[](/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/09/41B511BB937C4D9ABB8EA4E868E53FB1.jpg)A regular column dedicated to reporting on the slanted teaching, mis-administration and sheer insanity of our nation’s colleges and universities.
Top Stories:
• Michigan State University has suspended Professor William Penn for the current semester after he was caught on video ranting against Republicans in the classroom. While teaching his Literatures, Cultures, Identities course on August 29, Penn accused Republicans of attempting to suppress the black vote and characterized them as “cheap” and claiming “they have already raped this country and gotten everything out of it they possibly could.”
• The College Republicans at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill are speaking out after the finance committee of the Student Congress cut their annual budget by more than 75% while doling out substantial increases to two left-wing campus groups. CR chairman Nate Pencook protested the decision, telling the Student Congress: “I really came to encourage you on two magic words: intellectual diversity.” The budget cut means that the CRs may not be able to bring as many conservative speakers to campus as planned.
• Prof. Andrea Hatcher, a professor of political science at Sewanee: The University of the South, revealed on twitter that an Obama-advocacy organization sought to use her to recruit students to publicly praise President Obama’s policies. “I don’t shill for any interest group or party,” Hatcher declared in response. The organization, called Organizing for Action, has its roots in the Obama presidential campaigns, and did not return calls from journalists.
• After a student at Florida State University posted racially offensive comments on a university-wide social media network, university administrators responded by declaring that “Florida State has zero tolerance for racist speech, no matter which medium is used to communicate the message” and promised to “take appropriate action within University policy.” The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is looking into the case, noting that “FSU’s professed ‘zero tolerance’ stance toward racist speech” is “plainly irreconcilable” with its obligation as a public institution to uphold the First Amendment.
Further news from the campuses:
Pro-Palestinian Campus Campaign Asks Students To Join ‘Right Side’ [The College Fix]
Students for Justice in Palestine, a group of faculty and students dedicated to furthering the cause of the Palestinian people, recently launched a new advocacy and membership drive campaign at San Diego State University to coincide with the start of the fall semester.
Campus Chaos: Free Speech for Me but Not for Thee [Intercollegiate Review]
Universities like to present themselves as defenders of free speech and free association. But this veneer of tolerance starts to crumble when conservatives’ or religious believers’ rights are threatened.
The Cheat Goes on at Harvard [NYPost.com]
Cheaters never win — but they get into Harvard! Nearly half of the school’s incoming freshmen admitted to cheating on homework, exams or other assignments in their young academic careers, according to a survey by the Ivy League institution’s student newspaper.
UNC Slashes College Republican Budget, Gives More To Anarchists and Feminists [The College Fix]
Student government representatives in charge of doling out campus club funding requests at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill have decided to slash the amount sought by the College Republicans to bring in two conservative guests speakers this fall, but meanwhile agreed to allocate more money to groups involving anarchists and feminists.
Michigan State University Suspends Professor Over ‘Offensive’ Anti-Republican Tirade Caught on Video [TheBlaze.com]
A Michigan State University professor who was caught on video ranting about “racist” Republicans has been suspended for the remainder of the semester, Campus Reform reports.
Professor William Penn’s tirade was “inappropriate, disrespectful and offensive,” Dean Karen Wurst of the College of Arts & Letters said in an email to students Thursday.
LSU’s ‘Free Speech’ Zones Raise A Disturbing Question: Are We Losing The War? [Forbes.com]
This fall I will celebrate 12 years defending the basic rights of students on college campuses across the country, and in that time my organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), has had some great successes. But while we win battle after battle, sometimes I fear we are losing the war. Time and time again I see examples of how campuses are teaching a generation, primarily through example, how to think like censors and how to apply all the wrong lessons about what it means to live in a free society.
‘Zero Tolerance’ for Racist Speech Raises First Amendment Concerns at Florida State [TheFire.org]
At Florida State University, a controversy has erupted in response to a student’s posting on the social media platform Vine.
Campus Leaders Call Conservative Women Unimpressive, Unworthy [The College Fix]
Conservative female investigative reporters Katie Pavlich and Ann McElhinney are unimpressive nonacademics whose speaking honorariums are too high and credentials too unremarkable to pay to have them give talks at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill this fall, members of the school’s student government have agreed.
College Republicans Cry Foul After Receiving Less Money in Budget than Liberal Groups [Campus Reform]
College Republicans (CR) at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) are upset after the student government approved a budget plan on Tuesday night which gave them less money than two rival liberal groups.
Duquesne University Kicks Geraldo Rivera Off Panel Because of ‘Selfie’ [Daily Caller]
Duquesne University has rescinded an invitation to Fox News journalist Geraldo Rivera to moderate an academic panel on the Kennedy assassination.
The reason? Rivera recently snapped a shirtless photograph of himself and sent it to his Twitter followers — a move that violates Duquesne’s Catholic principles, according to a university spokesperson.
FemSex Workshop Returns to Campus Despite Scrutiny from Alumni, Faculty [Marquette Tribune]
After receiving academic sponsorship from the University Honors Program, FemSex, a weekly student workshop centered on the discussion of female sexuality and reproduction, is returning to Marquette’s campus this fall. The program underwent scrutiny last year and eventually lost support from university administration.
College Prof. Claims Obama Group Tried to Use Her to ‘Recruit’ Students [TheBlaze.com]
Organizing for Action, the political nonprofit that grew out of the Obama presidential campaigns, sought to use at least one college professor to recruit students for publicly advocating on behalf of President Barack Obama’s policies, one instructor claimed on Twitter.
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