University: Drag Queens Are Welcome, Creationists Are Not
   
The University of Central Oklahoma has opened its arms to drag queen shows and safe sex carnivals, but it draws the line at Christians who believe God created the heavens and the earth in six days.

The university has no problem with students tossing dildos through cardboard vaginas, but it draws the line at exposing impressionable young minds to the teachings of a creationist.

Ken Ham, the founder of the popular Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, was disinvited from speaking on the public university campus after an ugly campaign of bullying by LGBT activists.

The “Todd Starnes Radio Show” obtained exclusive emails between the UCO Student Association and Answers in Genesis explaining why the school had to rescind the invitation and opt out of a signed and legally binding contract.

“We are currently getting bombarded with complaints from our LGBT community about Ken Ham speaking on our campus,” student body president Stockton Duvall wrote on Jan 25. “I was going to request that Mr. Ham refrains from talking on this issue, even if asked his views during the Q&A.”

Ironically, Ham was going to deliver his remarks in the university’s Constitution Hall.

“I find it highly ironic that after being booked to speak in the school’s Constitution Hall, our constitutional right to free speech and the exercise of religion, guaranteed under the First Amendment, have been denied,” Ham said.

“While I know this looks awful censoring certain parts of Mr. Ham’s views, I want to ensure that we stay on topic of the research Mr. Ham and his team have done over creationism,” Duvall wrote.

For the record, Ham’s March 5 lecture was titled “Genesis and the State of the Culture.”

Paul Blair, the pastor of a local church that sponsors a student ministry called “Valid Worldview,” told me Ham’s speech had nothing to do with LGBT issues.

“The backlash we are already receiving is quite immense and I do not want this event to be spoiled due to a topic that isn’t relative to Mr. Ham’s research of creationism,” Duvall wrote.

On Jan. 27, the university’s student government group canceled the speaking engagement.

“A small but vocal group on campus put up a fuss about my talk and the university caved in, tearing up the contract and contradicting its policies of promoting ‘free inquiry’ and ‘inclusiveness’ on campus,” Ham said.

Pastor Blair told me he does not fault the student government association president for caving in to the LGBT mob.

“I think this young man was bullied and intimidated,” Blair said. “I think he succumbed to the bullying that these LGBTQ groups are known for. Those that scream out and demand tolerance are in actuality the least tolerant group of individuals on the planet.”

A university spokesman told me there had been no complaints of LGBT bullying.

“The UCO community is an inclusive environment that encourages the civil expression of diverse thoughts and ideas, while also keeping the safety of our students a top priority,” the spokesman said.

Blair, the pastor of Fairview Baptist Church, pointed out the university’s blatant hypocrisy and what he called “the obvious discrimination against Christianity on campus.”

“I am beside myself with frustration that our tax dollars go to promote a drag queen show and safe sex events with carnival games that are obscene and graphic,” he said. “Yet when it comes to something like debating Darwinian evolution or talking about the literal Creation account of Genesis — well that kind of speech must be censored.”

The pastor has a valid point.

If the University of Central Oklahoma expects Christian students to be tolerant of LGBT-themed events, why isn’t it demanding that same expectation from LGBT students when it comes to Christian events?

SOURCE






      
Massachusetts College Talks About Diversifying The ‘White, Male World Of Construction’ With Women

Smith College is hosting a panel advocating to get more women into the construction industry, after government estimates report approximately three percent of construction workers in the U.S. are female.

Organized by college professor Carrie Baker, the all-female Massachusetts college will host the panel discussion titled, “Only 3% are Women?! A Forum on Diversifying the Construction Workforce” to try to get more women to join what has traditionally been a male-dominated profession. Baker teaches courses on gender, law, public policy, and feminist activism, including topical courses on sex trafficking, reproductive justice and sexual harassment.

Three local carpenters, along with a local businesswoman and a Smith College engineering professor will speak at the event.

“Women need to know that there are training pathways and job opportunities for them in construction, plus role models and supportive peers/managers when they pursue such work,” Smith College professor Susannah Howe said in an interview with The Republican. The panel will draw parallels between the lack of women in STEM and the female void that exists in the construction world, she noted.

There are significant challenges for women seeking to break into the male-dominated field of construction, the professor claims and is hopefully the panel discussion will encourage more women to advocate that construction companies hire them for projects.

There are close to 6.5 million construction workers in the U.S., according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Following manufacturing, construction work is the second most fatal industry in America, a very likely deterrent to women entering the industry.

“Meet the pioneering tradeswomen who are organizing for equity and diversity in the field of construction,” the panel discussion description states. “They are on the frontline of a working-class movement of women and people of color fighting to open up the white, male world of construction.” The description also notes that currently only three percent of tradespeople in western Massachusetts and nationally are women.

The event will take place on Thursday and is free and open to the public. The Women and Gender Studies department and Smith’s Engineering Department are organizing the event.

SOURCE





      
Evergreen College Will Replace Day When It Asks White Students To Leave Campus

Evergreen State College will replace the day when it asks white students and faculty members to leave campus, according to a Monday report.

The Washington state college formed a committee to deliberate on what kind of programming will replace its annual “Day of Absence,” which former Evergreen professor Bret Weinstein protested in 2017 to nationwide media coverage, reported The College Fix.

The college wants students, faculty, and staff to assist in the creation of a “new equity symposium,” according to an email from Evergreen president George Bridges that was obtained by The Fix. Chassity Holliman-Douglas, which the school hired as its first vice president for equity and inclusion a month after the campus protests, will spearhead the new initiative.

“I have asked [Holliman-Douglas] to convene and chair a planning group comprised of students, faculty, and staff to shape its content and structure such that all members of our campus community are invited to engage in dialogue and discussion with one another and the speakers we invite to campus,” said Bridges in his email. “It is my sincere hope that this event reinforces our commitment to addressing these critical issues facing the college and society.”

Weinstein and his wife, Heather Heying, received a $500,000 settlement after suing Evergreen for discrimination following the protests. Campus police had told Weinstein they could not guarantee his safety during the May incident.

Stacy Brown resigned as chief of Evergreen’s campus police a couple of months following the protests, alleging that the school would not let her or her fellow officers use rifles.

SOURCE