I remember how it was -- JR
A University System Just Repealed Its DEI Policy
This week, the board of governors for the University of North Carolina (UNC) System voted to replace its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. The change will impact its 17 public universities across the state.
According to The Hill, the decision, made on Thursday, works to “ensure equality of all persons & viewpoints” and replace a previous policy implemented in 2019.
“Campuses shall continue to implement programming or services designed to have a positive effect on the academic performance, retention, or graduation of students from different backgrounds, provided that programming complies with the institutional neutrality specified in Section VII of this policy and/or other state and federal requirements,” the new policy reads.
ABC 11 noted that two board members voted against repealing the policy. One of them, Sonja Nichols, told the outlet that some voices were not heard during the process.
"DEI is for everybody," Nichols said. "As (someone who's) Black, as a woman, I've just always wanted to be (in) a situation where all the voices are heard. Everyone has an opportunity to express why they feel that the DEI policy was so important. It's been so important over the years."
Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey, who supported the repeal, told ABC11 in a statement that repealing DEI programs would promote intellectual freedom.
Before the decision, UNC Chapel Hill reportedly decided to divert its DEI funding to public safety.
The UNC system is the latest to reverse its decision to implement DEI. Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that it will no longer require prospective faculty to submit a “diversity statement” during the interview process.
As Townhall covered, in their statements, candidates were required to explain how they would enhance the university’s commitment to diversity. These statements were generally a page long.
“My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to M.I.T. and to make sure they thrive once here,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a statement. “We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work.”
In January, the Florida Department of Education approved a new rule that would prohibit state colleges from using public funding towards initiatives surrounding DEI.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2024/05/25/unc-dei-policies-n2639451
*************************************************Missouri School District Spends $61,000 to Ensure Math Class Is ‘Free of Bias’
A Missouri school district spent more than $61,000 on a new math curriculum that prioritizes “cultural, racial, and gender diversity.”
Webster Groves School District plans to roll out a new elementary math curriculum from Imagine Learning Illustrative Mathematics this fall. The school board approved spending $61,450 on the change at an April 25 meeting, according to a PowerPoint presentation posted on BoardDocs and reviewed by The Daily Signal.
The district chose the program for its “balance of images or information about people, representing various demographic and physical characteristics.” The district, in the wealthy suburbs west of St. Louis, has 10 schools and 4,409 students.
The selection criteria for the kindergarten through fifth-grade curriculum included that the “materials prioritize cultural, racial, and gender diversity and supports the Webster Groves School District Equity Resolution.”
The equity resolution, adopted in 2017, advertises Webster Groves’ commitment to “confront issues of bias and social injustice.”
The district used EdReports’ research in making the choice, which helped Webster Groves determine the curriculum encourages teachers to “draw upon student cultural and social backgrounds to facilitate learning.”
The curriculum “represent[s] different races and portray[s] people from many ethnicities in a positive, respectful manner, with no demographic bias for who achieves success in the context of problems,” according to Susan Bergman, the district’s math curriculum director, citing EdReports’ review.
“Characters in the program are illustrations of children or adults with representation of different races and populations of students,” the EdReport review continues. “Problem settings vary from rural to urban and international locations.”
EdReports, a nonprofit that reviews instructional materials, is partially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Sydney pro-Palestinian students suspended after classes ‘significantly disrupted’
Two Sydney University students have been suspended after classes were “significantly disrupted” by protesters last week, as the encampment on the institution’s quad lawns enters its fifth week.
In a letter of support, the Sydney University Student Representative Council (SRC) said the university was attempting to silence protesters by handing the two students immediate one-month suspensions.
The SRC said the suspensions were a result of the students making announcements at the start of classes about the university’s ties with Israel and encouraging students to be involved in the campaign for Palestine.
“Such announcements before classes begin do not seriously disrupt teaching activities and usually finish before staff are ready to begin class,” the letter read. “They are a routine part of campus life and have been given around many political issues in the past.”
In a letter to staff and students last week, the university said some individuals had gone beyond the bounds of acceptable political announcements before classes began.
This included deliberately covering their faces to conceal their identity, not allowing classes to commence at the scheduled time, and acting in a way that was considered intimidating.
It said it was also aware of counter-protesters allegedly engaging in intimidatory behaviour towards the encampment overnight and was co-operating with police in their investigations of this behaviour.
A university spokeswoman on Thursday confirmed that two students had been temporarily suspended pending disciplinary proceedings, after two incidents of classes being significantly disrupted last week.
One affected subject has had its in-person lectures for the remainder of the semester cancelled.
“We continue to be very clear about our expectations of behaviour on our campus, writing to students and staff again last week about acceptable and unacceptable conduct,” the university spokeswoman said.
The students are demanding the university disclose and end all ties with weapons manufacturers and Israeli universities over the war in Gaza. Members of the local branch of the National Tertiary Education Union earlier this month voted overwhelmingly to support an institutional boycott of Israel in alignment with the student encampment demands.
Protesters at the university’s encampment have vowed to continue until their demands are met. Vice Chancellor Mark Scott has said he would meet protesters this week, but an agreement is yet to be reached.
‘Too little, too late’
It comes as University of Melbourne protesters agreed to end their encampment after the institution agreed to provide more transparency around its research partnerships.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said the suspensions were welcome but were “far too little and come far too late”.
“The constant noise from their shouted slogans and incessant beating of drums has disturbed and disrupted classes and created a pervasive atmosphere of fear and anxiety among students and staff,” he said.
“Today, a number of buildings went into lockdown. Under state legislation, the university senate has the management and control of all university property, including crown land, but the university has been too timid to use its powers to order external demonstrators to leave its grounds.
“This has emboldened the protesters and made the situation progressively worse.”
A few dozen students and external protesters have been camping out each night, with the university moving to cancel some ID cards that have been shared with non-student campers to give them access to facilities, including bathrooms, overnight.
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http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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