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EDUCATION

DOJ Sides with Plaintiffs Alleging Harvard Discriminates against Asians By Jack Crowe

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/harvard-affirmative-action-discrimination-against-asians/

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a statement of interest on Thursday in defense of the plaintiffs suing Harvard University for allegedly discriminating against Asian applicants.

DOJ attorneys argued there is substantial evidence to support the plaintiffs’ claim that Harvard unfairly, and illegally, disadvantages Asian applicants by consistently attributing to them a lower “personal rating,” in an effort to detract from their academic performance and test scores, which in isolation would qualify them for admission.

“The evidence, moreover, shows that Harvard provides no meaningful criteria to cabin its use of race; uses a vague ‘personal rating’ that harms Asian-American applicants’ chances for admission and may be infected with racial bias; engages in unlawful racial balancing; and has never seriously considered race-neutral alternatives in its more than 45 years of using race to make admissions decisions,” the attorneys wrote.

The lawsuit against Harvard, which has gained substantial national media attention in recent months, was filed in 2014 by Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit comprising Asian students rejected from Harvard and other interested parties.

Brown University Scrubs Study on Kids Peer-Pressured into Transgenderism By John Ellis

https://pjmedia.com/trending/brown-university-scrubs-study-on-kids-peer-pressured-into-transgenderism/

After publishing a peer-reviewed article on rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), Brown University received criticism from transgender activists. Under pressure, the Ivy League university pulled the article and issued an apology. Activism won out over science.

For those unfamiliar with ROGD, it’s a label used to describe the observable experience of children who have previously never shown any gender dysphoria coming out as transgender, often after having recently been in contact with a transgender person or having been exposed to transgender propaganda at school, on social media, etc. The stories of families who have dealt with ROGD are scary and provide a warning beacon to society. Some of those stories can be read on the website for Parents of ROGD Kids.

Unfortunately, those who are suffering from the results of ROGD are not finding many allies in the academic world. Brown University’s actions provide a window into a world where subjective and ever-shifting agendas play a determinative role in what science is allowed to speak to and how.

In a statement, Brown University claims, “In light of questions raised about research design and data collection related to Lisa Littman’s study on ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria,’ Brown determined that removing the article from news distribution is the most responsible course of action.”

You can read Lisa Littman’s study by clicking here, and decide for yourself whether or not the questions about research design and data collection are a legitimate reason to pull the article. However, for many, including this writer, Brown University’s statement includes an admission that reveals their real motive for pulling Littman’s peer-reviewed study, and that undermines their claim that they’re concerned about correct research methodology.

In the statement, Brown University says:

Independent of the University’s removal of the article because of concerns about research methodology, the School of Public Health has heard from Brown community members expressing concerns that the conclusions of the study could be used to discredit efforts to support transgender youth and invalidate the perspectives of members of the transgender community. CONTINUE AT SITE

The Unbearable Darkness of Young Adult Literature Books on sexual abuse, dysphoria, racism, gang life, domestic violence and school shootings. By Steve Salerno

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-unbearable-darkness-of-young-adult-literature-1535495594

Although “Heather Has Two Mommies” caused quite a stir upon its 1989 publication, a case could be made that the book was a reasonable reflection of the gay-rights zeitgeist as well as the latter-day realities of American domesticity. If nothing else, “Heather” was uplifting in theme and execution, likely to make young readers more comfortable with an evolving culture.

The same can’t be said for a list of “socially aware” books featured prominently at the inaugural Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature, held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in June. The four-day summit convened nearly 50 presenters—top educators and authors from across the land—and focused nominally on “Rising Up: Socially Relevant Texts, Critical Literacy, and Identity.”

But “rising up” might not be the first phrase that comes to mind when one surveys a representative sampling of the marquee fare:

• “How It Went Down,” a novel by Kekla Magoon, presents 18 different perspectives on the shooting of an unarmed black youth. (This is the second prominent young-adult book on the topic published recently. While not featured at the summit, Angie Thomas’s “The Hate U Give”—also about the shooting of an unarmed black youth—contended for a National Book Award in 2017.)

• “Shout” is author Laurie Halse Anderson’s memoir of her sexual assault and struggle with eating disorders while growing up with an alcoholic parent suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Ms. Anderson’s debut novel, “Speak,” examined sexual assault from the viewpoint of a ninth-grade girl.

• In “Losers Bracket,” family therapist Chris Crutcher introduces young readers to the heartbreaking lives of children who continue to love and depend on their parents “no matter how badly treated” they may be. CONTINUE AT SITE

CAIR in the Classroom: Islamist Group Partnering with Public Schools by Cinnamon Stillwell

In 1993, Ibrahim Hooper, director of strategic communications for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said that, “I wouldn’t want to create the impression that I wouldn’t like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future. But I’m not going to do anything violent to promote that. I’m going to do it through education.” Twenty-five years later, CAIR could be making headway on that goal, through its relationships with US public school districts in at least three states.

CAIR — an Islamist group and United Arab Emirates-designated terrorist organization that bills itself as a defender of civil rights — has achieved special concessions for Muslim students and launched the inappropriate insertion of religion into publicly-funded education. Meanwhile, pushback from parents and outside organizations is building.

Seattle Public Schools’ partnership with CAIR’s Washington chapter is the latest incident to cause controversy, but the relationship dates back to at least 2011, when CAIR-WA sent the district a letter proposing accommodations for Muslim students and classroom lessons on Islam. Then as now, CAIR-WA claimed to be fighting “anti-Muslim bullying.” To that end, in 2012 and 2013 the organization contacted the school district to complain about “Islamophobia” among teachers.

That approach eventually paid off. In a Ramadan crowd-funding campaignin May of this year, the CAIR-WA chapter outlined its plan “to provide educational training for teachers and staff on things like Ramadan, Eid, and how educators can support Muslim students in the classroom.” Accordingly, that same month, CAIR-WA ran a “professional development session” in a Seattle high school that “addressed providing identity-safe spaces in schools for Muslim families” and “how to support students during Ramadan.”

Professor threatens to call police on The College Fix for asking about Palestine course Christian Montoya

It’s also a women’s studies course

Tufts University is refusing to answer questions about a “Colonizing Palestine” course taught by an anti-Israel activist who is listed as a member of a group that supports violence against Israeli civilians.

Prof. Thomas Abowd doesn’t want to talk about his course either, telling The College Fix in an email that he would call the police if contacted again.

“Colonizing Palestine” shows up on the fall course list for two programs, Colonialism Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

While pro-Israel activists have criticized Tufts for offering the course, citing both its reading list and its instructor’s background, they have not questioned Abowd’s academic freedom to teach the subject.

Israel ‘illegally occupies Palestine’

“This course will explore the history and culture of modern Palestine and the centrality of colonialism in the making of this contested and symbolically potent territory,” the course description reads.

It does not mince words on its view of Israel, which “illegally occupies Palestine”:

Students will examine the region in which Palestine is embedded through a range of path breaking writers, filmmakers, and thinkers. … Themes covered include notions of nationalism and national identity, settler-colonialism, gender and sexuality, refugee politics, cultural hybridity, class politics, violence, and memory.

UCLA Is A Disgrace University to host student conference that advocates ‘destruction’ of Jewish self-determination. Shiri Moshe …SEE NOTE

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271127/ucla-disgrace-shiri-moshehttps://www.algemeiner.com/2018/08/22/ucla

It appears that UCLA is unsure about hosting this conference in November, BUT EVEN THE WILLINGNESS TO HOST IT SHOWS THE UNDERLYING BIAS IN THE ACADEMIES….RSK

National Students for Justice in Palestine announced on Sunday that it will host its eighth annual conference at the University of California, Los Angeles, drawing concerns from some members of the school’s pro-Israel community.

The event, based on the theme of “resistance in the face of adversity,” will take place from November 16-18.

In a note explaining the conference’s goals, National SJP and its chapter at UCLA defined Zionism — a diverse national liberation movement that supports the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their historic homeland — as “ethnic cleansing, destruction, mass expulsion, apartheid, and death.”

Prominent Jewish groups like the World Jewish Congress and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations — whose umbrella includes the nation’s principal bodies of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism — have in the past described Zionism as “a longstanding and sincerely held religious belief central to the Jewish religion.”

The conference will seek to remind students “that Zionism is not an insurmountable force,” the organizers explained. “The reason we can have hope is that Zionism is a human ideology and a set of laws that have been challenged and can be destroyed.”

An Open Letter to the College Board on AP: World History

https://www.nas.org/articles/an_open_letter_to_the_college_board_on_ap_world_histor

The College Board revised two of its Advanced Placement history exams in recent years—United States History and European History. The National Association of Scholars (NAS) formulated analyses of how progressive bias affected these revised exams. NAS also spearheaded two national campaigns to have the College Board eliminate this political skew. In both cases the College Board changed the exam for the better, although the NAS judges that significant bias remains.

The College Board recently announced, apparently as a result of pressure by activist teachers, that it will extend the coverage of its revised Advanced Placement World History exam from ca. 1450 AD to the present to ca. 1200 AD to the present. The College Board also announced that it will add a second World History examination, covering the period before ca. 1200 AD.

We now publish this open letter from NAS President Peter Wood to David Coleman, President of the College Board.

***

August 1, 2018

David Coleman, President

College Board

250 Vesey Street

New York, NY 10281

Dear Mr. Coleman,

The College Board recently announced that it will add a second World History examination, covering the period before 1200 AD.

We are committed to offering a second AP world history course—AP World History: Ancient. To develop an AP World History: Ancient course, exam, and accompanying resources, we first must confirm the willingness of colleges to award credit for an additional AP world history exam and the interest among high schools to offer two full, separate AP world history courses.

‘White Rage,’ Black Lives Matter: How one professor teaches U.S. history STONE WASHINGTON

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12880/israel-nation-state-law

A basic U.S. history course at Clemson University focused on the post-Civil War era to modern times teaches the subject of America’s past largely from a far-left perspective, including subjects such as “White Rage” and Black Lives Matter, according to the required readings for the course.

History 1020, or History of the U.S., focuses on the “political, economic and social development of the American people from the end of Reconstruction to the present,” according to its online description.

This fall, one professor teaching the class is Assistant Professor Maribel Morey, whose required readings include the books “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide,” “How Race is Made in America,” “Making of Black Lives Matter,” “Equality on Trial: Gender and Rights,” and “Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment.”

Each of the books portray an apparent liberal bias against various political issues. Professor Morey adds more details about the course on her personal website.

Police Investigating ‘Unlawful and Dangerous’ Toppling of ‘Silent Sam’ Confederate Statue at UNC By Tyler O’Neil

https://pjmedia.com/trending/police-investigating-unlawful-and-dangerous-toppling-of-silent-sam-confederate-statue-at-unc/

On Monday night, a group of roughly 250 violent protesters toppled a Confederate monument from its plinth at the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill. “Silent Sam” commemorated the UNC students who had gone off to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

Protesters had scheduled a rally entitled “Until They All Fall,” for 7 p.m.

According to the flyer, the event would be “a demonstration against institutional white supremacy at UNC, in solidarity with Maya Little on the day of her trial for marking Silent Sam with her own blood.”

In May, UNC Ph.D. student Maya Little — who is black — mixed her own blood with red paint and dashed it on the “Silent Sam” statue. She was arrested for defacing a public monument, and her trial started Monday. “That statue is not a historical object,” Little told The News & Observer. “It’s missing its history. What I did was give it some context.”

UNC’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, shared pictures and video of the protest.

Demonstrators chanted “tear it down!”

The crowd went crazy when Silent Sam fell.

Ph.D. student Samee Siddiqui shared an image of the fallen Silent Sam, where protesters proceeded to bury its head in the dirt. CONTINUE AT SITE

UChicago Must Defend Professor Against Social Justice Slander By David Randall

https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2018/08/21/uchicago_must_defend_professor_against_social_justice_slander.html

David Randall is the Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars.

Rachel Fulton Brown has been calumnied and no one will stand up to defend her good name.

Brown is a professor of history at the University of Chicago, but this isn’t just an academic dispute. What’s happened to her is what happens to anyone who speaks up against social justice warriors.

It all started because Brown got tired of medievalist social justice warriors saying that the middle ages were essentially about white supremacy, and that if medievalists didn’t spend all their time teaching the middle ages as a story about racism, they were complicit in modern-day racism and white supremacy — or even outright advocates for the same. In 2015 she wrote a blog post arguing against the social justice warriors — “Three Cheers for White Men.”

The result, of course, was that Brown got called a racist and a white supremacist herself — and accused of “inciting violence” against her most vitriolic interlocutor, Dorothy Kim of Vassar College, because she’d posted screenshots on her own blog of Kim’s defamatory writings against her. More than 1,400 of her colleagues wrote an open letter to condemn her — an open letter that endorsed these defamatory accusations.

All of this is doubleplustrue because Brown likes Milo Yiannopoulos and writes nice things about him. Brown is guilty by association.

Except that she is guilty of nothing. Ask Professor Daniel Franke of Richard Bland College, who has explained the accusations of racism and white supremacy: “Fulton Brown’s conservative beliefs in the value of ‘Western civilization’ have been publicly attacked since 2016 as ‘white supremacist’ by Dorothy Kim of Vassar.” Professor Brown’s “incitement to violence”? Professor Franke properly concluded that “Fulton Brown’s response to Kim hardly qualifies as ‘persecution.’”