allowed” space on campus. (College Fix)
Well, maybe “fellow” isn’t such a good title, either.
In any case, Harvard students know oppression, imperialism, capitalism, and heteronormativity when they see it, and they are shouting back.
Here’s the headline in the student newspaper:
Outcry After Chelsea Manning Dropped from IOP Fellowship (The Crimson, Harvard)
Controversy enveloped the Kennedy School of Government this weekend as critics on campus and around the country castigated the school for rescinding Chelsea Manning’s appointment as a visiting fellow this fall.
Facing criticism on-campus and nationwide, Dean of the Kennedy School Douglas W. Elmendorf rescinded Manning’s invitation in a statement issued in the early hours of Friday, calling her selection a “mistake.”
Now the school faces a fresh wave of controversy as commentators lambast Harvard’s decision to disinvite Manning, a transgender activist whose prison sentence former President Barack Obama commuted in 2017. –The Crimson
The pushback from the campus left, which now sees itself in its preferred position of “blameless victim,” includes a letter condemning the university for dropping the Manning offer:
In light of her selfless sacrifices as a whistleblower, her dedication to the truth, and her commitment to human rights, we call upon the Harvard Kennedy School to reinstate Chelsea Manning’s designation as a fellow at the Institute of Politics,” read the letter, signed by the Trans Task Force, the Progressive Jewish Alliance, and the Anti-Islamophobia Network, among several other groups. –Letter from student organizations supporting Chelsea Manning appointment at Harvard, quoted in The Crimson
The Crimson article, it should be noted, is fair-minded and includes on-the-record quotes from university members on both sides of the controversy.
Its reporting on a disputed left-right issue is actually superior to that of the NYT, Washington Post, and other media.
Comment: This dispute is framed in quite different ways by the opposing sides–and that framing matters.
The left sees it as primarily a snub to Manning because of her gender reassignment.
The right sees it as a reasonable decision about someone who leaked classified information.
The left sees the leaking as a valuable public service.
The right sees it as a crime that was properly punished by a court-martial.
Both sides see the designation as a “Fellow” of the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics as an honor. One sees it as well deserved, the other as an endorsement of espionage.
FYI: The headline of this post, “Chelsea Mourning,” is a nod to Joni Mitchell:
Thanks to the wonderful Belladonna Rogers for this story
Yes, it cost a fortune–estimates run as high as $600,000.
That number tells you just how determined and threatening the Social Justice Warriors, anarchists, and miscellaneous rabble are in trying to prevent free speech.
But whatever the cost of defending Ben Shapiro’s appearance, it is far less than the cost to our country of letting threats of violence shut down our public sphere.
That’s why I admire the post from my friend and fellow political scientist, Ron Hassner.
Articles chosen with care. Your comments welcomed.
Linked articles in bold purple
◆ Let us now praise a great baseball record: Cleveland Indians win 22 straight games
How hard is that? Well, one indication is that no one has ever done it before.
Another is to look at the law of averages.
If you are playing .600 ball (as the Indians are, roughly), then the chances you don’t lose any game out of 5 are a little less than 8% (1 in 12).
The chances you don’t lose any game out of 10 are .006 (about 1/2 of 1%)
The chances that, as a ,600 ball club, you don’t lose 1 game out of 22 are .000013 (that’s 4 zeroes, or 1 chance in 100,000).
That number turns out to be remarkably close to what the law of averages suggest.
In 140 years of major league ball, there have been about 210k games. Roughly half the teams are above .500, and maybe 30% are above .600. That would mean .600 ball clubs played about 70,000 major league games. And this is the first team to go 22 straight, not far off from 1 in 100,000.
Comment: Does someone want to check my calculations here and make sure I have it right?
◆ North Korea responds to sanctions by launching another missile over Japan, its longest missile flight yet (Japan Times)
It was the longest demonstrated flight test of a ballistic missile ever conducted by North Korea and the second instance of the country overflying Japan with a system designed to deliver nuclear warheads. …
According to data released by the South Korean military, the missile flew to a range of approximately 3,700 kilometers while reaching an apogee of 770 kilometers over a flight time of 17 minutes. Japan warned civilians on Hokkaido of a missile overflight, activating sirens and issuing electronic alerts. –Japan Times
Comment: The Trump Administration will almost certainly respond with more sanctions and perhaps begin shooting down North Korean missiles or firing missiles over North Korea, just as it has fired them over Japan.
Since both China and Russia voted for the latest round of UN sanctions, this test has to be a finger aimed at them, too.
◆ More anti-Semitism from the Keith Ellison camp (Washington Free Beacon)
Rep. Ellison (D-MN) is the #2 person in the Democratic National Committee.
His press secretary, Isaiah Breen, said that a prominent Jewish reporter looks like “an anti-Semitic caricature” and then doubled down on his vile language. He was not fired, at least not yet; he merely joked about it. (That is an update, thanks to a question from Zakary Taylor and some followup.)
The flack later said he had not been fired because of his noxious Tweets.
Comment: The problem goes beyond Ellison and Breen. It has become pervasive on the far left.
◆ New Yorker interview with HRC: “Hillary Clinton Looks Back in Anger” (David Remnick interviewer)
Comment: Her grating, hectoring tone reminds voters why of her problems, not her strengths.
Her time in the limelight is also a distraction for her party, which wants to move on.
Oliver Cromwell’s speech dissolving the Rump Parliament in 1653 catches the mood:
◆ Harvard honors Chelsea Manning by inviting her to be a Fellow of the Institute of Politics. Rescinds offer after blowback.
For some odd reason, the rest of the country is grouchy with the decision to honor someone who leaked massive amounts of secret documents.
Harvard’s Kennedy School dean then rescinds the offer, but asks Manning to speak. (New York Post)
The views at Harvard were more mixed (Harvard Crimson)
Noah R. Wagner ’18, a member of the Harvard Trans Task Force, speaking in a personal capacity, praised the IOP for appointing Manning.
“Whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning are exactly the people that we need, shedding light on the atrocities and injustices for which the U.S. military is responsible, and for which there is rarely transparency or accountability. She’s also a personal hero of mine and a hero for many members of the trans community,” Wagner said. –Harvard Crimson
Comment: Manning, then known as Private Bradley Manning, was court martialed and convicted under the Espionage Act for leaking 750k sensitive or classified documents to Wikileaks. She changed gender identities in prison, where she served 7 years before Pres. Obama commuted her sentence.
Hat Tip to
◆ Linda Killian for Oliver Cromwell
Articles chosen with care. Your comments welcomed.
Linked articles in bold purple
◆ Dreamer Deal Possible: Chuck, Nancy and Donald agree to work on deal to avoid deportations (Washington Post)
The border wall is not included.
Democratic leaders announced late Wednesday that they agreed with President Trump to pursue a legislative deal that would protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation and enact border security measures that don’t include building a physical wall. –Washington Post
Republican leaders are on the outside, looking in.
And some of Trump’s base is furious.
In a sign of the potential trouble for the president, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), an immigration hard-liner and early Trump supporter, wrote that if reports of a potential immigration deal are accurate, the president’s “base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair. No promise is credible.” –Washington Post
◆ Post-Irma tragedy: Eight patients died in south Florida nursing home without power during sweltering heat (Orlando Sun-Sentinel)
Police have launched an investigation.
Comment: One larger policy issue: Why doesn’t Florida require nursing homes to have generators?
The Sun-Sentinel reports that 150 nursing homes (out of 700 in the state) are still without power.
◆ North Korea threats to reduce US to “ashes and darkness” and “sink Japan” (Reuters)
Regional tensions have risen markedly since the reclusive North conducted its sixth, and by far its most powerful, nuclear test on Sept. 3.
The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions on Monday in response, banning North Korea’s textile exports that are the second largest only to coal and mineral, and capping fuel supplies.
The North reacted to the latest action by the Security Council, which had the backing of veto-holding China and Russia, by reiterating threats to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea. –Reuters
Comment: Meanwhile, there are reports North Korea is preparing another nuclear test.
◆ US News and World Report College Rankings
Familiar names, great schools. They compete hard against each other and are not just tops in the US, they are tops in the world (along with Oxford and Cambridge)
Two Comments: First, students can get a great education at many schools. The important thing is to find one that “fits.” Fit depends on your needs, your interests, and your personality, as well as the school’s strengths and weaknesses and the niches it provides for students.
Second, I don’t see how you can say Harvard ranks above or below, say, Stanford or Chicago. I think you can say that some schools rank in the very top-tier and others are a half-step back. Even that depends on whether you are interested in biology or French literature.
◆ You knew it was coming: CEO of Equifax called to testify before Congress (The Hill)
Prediction: Kabuki Theater. The CEO will be contrite, the Congressmen angry.
The CEO will say his company takes this very seriously, is really working on these problems, and will help those affected.
The Representatives will posture for the cameras, expressing the public’s genuine anger.
Meanwhile, this extraordinary piece of news about Equifax’s internal security:
◆ Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduces bill to make it easier to conduct medical marijuana research (The Verge)
The Marijuana Effective Drug Study Act of 2017 would streamline the process for approving research and increase the national marijuana quota for medical and scientific research. Marijuana has been shown to have potential health benefits such as treating seizures and managing pain. –The Verge
Hat Tip to
◆ Mike Lipson for the Equifax BBC story
On Thursday, Ben Shapiro is scheduled to speak at the University of California, Berkeley, which has tried very hard for months to prevent him from speaking.
Shapiro is a reasonably well-known talk show host with conservative views, multiple books to his credit, and a superb academic record.
He has strident views, but he is neither a kook nor a (metaphorical) bomb-thrower. (With Antifa rioters throwing real bombs, you have to add “metaphorical” to the Shapiro description.)
He’s smart and extremely well-educated: As an undergraduate at UCLA, he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. At Harvard Law, he graduated cum laude. He practiced briefly with a top national firm in Los Angeles before turning to journalism.
The left has smeared him as a “fascist” and a “white nationalist.” He is neither. He is not a Trump supporter and, in private life, an orthodox Jew.
He has the odd and unhappy distinction of being attacked both as a Jew (by numerous anti-Semites, a group increasingly prominent on the left) and as an Alt-Right White Nationalist.
His association with Andrew Breitbart, with whom he work for several years, is another lightning rod. Shapiro continued to work with Breitbart.com after the founder’s death but resigned on grounds of principle when the news outlet refused to defend one of its reporters allegedly manhandled by Corey Lewandowski, then-campaign manager for Donald Trump.
The left and anti-Israel activists have decided Shapiro should be prevented from speaking on college campuses, including public universities, and the target of physical confrontations when he does try to speak.
In 2016, protesters form human chains around an auditorium at Cal State LA to prevent him from speaking. (They failed.)
Later that year, DePaul University banned him from setting foot on their campus. He was banned from participating in an event to which he had been invited. DePaul, it should be noted, is one of the worst offenders against free speech in the country. Their treatment of Shapiro was par for their substandard course.
When Shapiro appeared on television with a transgender activist, Zoey Tur, he was threatened with physical assault again after referring to Tur with male terminology.
Berkeley is so fearful of Shapiro’s speech that they are closing off nearby buildings on the day of the event.
They are also–incredibly–offering psychological counseling for Cal students traumatized by the mere thought of Shapiro speaking on campus. That’s a real thing.
What is also sadly read: anarchists and crazies are likely to show up and riot.
The willingness to use violence to stop opposing views is a fundamental threat to our constitutional democracy. That willingness is rising, and people of all political stripes need to speak out clearly and forcefully against it. 
♦♦♦♦♦♦
If you have a long memory, you might recall George W. Bush’s Attorney General John Ashcroft deciding to change the backdrop at the Department of Justice.
Initially, when he held press conferences, he stood in front of the Department’s half-nude, art deco statue, “Spirit of Justice.”
He preferred a more modest, less distracting backdrop, so he had blue curtains installed.
It seemed a little silly, but harmless enough.
The national media had a field day mocking him as a cultural cretin.
“What kind of backwoods idiot is he?” was the view in Manhattan, Cambridge, and the swankier sections of Washington. They deigned to look down their collective noses at him and his kind of people, much as they laughed at Victorians who covered up piano “legs.”
Typical were the views of always-grating Maureen Dowd (link here):
A Blue Burka for Justice
By Maureen Dowd
New York Times, January 30, 2002
I had to call Attorney General John Ashcroft recently to ask if he had instructed his advance team to remove naked lady statues and calico cats from his vicinity because they were wicked.
I know it sounds loopy. But with these guys, you never know. –NYT
Yuck, yuck, yuck!! Those rubes.
(Btw, Dowd’s column is not an example of newspaper bias, IMO. You can agree or disagree with her, but she is writing an opinion column, and it is clearly labeled as such. The Times’ problem with bias is not that its opinion columns tilt one way but that its editorial opinions suffuse its hard-news coverage.)
Now, the tables have turned, and I await the mockery from the NYT, the Post, and others.
I suspect I’ll have a long wait.
Here’s the story:
Yale University censors ‘hostile’ historic artwork (Link here)
Officials at Yale University recently censored a stone work of art on campus depicting an armed Native American and Puritan side by side, which has been described as a “hostile” image by the Ivy League institution’s alumni magazine.
The stone carving was edited to cover up the Puritan’s musket, while the Native American’s bow was left as is, reports Yale Alumni Magazine (link here).
The decision to censor the carving was made by both head librarian Susan Gibbons and Yale’s Committee on Art in Public Spaces, the latter of which advises President Peter Salovey “on ways to better represent the diversity of the Yale community through the art and other symbolic representations found around campus,” according to the university’s website. –The College Fix, referencing Yale Alumni Magazine
Did anybody complain or even notice the shocking musket? Nope, no record of any complaints.
Is Yale unique in such censorship? Alas, no.
A number of universities in recent years have censored or concealed art on campus. Earlier this year, Pepperdine University removed a Christopher Columbus statue from its grounds while late last summer the University of Wisconsin-Stout moved a painting of Native Americans and French frontier trappers from a public area to a private conference room. The art in these two cases was deemed “painful” and “harmful,” respectively. –College Fix
I just hope the New York Times doesn’t find out. Surely they will be outraged at this artistic censorship.
Yeah, sure.
It is not unexpected that Yale would censor anything it considers politically incorrect. That’s its standard practice today.
Articles chosen with care. Your comments welcomed.
Linked articles in bold purple
The bill aims to prioritize workers’ skills over family ties, and amounts to the “most significant reform to our immigration system in half a century,” Trump said. The goal of the bill would be to knock down the number of legal immigrants admitted into the U.S. each year from about 1 million to 500,000 by 2027.
The RAISE bill would cut out the four-tiered family immigration category for green cards, paving way for a new merit-based system that prioritizes high-skilled workers who have a high level of English and “entrepreneurial initiative.” –ABC News
Comment: The two central elements of the bill are inherently separable. Shifting to a merit-based system does not entail raising or lowering the number of people legally admitted. If lower-skilled workers are still needed for some jobs, then an amendment could admit them on a temporary basis–but only if there was some tough measures to ensure they left after that period. Right now, there aren’t.
Bipartisan support? Not a chance. The Democrats are already lining up to say how racist it is. It isn’t.
What’s interesting is that the cutbacks will clear bolster employment opportunities and wages for lower-income Americans–precisely the people Democrats claim they want to help. Unfortunately for Democrats, it cuts into Hispanic immigration, or, to put it differently, into the Identity Politics that is now the true heart of the party. Forced to choose between Identity Politics and Lower-income workers (including many blacks and Hispanics), the Democrats are going with Identity.
Interesting question: will African-American Democrats go along? My bet is that they will, but that they will try to keep a low profile to avoid attention from their voters (who will be harmed). Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders will say, “If blacks and Hispanic members split on this, we’ll lose our leverage.”
Actually, they don’t have any leverage. The real leverage will come from the US Chamber of Commerce, and it will be on Republicans, some of whom will cave.
⇒ Followup: What Did the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) leaders say today? Crickets
I checked the Twitter feeds for these officers of the CBC:
None tweeting anything about the immigration proposal. Most of the other members, even the most voluble, such as Maxine Waters, maintained twitter silence on immigration.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee was the only prominent CBC member I found who weighed in. Her tweet lays out the likely response of African-American Democrats: We hate Trump, so we hate his immigration bill.
◆ Venice “Invaded by Tourists, Risks Becoming ‘Disneyland on the Sea’” (New York Times)
Comment:
◆ Without exactly apologizing for a misleading story, the NYT now says that the DOJ is focusing on discrimination against Asian-Americans by affirmative action programs (New York Times)
The NYT also reports on the Asian-American lawsuit against Harvard. Harvard is not alone; there are similar suits pending against Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and Penn.
Comment: It is blindingly obvious, at least to me, that these universities discriminate against Asian-Americans. Just look at their percentages (15-25%), compared to about 50% at Berkeley, which is legally prohibited from such discrimination–and would have a hard time doing it politically in California. Granted, California has more Asian-Americans, but the proportions at the Ivies are out of whack.
My guess is that the admissions departments say what they did about Jews 60 years ago: “We just have too many of these students who score 800 in math, 700 in verbal, and play the violin. They just aren’t ‘well-rounded.’ ” No matter that these students’ parents, like Jewish parents of an earlier generation, had modest incomes, encouraged their bright kids to study hard, and then watched as Harvard and Princeton smacked them down for far less-qualified students.
The only argument in Harvard’s favor is one they would never use: we are a private university and, until the government nationalizes us, we can set our own damned admissions standards, even if you think they are unfair.
The government’s response, “Hey, buddy, nice genetic research program you got there. Hate to see all the money taken away from it.” That, of course, is how the government enforces its Title IX rules on athletic programs.
◆ NAACP issues travel advisory, warning blacks it is dangerous for them to travel to Missouri (The Root)
State NAACP leaders told the [Kansas City] Star that the decision to issue the advisory was made after recent legislation passed in the state which makes it harder to win discrimination suits, the longtime and continued racial disparities in traffic enforcement, and a number of incidents that exemplify harm coming to both minority residents and minority visitors to the state. –The Root
◆ White House finally admits those calls to Trump from the Boy Scouts and President of Mexico didn’t actually happen (New York Times)
Comment: If only we had a cliché to describe that thing when somebody says something he knows is not true, and then does it over and over.
The national organization that does the best job promoting free speech is FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. It is tenacious in fighting for students’ and faculty rights to speak freely and to listen to varied viewpoints.
This year they have selected three outstanding undergraduates for their “remarkable dedication to advocacy . . . to protect free expression and due process in higher education.”
One, Brittany Wilson, is from UNC-Charlotte.
Another, Natalie Bao Tram Le, is from Harvard.
And one is my friend and former student, Matt Foldi, at the University of Chicago.
Here’s what they say about him (the whole article is here):
Bravo, FIRE.
Bravo, the University of Chicago, which is now in the forefront of supporting free speech, with the strong backing of students like Matt, faculty like Geoff Stone and Randy Picker, and administrators with backbone, including Pres. Bob Zimmer, Provost Dan Diermeier, Dean of the College John Boyer, and Dean of Students, John Ellison, whose letter to incoming students a year ago, clearly stating the university’s support for free-and-open discourse, stimulated a national conversation.
And bravo to Matt, Brittany, and Natalie.
Your fellow students don’t always know it, but you are really helping them to get a better education and a better platform to enter a world where people have different viewpoints–and need to learn how to engage each other intelligently.
