All this news about commencement speakers being scared away or disinvited or staying the course despite adversity or giving students a tongue-lashing makes me want to return to a commencement address from an earlier time. That time was 1956, nearly … Continue reading →
They’re dropping like flies. First, Hirsi Ali’s invitation to receive an honorary degree was withdrawn. Now, Jill Abramson has voluntarily pulled out: The Justice student newspaper reports that Abramson told the university’s president she won’t be present Sunday to get … Continue reading →
Another would-be commencement speaker bows out in response to pressure from students who deem him insufficiently pure for their tender sensibilities. Birgeneau refused to say sufficient mea culpas, the price he would have had to pay for the privilege of … Continue reading →
From Daniel Henninger today in the WSJ: All of a sudden, the left has hit ramming speed across a broad swath of American life””in the universities, in politics and in government. People fingered as out of line with the far … Continue reading →
Quoting Winston Churchill can get you into hot water. Mark Steyn writes : On Saturday, Paul Weston of Liberty GB, a candidate in next month’s European elections, was speaking on the steps of Winchester Guildhall and quoting Winston Churchill on … Continue reading →
Sometimes there’s so much out there it’s hard to keep up. For instance, although I’d heard of the Pay As You Earn program, the details had previously passed under my radar screen. But my oh my, the set-up’s clever: But … Continue reading →
SCOTUS has ruled 6-2 (Kagan abstaining) that Michigan’s law against race-based affirmative action is constitutional. In other words, it’s not racial discrimination to ban the sort of racial discrimination that is supposedly designed for the purpose of redressing racial discrimination. … Continue reading →
The behavior of Brandeis’ administration in withdrawing its honorary degree invitation from Hirsi Ali has drawn a great many accusations of cowardice. The word “craven” (which I used yesterday) comes to mind, and not just to my mind. Witness Bill … Continue reading →
[UPDATE: Hirsi Ali comes back with a ringing statement, worth reading in full. An excerpt: I wish to dissociate myself from the university’s statement, which implies that I was in any way consulted about this decision. On the contrary, I … Continue reading →
How? Apologize: Oppression, as outlined in SSMU’s Equity Policy, means the exercise of power by a group of people over another group of people with specific consideration of cultural, historical and living legacies. The image in question was an extension … Continue reading →
Not so fast, kids, not so fast: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology sent an e-mail to prospective students, erroneously telling them in a line at the bottom that they had been admitted… The mix-up happened when MIT combined two separate … Continue reading →
The first act in the Duke lacrosse case were the allegations and the resultant hue and cry and calls for conviction. The second act was the unraveling of the case and the disbarment of prosecutor and DA Mike Nifong, as … Continue reading →