Search Results for: woke

How uber-Woke colleges respond publicly to the horrific slaughter, rape, and kidnapping by Hamas

Now that the horrors committed by Hamas in Israel are being revealed in detail, colleges and universities are issuing statements about the Israel/Palestine war. As I adhere to the University of Chicago’s Kalven Principles of institutional neutrality, I don’t think any such statements should take sides, even though I think that there’s a clear right-and-wrong … Continue reading How uber-Woke colleges respond publicly to the horrific slaughter, rape, and kidnapping by Hamas

Chair of Stanford’s Department of Computer Science sends out woke and confusing email affirming his department’s virtue

I’ve spent a lot of time writing and working to try to get colleges and universities—especially mine—to refrain from issuing official political, ideological, or moral statements save under exceptional circumstances.  Freedom of speech is a sine qua non for a decent university, and that goes along with a university not trying to stifle or chill … Continue reading Chair of Stanford’s Department of Computer Science sends out woke and confusing email affirming his department’s virtue

Pamela Paul’s funny (and trenchant) op-ed on campus free speech (trigger warning: many harmful words!)

Although the word “woke” and its derivatives seem to trigger some readers, I still can’t find a good substitute. I just read Andrew Doyle’s new book, The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World, and I see that that Doyle doesn’t much like “woke” either. (His book is a good … Continue reading Pamela Paul’s funny (and trenchant) op-ed on campus free speech (trigger warning: many harmful words!)

The Washington Post decries the suppression and deplatforming of speech by students

Is a turning point really being reached in the War Against Wokeness?  Every time I read a piece in the mainstream media decrying  the pernicious antics of the Authoritarian Left (one of the terms I use for “the woke”), I think to myself, “Is the tide really turning at long last?” Well, it’s not going … Continue reading The Washington Post decries the suppression and deplatforming of speech by students

Educational organizations urge Biden to get more woke about education, but many of their recommendations aren’t great

This article at Inside Higher Ed (click on screenshot below) describes the contents of a four-page letter sent to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by 40 educational associations asking for the Prez and Vice-Prez to undo many of the changes to U.S. colleges and universities enacted by the Trump administration. In general, the request is … Continue reading Educational organizations urge Biden to get more woke about education, but many of their recommendations aren’t great

The President of Northwestern University is mad as hell at woke students, and he’s not going to take it anymore

I got hold of this email sent yesterday by the president of Northwestern University, a prestigious school just north of Chicago.  In the past few weeks, woke students have been disrupting the town and the campus, demanding the abolition of the University police force, and this is his response. It starts off, like many of … Continue reading The President of Northwestern University is mad as hell at woke students, and he’s not going to take it anymore

FIRE’s new college free-speech rankings: Chicago plummets to #13, but many “elite” schools are at the bottom, with Harvard, rated “abysmal”, holding down last place

For a long time, The University of Chicago has been in the top 5 schools in the “free-speech” rankings of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Last year we were #1, and our average ranking has been #4. This, plus the fact that over 85 schools have adopted a version of Chicago’s “free … Continue reading FIRE’s new college free-speech rankings: Chicago plummets to #13, but many “elite” schools are at the bottom, with Harvard, rated “abysmal”, holding down last place

Facing accusations of antisemitism, Harvard adds a “Jewish graduation” to its panoply of identity-group ceremonies

Yes, I know that Harvard University has one big graduation for all undergraduates and grad students (I went to it when I got my Ph.D. in 1978; Alexander Solzhenitsyn gave the commencement address in a famous speech that called out the West for its “spiritual degeneration”).  At that time, there was but one “identity” ceremony … Continue reading Facing accusations of antisemitism, Harvard adds a “Jewish graduation” to its panoply of identity-group ceremonies