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EDUCATION

Five Ways Campus Turmoil Hurts Democrats and America Charles Lipson

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/04/30/five_ways_campus_turmoil_hurts_democrats_and_america_150863.html

Higher education is sinking lower and lower. That’s bad news for our country, which has benefited enormously from having the world’s best system of higher education. And it’s bad news for Democrats, who face a tight election. Their party is closely tied to education at all levels, especially at elite universities. It is the party of experts, after all, and the party of the left. Universities are both. Moreover, since the Democrats control the Executive Branch, the public holds them primarily accountable for ensuring social order. Their failures are obvious to the average voter. That’s bound to hurt Democratic Party candidates in November.

Parents with children in college or expected to matriculate soon have every right to expect their kids can learn in peace, hear diverse viewpoints, and speak freely without threats, intimidation, or indoctrination. That’s true whether the parents are Jewish or not. Decent Americans won’t tolerate threats against Jewish students any more than they would tolerate them against blacks, Muslims, Christians, or Asian Americans. Yet they now see those threats against Jewish students every day, and, at many universities, they don’t see administrators standing up for their rights.

Parents don’t understand why their kids aren’t being protected. They are unhappy that classes have been canceled and graduation ceremonies relegated to Zoom. They are dismayed that their tax money is being flushed down a sinkhole of anti-American propaganda. They wonder what in the world has happened to once-respected institutions. Good question.

Police at UNC Chapel Hill detain at least 30 anti-Israel protesters, crowds try to force into buildings Fox News Danielle Wallace

https://www.aol.com/news/police-unc-chapel-hill-detain-174055542.html

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill confirmed approximately 30 anti-Israel demonstrators were detained Tuesday morning for refusing to leave an encampment protest set up on campus.

At 5:30 a.m., UNC Chapel Hill administrators shared a statement from Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens advising protesters to leave the area and remove tents, tables or other items by 6 a.m. or they may face arrest and other consequences, including suspension from campus and, “ultimately, expulsion from the university, which may prevent students from graduating.”

At 6 a.m., UNC Police “calmly approached the group and detained approximately 30 people who refused to leave. During that time, the protesters attempted to block the UNC Police vehicles by standing in front of them and throwing items at officers. Polk Place was cleared in approximately 45 minutes. Afterwards, UNC Facilities cleared the area of significant debris,” the university said in a statement. “After the area was cleared, the remaining protesters escalated their tactics, attempting to forcibly enter South Building by pushing officers and refusing to comply with requests from Facilities and UNC Police.”

Christopher F. Rufo DEI Conquers Stanford The university now has at least 177 bureaucrats dedicated to left-wing racialism.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/dei-conquers-stanford

Stanford University, its campus lined with redwoods and eucalyptus trees, has long been known as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. But in recent years, another ideological force has taken root: “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” a euphemism for left-wing racialism. DEI, in fact, has conquered Stanford.

I have obtained exclusive analysis from inside Stanford outlining the incredible size and scope of the university’s DEI bureaucracy. According to this analysis, Stanford employs at least 177 full-time DEI bureaucrats, spread throughout the university’s various divisions and departments.

Stanford’s DEI mandate is the same as those of other universities: advance the principles of left-wing racialism, hire faculty and admit students according to identity, and suppress dissent on campus under the guise of fostering a “culture of inclusion” and “protected identity harm reporting.”

Julia Steinberg, an undergraduate and journalist at the Stanford Review, believes that DEI is a “black box” system of rewards and punishments for enforcing ideological adherence. “I’ve observed as students are reported by their peers for constitutionally protected speech,” and professors are denounced and accused of discrimination by other students “for the crime of not being PC enough in their research or in class,” she says. “Who fits or doesn’t fit into the DEI caste system determines a student or professor’s summary judgement.”

DEI’s growth at Stanford has been fast. In 2021, the Heritage Foundation counted 80 DEI officials at the university. That number has more than doubled since then.

Sophie Fujiwara, a recent graduate, explains that DEI has become “unavoidable” for students, with “mandatory classes” and “university-sponsored activities.” Left-wing students increasingly believed that this wasn’t enough. Following the George Floyd revolution of 2020, these students “demanded more initiatives and funding from the university for DEI-related subjects.”

U.S. Campuses: Grooming Terrorists by Bassam Tawil

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20606/us-campuses-grooming-terrorists

For these Arabs, including some Palestinians, there is nothing “pro-Palestinian” about supporting the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group….

Those who are chanting “we are all Hamas” on the streets of New York and U.S. college campuses are not helping the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip even slightly. They are being used as human shields by the terrorist group Hamas in its genocidal war against Israel and Jews.” — Loay Al-Shareef, social media influencer from the United Arab Emirates, X, April 23, 2024.

“You would not survive a day in Gaza under Hamas, which demands that ‘infidels’ live with dignity only if they are subordinate to Islamists…. You do not understand Arabic, nor do you know Islam well enough to comprehend what awaits you if Hamas prevails (God forbid).” — Loay Al-Shareef, X, April 23, 2024.

“[Y]ou would also be the target of hatred because radical Islamists like Hamas believe in eternal enmity towards Jews and Christians. They interpret the Quranic verse (“O you who believe, never take Jews and Christians as friends,” as timeless, applicable to all Jews and Christians forever.” — Loay Al-Shareef, X, April 23, 2024.

“Hamas’ approach, in other words, has been a disaster for Palestinians in Gaza…. If universities cannot instil their students with peaceful, tolerant, and coexistent attitudes, then they have failed as institutions of higher learning.” — John Aziz, a British-Palestinian writer, Jewish Chronicle, April 22, 2024.

“Violence has failed us for decades, and the only way to accomplish justice for Palestinians is through peace.” — Hamza Howidy, Palestinian from Gaza, X, April 25, 2024.

By blocking the three Palestinian social media influences, the SJP, which claims to seek justice for the Palestinians, is proving that it does not care about freedom of speech for the Palestinians and is as intolerant as Hamas and other terrorist groups to criticism.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is a cancer on every university campus.” – Amjad Taha, Emirati researcher and journalist, X, April 23, 2024.

While protesters at Columbia University and Yale University celebrate Hamas and its “resistance” (a euphemism for violence and terrorism), Arabs have been ridiculing the “pro-Palestinian” demonstrators on American college campuses. For these Arabs, including some Palestinians, there is nothing “pro-Palestinian” about supporting the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group, whose members slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 240 others on October 7, 2023.

Protesters Remove American Flag, Raise Palestinian Flag in Harvard Yard

https://www.breitbart.com/education/2024/04/28/protesters-remove-american-flag-raise-palestinian-flag-in-harvard-yard/

Protesters at an anti-Israel “encampment” in Harvard Yard removed an American flag from University Hall, the central administration building, and flew a Palestinian flag in its place Saturday before university staff intervened.

Harvard students cheer as they replace an American Flag with a Palestinian Flag. Are you paying attention yet?

Protesters take over Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall in escalation of anti-war demonstrations

https://lite.aol.com/news/story/0001/20240430/8b0d3a0cedb17f5e892c6ca43bbdf628

Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.

Video footage showed protesters on Columbia’s Manhattan campus locking arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building, one of several that was occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest on the campus. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organizers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall.

The student radio station, WKCR-FM, broadcasted a play-by-play of the hall’s takeover – which occurred nearly 12 hours after Monday’s 2 p.m. deadline for the protesters to leave an encampment of around 120 tents or face suspension. Representatives for the university did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment early Tuesday.

Universities across the U.S. are grappling with how to clear out encampments as commencement ceremonies approach, with some continuing negotiations and others turning to force and ultimatums that have resulted in clashes with police. Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah and Virginia, while Columbia said hours before the takeover of Hamilton Hall that it had started suspending students.

Demonstrators are sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll, and the number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000 as the final days of class wrap up. The outcry is forcing colleges to reckon with their financial ties to Israel, as well as their support for free speech. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY RECEIVED NEARLY $6 BILLION IN FEDERAL CONTRACTS AND GRANTS SINCE 2018

https://mailchi.mp/5dc015c64d16/35b-from-us-taxpayers-funded-world-health-organization-59964?e=0c8ccf8e98

American taxpayers are disturbed by the moral rot they’re seeing at Columbia, Harvard, Yale and other elite universities. However, you should be alarmed that you’re also funding it.

Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com quantified the federal contracts and grants awarded to Columbia and other elite universities in a five-year period from 2018 through 2022. 

Turns out that American taxpayers contribute more to these universities than the students and their families do through tuition payments. These universities are more federal contractor today than educator.

Yesterday, my interview on The National Desk by Sinclair Broadcast, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX local stations across America, broke down all the numbers…

INTERVIEW: IT’S TIME TO OPEN THE BOOKS ON COLUMBIA, HARVARD, YALE AND THE REST OF THE “ELITE” UNIVERSITIES

Here is just a sample of our findings: 

Deroy Murdock: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like 1938 “The environment at Columbia University is absolutely dreadful.”

https://spectator.org/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-1938/

If Jews do not feel safe on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, in the United States of America, where can they feel safe?

NYC is home to some 1.3 million Jews, the most outside of Israel. Jewish men and women have thrived in The Big Apple for hundreds of years, enjoying religious freedom, prosperity, political power, and the affection and goodwill of millions of their gentile neighbors, colleagues, and loved ones.

Jewish culture is NYC culture. New Yorkers of all stripes schlep packages to the Post Office, kvetch when things go awry, and mock their friends when they act like putzes. Those of us who call NYC home need not be Jewish to speak and act this way. We live in New York. We pick it up.

However, things lately have been far from dancing the Horah.

Protests began after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre against Israel. The Iranian-sponsored terrorist group butchered some 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 240 hostages from Israel, America, and other nations. These demonstrations have devolved from opposition to Israel’s self-defense against these killers from the Gaza Strip, into support for Hamas, and now open hatred of Jews, per se.

At Columbia University, many pro-Hamas protesters are dressed in the black and white keffiyeh headdresses that are the Brownshirts of the Palestinazis. In recent days, they have waved Hamas flags, yelled Hamas slogans, and intimidated, threatened, and assaulted Jewish students, particularly those who wear yarmulkes and otherwise visually identify themselves as Jews.

VIDEO: MUST WATCH 2004 “COLUMBIA UNBECOMING”

In 2004: Jewish students described on film Arab professors at Columbia U harassing them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLzfegav40U

Ilya Shapiro Abolish Anti-Semitic Student Groups The government may prohibit even nonviolent “material support” for terrorist organizations, including legal support and other advice, without violating the First Amendment.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/abolish-anti-semitic-student-groups

The heart of anti-Semitism in America lies among the nation’s most educated. Elite university campuses hosted calls for the annihilation of Israel even before the IDF entered Gaza last October.

As investor Bill Ackman observed the day that Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned, anti-Semitism is the “canary in the coal mine,” a warning about larger issues. This “oldest hatred” is always a leading indicator of assorted underlying pathologies, from cancel culture and ideological indoctrination to intellectual corruption and moral decay. The core mission of universities—to seek truth—has been subverted, as classical liberal values like free speech, due process, and equality under the law fall by the wayside.

One aspect of that illiberal takeover of higher education is the prevalence of anti-Semitic student groups. For example, nine groups at Berkeley Law began the 2022–23 school year by amending their bylaws to ensure that they’ll never invite speakers who support Israel or Zionism. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, a progressive Zionist, noted that he himself would be banned, as would 90 percent of Jewish students.

“Hate speech” is, and should be, constitutionally protected. And student groups shouldn’t be forced to express any particular messages. But discriminatory conduct isn’t kosher. Like many universities, Berkeley requires student groups to accept “all comers,” regardless of “status or beliefs.” More importantly, the school has adopted rules, aligned with federal and state law, banning discrimination based on such classifications as race, ethnicity, heritage, or religion.

Excluding Zionists is thus unlike excluding Republicans, objectionable as the latter may be. As former assistant secretary of education for civil rights Ken Marcus has observed, using “Zionist” as a euphemism for “Jewish” is a confidence trick. It wouldn’t be acceptable for student groups to adopt bylaws banning black or Chinese speakers, even if they made exceptions for speakers who criticize their own communities. That’s why the Education Department launched an investigation of Berkeley Law in December 2022 for failing to remedy a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff.