Jay Bhattacharya nominated for NIH director

Donald Trump’s nomination of Jay Bhattacharya to direct the U.S. National Institutes of Health is a major victory for science and academic freedom.

From "Fringe" to Mainstream | City Journal | John Thierry:

November 27, 2024 - "Four years ago, Jay Bhattacharya was ostracized by his colleagues at Stanford and censored on social media platforms thanks to a campaign against him by the public-health establishment. The director of the National Institutes of Health [NIH], Francis Collins, sent an email to another NIH official, Anthony Fauci, urging a 'quick and devastating published takedown' of Bhattacharya and his fellow 'fringe epidemiologists.' 

"Bhattacharya is far from the fringe today. Donald Trump nominated him this week for Collins’s old job, director of the NIH. Assuming the Senate confirms him, it will be a major victory for science and academic freedom — and a serious threat to the universities that suppressed scientific debate and promoted disastrous policies during the pandemic, causing public trust in science to plummet.... Bhattacharya promised yesterday to 'reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again.' 

"As NIH director, he would wield a potent tool to induce reform: money. Stanford and more than a dozen other universities each get more than $500 million annually in grants from the NIH, the world’s largest funder of biomedical research. The NIH grants support not only researchers but also their universities’ bureaucracies, which collect a hefty surcharge to cover supposed overhead costs. The federal largesse has helped finance the administrative bloat at universities, including the expansion of diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] bureaucracies under the Biden administration.... 

"Those priorities are about to change. Trump has vowed to rescind immediately Biden’s executive order directing federal agencies to promote DEI. During his first term, Trump threatened to issue an executive order barring universities from receiving federal funds if they suppressed free speech. He didn’t issue that order, but ... the NIH director will already have the power to consider a university’s commitment to academic freedom in deciding whether or not to award funds. 

“'For science to thrive and progress, we must be open-minded and allow vigorous and passionate debate,' says Martin Kulldorff, a former professor of medicine at Harvard. 'Why should taxpayers subsidize universities that don’t allow that?' Kulldorff, an eminent epidemiologist, lost his job at Harvard after he ... joined with Bhattacharya and Sunetra Gupta, an epidemiologist at Oxford, to write the Great Barrington Declaration [GBD], a critique of lockdowns that was signed by tens of thousands of scientists and physicians.

"Bhattacharya, who has a Ph.D. in economics as well as an M.D. from Stanford, hung on to his job as professor of health policy at the latter’s medical school, but his views were taboo on campus. After he and colleagues did a field study at the start of the pandemic showing that the Covid fatality rate was much lower than the doomsday number used to justify lockdowns, they were vilified by academics and journalists, and Stanford subjected them to a two-month inquiry by an outside legal firm. (They were vindicated by the inquiry and also by subsequent research confirming their findings.) 

"As Bhattacharya has recounted, his department chairman blocked his attempt to hold a seminar discussing the Great Barrington Declaration, and the dean of epidemiology at Stanford circulated a petition at the medical school quoting him on Covid and asking the university to censor such speech. A dozen federal agencies successfully pressured social-media platforms to censor his speech, as revealed in the Twitter files and a lawsuit. Facebook removed a video of him discussing Covid policies in Florida; Twitter shadow-banned him by limiting the reach of his tweets, and Google 'deboosted' the [GBD] so that a search for it pointed users to criticism of it rather than the declaration itself.  

"So far, the academic and public-health establishments have ignored criticism of their abandonment of scientific principles during the pandemic — and the evidence that their lockdowns and other mandates were largely futile and enormously harmful.... But now Stanford and other universities will be facing new financial pressure from critics. Cost-cutters in the Trump transition team are already contemplating a reduction in the overhead surcharges that universities collect in research grants from the federal government. These surcharges are more than 50 percent at Stanford and nearly 70 percent at Harvard.... 

"If the NIH and other agencies start considering a school’s dedication to academic freedom when awarding grants, some elite universities could pay a price. Stanford and other universities at the top of the list of NIH beneficiaries don’t look so elite in the free-speech rankings of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Stanford ranks 218th of 257 schools, and others are even lower, including UCLA, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, and Harvard. The campus censors haven’t been swayed by abstract appeals to protect academic freedom, but perhaps they’ll rediscover that principle once they contemplate their budgets."

Read more: https://www.city-journal.org/article/trump-taps-jay-bhattacharya-for-nih

Trump’s NIH Pick Dr. Jay Bhattacharya Was Right on COVID Lockdowns | Dad Saves America | November 27, 2024:

Foundations funding anti-Israel college protests

George Soros is paying student radicals who are fueling nationwide explosion of Israel-hating protests | New York Post | Isabel Vincent

April 26, 2024 - "George Soros and his hard-left acolytes are paying agitators who are fueling the explosion of radical anti-Israel protests at colleges across the country. The protests, which began when students took over Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus lawn last week, have mushroomed nationwide. Copycat tent cities have been set up at colleges including Harvard, Yale, Berkeley in California, the Ohio State University and Emory in Georgia — all of them organized by branches of the Soros-funded Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).... The SJP parent organization has been funded by a network of nonprofits ultimately funded by, among others, Soros, the billionaire left-wing investor.

"At three colleges, the protests are being encouraged by paid radicals who are 'fellows' of a Soros-funded group called the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). USCPR provides up to $7,800 for its community-based fellows and between $2,880 and $3,660 for its campus-based 'fellows' in return for spending eight hours a week organizing 'campaigns led by Palestinian organizations.' They are trained to 'rise up, to revolution.' The radical group received at least $300,000 from Soros’ Open Society Foundations since 2017 and also took in $355,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund since 2019.... [USCPR] has three 'fellows' who have been major figures in the nationwide protest movement. 

• Nidaa Lafi, a former president of the University of Texas Students for Justice in Palestine, was seen at an encampment at UT Dallas Wednesday making a speech demanding an end to the war in Gaza. In January, she was detained for blocking the route of President Biden’s motorcade after he arrived in Dallas for the funeral of Johnson, her former boss.
• At Yale, USCPR’s fellow Craig Birckhead-Morton was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree trespassing when SJP’s branch, Yalies4Palestine, occupied the school’s Beinecke Plaza, the Yale Daily News reported. Birckhead-Morton — also a former intern for a Democrat, Maryland rep John Sarbanes — emerged from custody to address a sit-in blocking traffic in New Haven.
• The most high-profile of the fellows is Berkeley’s Malak Afaneh, co-president of the Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine. She has been a serial speaker at an anti-Israel protest on the campus this week — which came after she first shot to prominence by hijacking a dinner at the law school dean’s home to shout anti-Israel slogans, then accused the dean’s wife of assaulting her when she asked the radical to leave.

Soros is paying agitators fueling the explosion of radical anti-Israel protests at colleges across the country. New York Post.

"The cash from Soros and his acolytes has been critical to the Columbia protests that set off the national copycat demonstrations. Three groups set up the tent city on Columbia’s lawn last Wednesday: Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Within Our Lifetime. An analysis by The Post shows that all three got cash from groups linked to Soros. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund also gave cash to JVP.... And a former Wall Street banker, Felice Gelman, a retired investment banker who has dedicated her Wall Street fortune to pro-Palestinian causes, funded all three groups. 

"Both SJP and JVP were expelled from Columbia University in November for 'threatening rhetoric and intimidation.' JVP blamed Israel for the Oct 7 Hamas terrorist attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead. 'Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression — are the source of all this violence,' JVP said in a statement on its website.  SJP called the terrorist strike on Israel 'a historic win.'

"An analysis by The Post shows how Soros and Gelman’s cash made its way to the students through a network of nonprofits that help obscure their contributions. Soros has given billions to the Open Society Foundations which his son Alexander ... now controls. In turn, Open Society has given more than $20 million to the Tides Foundation, a progressive nonprofit 'fiscal sponsor' that then sends the cash to smaller groups. Those groups include A Jewish Voice for Peace [JVP], which between 2017 and 2022 has received $650,000 from Soros’ Open Society.... JVP has been a prominent part of the protests at Columbia and one of its student members was among a group expelled from the university for inviting the leader of a proscribed terrorist group, Khaled, to the 'Resistance 101' Zoom meeting.

"Soros has also donated $132,000 to WESPAC, called in full the Westchester People’s Action Coalition Foundation. The White Plains-based nonprofit was founded in 1974 to rally for civil rights and against the Vietnam War but is now a major funder of anti-Israel groups, including Within Our Lifetime and Students for Justice in Palestine. SJP has also received funding from the Sparkplug Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit run by Gelman and her husband, Yoram Gelman. The couple funneled their $20,000 donation to the group through WESPAC in 2022, according to public filings. Gelman was previously on WESPAC’s committee for Justice and Peace in the Middle East in 2009 when she was invited to Gaza by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, according to the group’s website. The UN group has been slammed for its support of Hamas.

"WESPAC president Howard Horowitz, a former Orthodox Jew, is a member of the New York chapter of JVP, which says it works for 'advocacy and public education for Palestinian human rights.' Horowitz said he embraced the Palestinian cause after time spent living in Israel, according to a report in the Israel Times. WESPAC has also given money to Within Our Lifetime, founded by the ubiquitous anti-Israeli protester Nerdeen Kiswani. Within our Lifetime uses a loophole in the law to avoid declaring how much it receives from donors by not being a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, meaning it is unknown how Kiswani has benefited. However, WESPAC is named as a fiscal sponsor of Within Our Lifetime.

"After The Post published our story, an Open Society Foundations spokesperson said: 'For the record, Open Society Foundations has a long history of fighting antisemitism, islamophobia and all forms of racism and hate. Open Society has funded a broad spectrum of US groups that have advocated for the rights of Palestinians and Israelis and for peaceful resolution to the conflict in Israel and the OPT. This funding is a matter of public record, disclosed on our website, fully compliant with US laws, and is part of our commitment to continuing open debate that is ultimately the only hope for peace in the region'.... None of the other groups responded to requests by The Post for comment."

Read more: https://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-news/george-soros-maoist-fund-columbias-anti-israel-tent-city/

George Soros is paying student radicals, fueling nationwide explosion of Israel-hating protests | New York Post | April 26, 2024:

Student stabbed in eye with flagpole at Yale

Jewish Yale student journalist stabbed in the eye with Palestinian flag during protest | New York Post | Ronny Reyes:

April 21, 2024 - "A Jewish Yale University student journalist reporting on an anti-Israeli protest at the Ivy League school Saturday night was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag – while her assailant has gone unpunished.

"Sahar Tartak, the editor-in-chief of the Yale Free Press, was covering the protest – which saw hundreds of students camping at the campus in support of Palestinians – when she was suddenly surrounded by demonstrators. Tartak said she and a friend were singled out for wearing Hasidic Jewish attire as the crowd formed a blockade around them to interfere with their filming.

“'There’s hundreds of people taunting me and waving the middle finger at me, and then this person waves a Palestinian flag in my face and jabs it in my eye,' Tartak told The Post. 'When I tried to yell and go after him, the protesters got in a line and stopped me,' she added.

"Tartak, who was shopping for an eyepatch when speaking with The Post, said she tried to report the assault to campus police but that they told her there was nothing they could do. Instead, she just got an ambulance ride to the hospital to get her eye checked out....

"Stop Antisemitism, a nonprofit watchdog group, has shared an image Tartak took of the demonstrator who jabbed her in the eye, asking the public to help identify him. Yale officials said the university’s police department is investigating the assault and that the school tolerates no violence on its campus."

Read more: https://nypost.com/2024/04/21/us-news/jewish-yale-student-stabbed-in-the-eye-with-palestinian-flag-during-protest/

Photo courtesy New York Post.

Jewish Yale student jabbed in eye with flag pole by anti-Israel protesters | Jerusalem Post - Michael Starr: 

April 21, 2024 - "Tartak reported the assault to campus police, but she is unaware of any action taken besides calling an ambulance for her. She was discharged from the hospital and will not suffer permanent damage. Mentally, however, Tartak said, she was in an 'awful' state. Returning to campus has become a daunting prospect, as she says, 'All these students know who I am'....

"Tartak said that she told officers that they should disband the encampment, but they responded that they needed authorization. Tartak noted that the police were outnumbered, with only 7 officers to police hundreds of activists. 

"Yalies for Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine Connecticut said on social media that they had succeeded on Saturday because no arrests had been made during their protests, which began on Friday in response to attempts to remove a similar encampment at Columbia University."

Read more: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-798092

Injuries and arrest at Concordia U protest

Three people were injured and one arrested at Montreal's Concordia University after anti-Israel demonstrators tried to tear down an Israeli flag at a separate event.     

'Your land is in Europe!' How anti-Israel crowds at Concordia University turned violent | National Post | Tristin Hopper:

November 9, 2023 - "In the weeks since the Oct. 7 massacres, Canadian academia has yielded no shortage of voices justifying the attacks and calling for Israel’s ultimate defeat. But on Wednesday night, a table at Concordia University draped with an Israeli flag and carrying pictures of Israeli hostages was all it took to provoke a crush of anti-Israel protesters screaming, making threats and ultimately resorting to physical violence.

"'Go back to Poland, sharmouta!'  says one man in a widely circulated video of the incident; 'sharmouta' is an Arabic slur for 'whore.' He was later identified as Yanise Arab, a humanities professor at the University of Montreal specializing in 'dominance and resistance in the Arab world.' Another video with 2.4 million views shows a woman screaming a string of obscenities at Jewish students.... A video with 1.1 million views shows a crowd of several dozen chanting 'ceasefire now' at the Jewish students. And another with more than 1.4 million views shows the moment just before police arrived, with demonstrators from the pro-Palestinian side seen crawling over security guards and attempting to tear an Israeli flag. Police said a 22-year-old female student was arrested for assaulting a security guard.... 

"'Police were called after two members of our Campus Safety and Prevention Services team who had tried to intervene were physically attacked and an ambulance had to be called,' said Concordia University president Graham Carr in a Wednesday statement. He added that the violence occurred around the same time as swastikas were found graffitied on school property. Carr also said that 'a student group issued a social media post that could reasonably be construed as inciting violence' — although it’s not clear what he was referencing.

"According to The Suburban — a Montreal English-language community newspaper — the table was a permitted display organized by the campus Jewish groups Concordia Hillel and Chabad Concordia. The students had set up a Shabbat table. On a table draped with the Israeli flag, they put out place settings of plates, napkins and plastic utensils to represent the approximately 240 civilians missing after the Oct. 7 massacres and still believed to be held as Hamas hostages. Empty Shabbat tables have been a common mourning symbol throughout the Jewish world in the wake of the massacres.... 

"But the Concordia Shabbat table was reportedly met by a rival table set up nearby by the group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. This is the same group that has publicly released statements justifying the Oct. 7 massacres and calling for similar attacks to continue until the Jewish state is destroyed. 'We hold the Israeli regime fully responsible for the current violence,' they wrote in an Oct. 11 statement, adding that Gazans had 'no option but to resist.' The statement even seemed to suggest that such 'decolonization' attacks should be visited upon Canada — which they refer to as 'Turtle Island.'

"In a statement after the disturbance, the group blamed the incident on 'Zionist' provocateurs and said  they would continue to advocate for a 'Free Palestine, from the river to the sea' — a slogan meant to explicitly reference Israel’s total eradication.

"An edited three-minute video uploaded by The Suburban shows the escalating encounter as demonstrators in keffiyehs — a black and white scarf associated with Palestinian nationalism — and holding Palestinian flags surround the table, eventually coming to fill much of the surrounding lobby. 'You came and invaded my land, your land is in Europe!' says one man. Several Concordia University security guards can be seen forming a line in front of the Jewish students, who are holding aloft Israeli flags and wearing shirts with images of Hamas hostages....

"Concordia ... has been a centre of overt anti-Israel sentiment for at least the last 20 years. Most notably, pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a riot at the school in 2002 in opposition to a scheduled speech by Israel politician Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now Israel’s prime minister. Rioters broke a window and began hurling furniture from an upper mezzanine, which ultimately led to the speech’s cancellation."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/anti-israel-concordia

1 arrested, 3 injured in violent clashes between Concordia University students over Israel-Hamas war | CTV News | November 9, 2023:

Ex-student VP settles defamation suit with McGill

Declan McCool, who had to resign as vice-president of McGill University's Students' Society after being anonymously accused of secual assault and convicted by an internal tribunal, has successfully settled his $1 million defamation suit against McGill and 10 other defendants.

D. Benjamin Miller, Arts Building, McGill University, 2022. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Former McGill student politician satisfied with defamation settlement | Montreal Gazette - Michelle Lalonde:

Apr 0, 2023 - "Declan McCool, the former vice-president of the Students’ Society of McGill University who successfully appealed a sexual assault complaint by a fellow student, has reached an out-of-court settlement in his defamation suit against his accuser and 10 other defendants. In a suit launched in the fall of 2020, McCool claimed $1.5 million — later reduced to $1 million — for lost income, pain, suffering and damage to his reputation due to the actions or inactions of his accuser, McGill University, the Engineering Undergraduate Society of McGill University (EUS), the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), three SSMU executives, the publisher of the McGill Daily newspaper and three of its editors.

"The amount of the settlement and the details of its negotiation remain confidential, but McCool’s lawyer, Christopher Spiteri, said the matter has been settled to the satisfaction of his client.... Lawyers for McCool’s accuser and for the other defendants declined to comment on the settlement when contacted by the Montreal Gazette last week. Some did, however, issue statements to McCool as part of the settlement....

"In February 2020, McCool, then 24, was acclaimed to the position of VP internal with the SSMU. The job would have paid $35,000 for the term and was to start officially in June. But on March 12, 2020, McCool learned a fellow student had filed an anonymous complaint of sexual violence against him under the SSMU’s then-new All-Faculty Involvement Restriction Policy (IRP). The policy enables the SSMU and student associations to restrict the participation in student events of a person who is found, on a balance of probabilities, to have engaged in discrimination, harassment, violence and/or improper conduct. Although both McCool and his accuser were arts students, the complaint was filed with the Engineering Undergraduate Society.... The EUS appointed four engineering students to investigate the complaint against McCool. On April 2, McCool was informed that the committee had concluded there was a greater than 51 per cent chance that the alleged sexual violence had occurred. As a sanction, he was barred from events organized by student associations where alcohol was served.

"Both McCool and his accuser were bound by confidentiality rules outlined in the IRP, but eight hours after McCool was informed of the decision, an article was published in the McGill Daily revealing the decision against him. The article included an anonymous statement from the complainant calling upon McCool to resign as SSMU VP internal-elect, and on the SSMU to 'release a statement that condemns Declan McCool’s actions and acknowledges the continued prevalence of sexual and gendered violence at McGill.' On April 15, the newspaper published another statement by the anonymous complainant, in which she addressed McCool directly, calling him 'a perpetrator of gendered and sexual violence.' Again, she revealed no details of the allegations. McCool maintains the newspaper did not contact him for comment....

"McCool launched an appeal of the EUS committee decision on April 22. While that appeal was underway, the SSMU suspended him from his position without pay and took steps to have him removed from the position. Three SSMU executive members published a joint statement denouncing McCool and made comments on social media 'portraying him as a sexual predator,' according to the defamation claim. McCool had to step down from the McGill men’s rowing crew after the McGill men’s rowing coach advised other crew members to cut ties with him, and he was ousted from his fraternity housing.

"The EUS appointed an independent investigator, lawyer Anaïs Lacroix, to conduct the appeal.... It was during this appeal process, more than three months after the EUS committee had convicted him, that McCool was informed of the details of the allegations against him. According to Lacroix’s report, McCool and his accuser had met for drinks on Feb. 25, just weeks after he was acclaimed VP, at an off-campus bar. They later went to McCool’s fraternity room, where they had sex that night and again on the morning of Feb. 26.... The complainant alleged McCool did not receive continuous consent from her, and that he choked her, pulled her hair and pinned her down. She alleged she was unable to consent to sexual activity because of her level of intoxication. Since the case did not go to court, none of those accusations have been proved or disproved.... 

"But Lacroix’s report references screenshots of troubling text messages that the complainant sent to friends on the night of her encounter with McCool, and in the weeks following. At 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 26, the complainant texted friends to say she was considering having sex with either McCool or another SSMU executive. 'Declan it is,' the complainant texted about an hour later. When her friend asked her whether she had followed through, the complainant responded with a photo of a naked McCool, sleeping in bed beside her, according to evidence submitted in the defamation suit. 

"The text messages also revealed that the complainant may have had a motive to accuse McCool, Lacroix wrote.... 'Witness testimony and evidence suggest that the complainant had expressed a desire to run for SSMU VP internal — the position  that Mr. McCool was elected to'.... Lacroix granted the appeal, concluding that on the balance of probabilities and according to the evidence, McCool did not commit sexual violence against the complainant nor engage in improper conduct, the two were likely equally inebriated and the complainant communicated her consent affirmatively and continuously to McCool.

"McCool was initially given only a two-page summary of Lacroix’s report. He had to go to court to get access to the full report — granted in October 2021 — and again to have it unsealed so that it could be used in his defamation suit. In her Oct. 28, 2022 decision to unseal the report, Superior Court Judge Marie-Christine Hivon wrote: 'The sealing of the entire Lacroix decision constitutes a serious obstacle in (McCool’s) attempt to restore the truth and his reputation, in full view of everyone, and this, considering that Lacroix concludes that the sexual assault charges appear to be unfounded, according to the burden of proof that applies to his case.' 

"The McGill Daily did not report — until Monday in its publisher’s statement — that McCool won his appeal of the EUS sanction back in August 2020, nor did it report relevant evidence revealed in the Lacroix report, which has been public since October 2022."

Read more: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/former-mcgill-student-politician-satisfied-with-defamation-settlement

Judge strikes down Biden's student loan bailout

Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Is Unconstitutional, Says Federal Judge | Reason - Elizabeth Nolan Brown: 

November 11, 2022 - "A federal judge has ruled unconstitutional President Joe Biden's plan to forgive student loan debt. In a decision issued yesterday, U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman ruled in favor of plaintiffs Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor. Brown has student loans but is entirely ineligible for Biden's forgiveness program because her loans are privately held. Taylor has loans but is ineligible for the full $20,000 in debt relief. The Job Creators Network Foundation sued on their behalf, arguing that Biden's bailout plan violated the Administrative Procedure Act (which requires a period of public comment) and that the Department of Education lacks the authority to implement the program.

"Pittman found that the program did not violate administrative procedure. Instead, he found that the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 ("HEROES Act") — which Biden used to justify his move — does not actually 'provide the executive branch clear congressional authorization to create a $400 billion student loan forgiveness program.' Bident's student debt relief plan 'is thus an unconstitutional exercise of Congress's legislative power and must be vacated.' 'In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone,' Pittman wrote in his decision....

"In a statement yesterday, Job Creators Network Foundation President Elaine Parker said Biden's bailout 'would have done nothing to address the root cause of unaffordable tuition: greedy and bloated colleges that raise tuition far more than inflation year after year while sitting on $700 billion in endowments. We hope that the court's decision today will lay the groundwork for real solutions to the student loan crisis'....

"The Department of Justice has filed an appeal, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said yesterday. More than 26 million people have already applied for student loan forgiveness, she said, and the Biden administration will keep their information 'so it can quickly process their relief once we prevail in court.'

"The Job Creators Network Foundation suit is one of several cases challenging the program. These include a lawsuit from six Republican-led states and one from the Cato Institute. 'Cato's suit joins at least six others, with plaintiffs making various claims of harm,' noted Neal McCluskey, director of Cato's Center for Educational Freedom, in a blog post. 'The ultimate aim of all the suits, though, is the same: To stop a move that is not only patently unconstitutional, but will inflict many painful costs on society.'

"'The constitutional issue is straightforward: The Constitution gives the power of the purse to Congress, but in declaring that it would forgive up to $20,000 in loans for households making below $250,000 a year, the Biden administration essentially created about $400 billion in new spending,' McCluskey wrote late last month."

Read more: https://reason.com/2022/11/11/bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-is-unconstitutional-says-federal-judge/

Ontario court blocks Student Choice Initiative

Provincial government releases official guidelines on Student Choice Initiative, details of tuition cuts | The Varsity (University of Toronto), Adam A. Lam & Andy Takagi:

March 29, 2019 - "The Ontario government has released official guidelines for the Student Choice Initiative (SCI), the provincial mandate to give students an opt-out option for certain ancillary fees.... Incidental fees charged by universities to support clubs, student societies, and programs that fall outside of the provincial framework for compulsory fees will be required to have an opt-out option for students. The ability to opt out, according to the guidelines, must be presented to students before paying fees for that semester....

"Services can be deemed 'essential' by individual institutions, as long as they fall within the government’s established framework, which includes athletics and recreation, career services, student buildings, health and counselling, academic support, student ID cards, student achievement and records, financial aid offices, and campus safety programs. Levy-funded groups like various student unions — including college student associations, [student newspapers], and campus radio stations — will require an opt-out option, unless the university rationalizes these services as falling within one of the essential categories."
Read more: https://thevarsity.ca/2019/03/29/provincial-government-releases-official-guidelines-on-student-choice-initiative-details-of-tuition-cuts/

Province reviewing decision that struck down Student Choice Initiative | The Journal (Queen's University), Raechel Huizinga:
November 29, 2019 - "The Divisional Court of Ontario unanimously struck down the Student Choice Initiative on Nov. 21.... In May, the Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario (CFS-O) and the York Federation of Students filed an application for judicial review against the Ford government over the SCI. The court heard arguments from both parties on Oct. 11.

"While the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) confirmed in a statement to The Journal on Monday it’s reviewing the court decision, there has been no word yet on whether the Province will appeal the decision. 'We will have more to say on this at a later date,' Tanya Blazina, team lead of the Ministry’s issues management and media relations, wrote....

"According to court documents published by The Varsity, the judges unanimously agreed neither the Cabinet nor the Minister had the authority to interfere with the 'democratic decisions taken by students respecting their student association membership fees. There is no statutory authority authorizing Cabinet or the Minister to interfere in the internal affairs of universities generally, or in the relations between universities and student associations specifically,' the decision read."
Read more: https://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2019-11-28/news/province-reviewing-decision-that-struck-down-student-choice-initiative/

'via Blog this'

Oxford study program a big libertarian conspiracy

The Oxford Study programme faces a worrying lack of scrutiny | Cherwell - Libby Cherry:

June 10, 2019 - "Academic freedom is being threatened at Oxford University ... behind closed doors as part of a global attempt by a small sect of libertarians to ... exercise undue influence over those in power: legislators, policymakers, and, most insidiously, students and academics....

"[T]he Oxford Study Abroad Programme ... acts as an intermediary between US students and ... specific colleges, facilitating placements as Associated Members or Visiting Students for up to a year..... OSAP also runs ‘Specialised Summer Programs’. Whilst these ‘Programs’ use college facilities and are often instructed by handpicked Oxford academics, students are taught using custom reading lists and lectures developed by the 'faculty leaders' of the programmes ... without ‘interference’ from OSAP itself. Nor does OSAP’s educational scheme show evidence of being overseen by the central University or departments....

"Not only does this seem a singularly irresponsible model, a closer look at OSAP’s sample lectures, lecturers, and academic advisors reveals a highly commercialised organisation aimed at pushing a far-right agenda that is not only similar to those being propagated in the US but is directly funded from the same Koch sources....

"OSAP is the brainchild of the late Chicago-trained economist, Robert L. Schuettinger.... Trained under Friedrich Hayek in the 1950s ... Schuettinger was an Associate Member of Christ Church, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University’s Rothermere Institute.... Not only was he Director of Studies at US conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation, which received $300,000 from the Koch-affiliated organisations in 2013, he was also a contributor to the Mises Institute’s online journal. The [Mises] Institute’s board of directors includes Bob Luddy, who founded the Thales Academy, a chain of private schools teaching 'free-market economics' to school pupils.... But perhaps most damningly, Scheuttinger was a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, near-universally considered the most exclusive club of libertarian ideologues internationally ... with members including Charles Koch himself....

"Edwin Feulner, cited as a member of OSAP’s ‘Academic Advisory Board’, was former President of the Heritage Foundation and member of the 2016 Trump transition team.... OSAP’s website also includes praise from Texan Public Policy affiliate Ronald Trowbridge, who has formerly argued for the privatisation of universities....

""[T]he Reagan-Thatcher Lecture Series ... OSAP’s 'latest offering' ... received $10,000 from the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation.... The lecturers on the Reagan-Thatcher series ...  includ[e] historians Mark Almond, formerly a lecturer at Oriel College, and Norman Stone, former Chair of Modern History at Oxford and foreign policy advisor to Margaret Thatcher.... Almond also has his own personal ties with the American libertarian network, acting as an Academic Advisor for the Ron Paul Institute....

"This fatal combination of narrow political ideology, politicised funding, poor educational materials, and questionable lecturers makes OSAP’s course the paradigmatic opposite of academic freedom.... Putting aside the fact that their political philosophy encompasses those who have espoused racist, anti-democratic, and elitist viewpoints, simply allowing the University’s name to be associated with completely unregulated educational programmes seems absurd."

Read more: https://cherwell.org/2019/06/10/the-long-read-the-libertarian-links-of-a-private-tuition-programme/
'via Blog this'

Higher education's biggest scandal

Seven Troubling Facts On American Higher Education You Probably Don't Know - Adam Andrzejewski, Forbes:

April 10, 2019 - "The recent cheating scandal in which wealthy and well-connected parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegally game admission at elite universities exposed a rigged system. However, the biggest scandal facing higher education today isn’t the illegal activity – it’s what’s entirely legal. It’s a system so expensive that the $1.7 trillion in student debt now exceeds America’s credit card debt and auto loan debt.

"Last week, our organization at OpenTheBooks.com released our oversight report on the U.S. Department of Education (ED). We found billions of taxpayer dollars wasted on outdated policies, misaligned priorities, and weak accounting controls....

""The top 25 universities with largest endowments (collectively $272 billion) reaped $7 billion in federal student aid. Rich schools are getting richer and taxpayers paid for it....

"26 percent of federal undergraduate student loans made in 2018 will enter default at some point. Considering that $100 billion in student loans were originated last year, it’s a billion-dollar boondoggle. A Brooking Institution study found that 28 percent of college students signed up for student loans don’t even realize that [they] must be paid back....

"The largest chain of beauty schools, Empire Beauty School, received more than $500 million in federal student subsidies between 2014 – 2017. Empire admits to charging up to $22,100 in tuition ... to cut hair, manicure nails, and do massage therapy. Gambling, bartending, golf, and seminaries [also] reaped huge federal subsidies....

"$1 billion in taxpayer subsidies flowed to the 50 worst performing junior colleges as ranked by WalletHub last year. The 10 worst junior colleges had an average graduation rate of 12 percent. Students aren’t graduating. Yet, they’re saddled with large debts....

"Who’s to blame? Recent polling released by Scott Rasmussen shows that a majority (51 percent) of respondents feel the federal government has too much influence over higher ed and only 21 percent believe the feds have too little influence.

"Since 1980, tuition has increased 6.5 times the rate of income growth and is currently outpacing increases in other cost areas like housing, food and health care. Student aid was supposed to make college affordable again, but is simply going to straight to education institutions that continue to increase tuition."

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/04/10/seven-troubling-facts-on-american-higher-education-you-probably-dont-know/#5d4beaa73659
'via Blog this'

Also read: Libertarian offers college education for $11K / year

Libertarian offers college education for $11K/year

Private College for $11,000 a Year? Libertarian Businessman Creates an Alternative to Higher Ed Waste - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Jim Epstein:

January 25, 2019 - "Bob Luddy is the founder and owner of CaptiveAire, the world's largest commercial kitchen ventilation manufacturer, with $500 million in 2018 revenues, zero debt, 1,300 employees, and factories in seven states. His latest venture is a non-profit college that seeks to slash typical costs and improve quality, offering an alternative to the wasteful practices of higher ed.

"Thales College, which is launching this fall in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, isn't Luddy's first education venture. He started a charter school in 1998, and a Catholic school in 2001. The charter, Franklin Academy, is the third largest in North Carolina.... But, in Luddy's view, charters have limited potential for disruption because state regulators won't consent to radical approaches.

"So in 2007 he launched Thales Academy, a network of K-12 private schools affordable for working-class families....Thales keeps costs down by cutting out virtually all administrative employees and nonessentials.... Annual tuition is $5,300 for elementary school, and $6,000 for junior high and high school.

"Luddy's latest project brings his brand of cost cutting and innovation to higher education. Students will pay $10,667 annually for a degree that will take just three years, since classes will run 45 weeks per year rather than the conventional 30.... Thales will be a teaching college, where the faculty doesn't face pressure to publish or perish. Lectures will be offered online, so that students can watch (and rewatch) at home. Since online learning can't replicate the value of one-on-one mentoring, each student will get at least an hour per week alone with a professor....

"Thales College won't seek accreditation because doing so would be a 'hindrance,' says Dr. Timothy Hall, who will serve as the school's director of operations and academics. Accrediting institutions require that colleges have research libraries and a certain number of Ph.D.s on their faculty, according to Hall. Luddy sees college research libraries as a waste of money in the online age, and Hall says that the school will hire the best teachers, whether they have doctorate degrees or not.

"Lack of accreditation means students won't be eligible for federal loans, and if they decide to transfer schools, other accredited institutions may decline to honor the credits they've accrued.... Hall's 'not sure' if not being accredited will disqualify Thales alums from admission to some graduate programs, but anticipates that most will go right into the workforce....

"In Luddy's view, ending all federal subsidies would be the fastest and most effective way to upend higher education. But that's unlikely to happen anytime soon. Societal change comes not through advocacy, but via 'exit:' Create alternatives and people will vote with their wallets."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2019/01/25/private-college-for-11000-a-year-liberta
'via Blog this'

Rival foundations funding the UnKoch movement

Deep-Pocketed Donors Behind Campus Anti-Koch Movement - Washington Free Beacon - Lachlan Markay:

November 2, 2015 - "Liberal foundations financing a nonprofit news venture that is reporting on donations made by the Koch Brothers to colleges are also financing on-campus groups protesting the Kochs’ donations. The same foundations have also spent billions backing educational initiatives of their own that frequently promote left-wing policy agendas....

"The Center for Public Integrity [CPI] ... [has] detailed the Kochs’ grants to colleges and universities, that, reporter Dave Levinthal wrote, are 'now a critical part of their broader campaign to infuse politics and government with free-market principles.' According to Levinthal, Koch-backed foundations provided $19.3 million in funding for colleges and universities in 2013, a $6.6 million increase over 2012. 'Funding — as well as pushback against it — is increasing," he wrote.

"One group committed to such 'pushback' is UnKoch My Campus, which immediately picked up on and promoted CPI’s story. Its publication came just days before UnKoch’s planned 'day of action' ... to protest what it says is the Kochs’ undue influence on the curricula and staffing of those programs.... UnKoch, as its name suggests, is focused exclusively on the influence of conservative and libertarian university donors....

"UnKoch’s views reflect those of the groups backing the campaign: environmental giant Greenpeace; Forecast the Facts, a climate-focused project of the left-wing Citizen Engagement Lab; the Center for Media and Democracy, another nonprofit news venture; and the American Federation of Teachers.

"Those groups receive significant funding from the same foundations that finance CPI’s reporting. The Park Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Foundation for an Open Society have all granted money to CPI and at least one of the groups behind the UnKoch effort.

"These groups are also heavily involved in education philanthropy: Together, those six foundations have doled out more than $4.2 billion in related grants, including nearly $270 million in 2013, according to the nonprofit research service Foundation Search....

"Levinthal followed up his reporting with a story detailing the work of six foundations with ties to the Kochs. Together, the foundations reported net assets of $463 million in 2013. In comparison, the six aforementioned foundations backing CPI and the groups behind UnKoch reported combined net assets in 2013 of more than $31 billion....

"Levinthal writes that the Kochs’ giving will 'build a "talent pipeline" of libertarian-minded students.' Little attention is paid to the fact that this is exactly what the foundations backing CPI and the groups behind UnKoch are also trying to do....

"UnKoch referred questions about its activities to Greenpeace spokesman Connor Gibson, who rejected any parity between university donations from the Kochs and similarly ideological donors on the left.... Gibson for the most part declined to directly address questions about the UnKoch effort, and demanded to know whether the Washington Free Beacon is 'contracted to write defenses of [the Kochs] every time another scandal breaks.'"

Read more: https://freebeacon.com/issues/deep-pocketed-donors-behind-campus-anti-koch-movement/

'via Blog this'

Young Americans for Liberty settle Berkeley suit

UC Berkeley settles lawsuit filed by libertarian student group - Ryan Geller, Daily Californian:

July 5, 2018 - "UC Berkeley settled an alleged discrimination lawsuit that was filed by the campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, or YAL, by adjusting the campus’s application process for Registered Student Organizations, or RSOs.

"YAL, a campus libertarian student group, claimed in the lawsuit that UC Berkeley denied the group’s RSO application because it was 'too similar' to other groups on campus.... The settlement included $8,250 for legal fees and other losses as well as a requirement that UC Berkeley post clear statements of policy and the campus RSO guidelines on its website.

"According to Khader Kakish, president of the UC Berkeley chapter of YAL, UC Berkeley told YAL in an email to work with Cal Libertarians because of the similarity between the two groups. Kakish added that YAL was also asked to provide proof that it had made an attempt to work with Cal Libertarians and submit a 'statement of uniqueness' if it wanted to continue the application process....

"YAL has more than 900 chapters across the country at public and private universities, where the group promotes personal and civil liberties as well as the importance of free-market economics, Kakish said. Alliance Defending Freedom, a network of attorneys that advocates for free speech for faith communities, took on the UC Berkeley YAL chapter’s lawsuit initially on a pro bono basis, according to Kakish.....

"UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore said in an email that the campus’s policy is to encourage new student organizations to consult with existing organizations that are similar and ... added that campus policies were not actually changed as a result of the settlement.....

"Gilmore said in an email that the campus is satisfied with the settlement and that the money paid to the plaintiff recognized that YAL members did receive an email that was unclear about the application process and existing policy. Gilmore also stated that once YAL expressed its dissatisfaction to the campus, its RSO status was granted.

"According to Kakish, the group’s RSO status was not granted until after the lawsuit was filed."

Read more: http://www.dailycal.org/2018/07/04/uc-berkeley-settles-lawsuit-filed-libertarian-student-group-young-americans-liberty/
'via Blog this'

Arizona's campus cannabis ban struck down by state Supreme Court

A Libertarian on the Bench - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Damon Root:

June 4, 2018 - "In the recent case of Arizona v. Maestas, ... [at] issue was the 2014 arrest of an Arizona State University student named Andre Lee Juwaun Maestas. Under the terms of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA), a voter initiative passed in 2010, Maestas was a valid medical marijuana cardholder. That meant that he was legally allowed to possess 2.5 ounces of 'usable marijuana.' Yet Maestas was arrested after university police found 0.014 ounces of marijuana in his dorm room.....

"They arrested him because in 2012 the state legislature amended the AMMA to forbid all medical marijuana use and possession on state college and university campuses....

"Per the Arizona Constitution, the state legislature may only amend a voter initiative if 'the amending legislation furthers the purposes of such measure.' The question before the Arizona Supreme Court in the Maestas case was whether the 2012 criminalization law was at odds with that provision from the state Constitution.

"The Arizona Supreme Court held that it was. 'Criminalizing AMMA-compliant marijuana possession or use on public college or university campuses plainly does not further the AMMA's primary purpose,' the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in Arizona v. Maestas. 'We hold [the 2012 law] unconstitutional as applied to the student/cardholder in this case'....

"According to the state of Arizona, the judiciary owed total deference to the lawmakers here. In the state's view, the legislature alone enjoys the power to establish and maintain "a general and uniform public school system.' Criminalizing marijuana use on public campuses, the state insisted, should be immune from judicial review because it is a non-justiciable 'political question'."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/06/04/a-libertarian-on-the-bench
'via Blog this'

Student group Turning Point comes to Canada

Canadian offshoot of U.S. libertarian campus group says it provides needed counterpoint to liberal bias | CBC News - Raffy Boudjikanian:

May 22, 2018 - "Some U.S. academics are warning their Canadian counterparts to be wary of a U.S. libertarian group that has recently set up a chapter on the campus of Simon Fraser University, but its proponents say it provides a much-needed counterpoint to the increasingly liberal bias of academia.

"Turning Point USA describes itself as a 'student movement for free markets and limited government' whose mission it is to educate students through 'non-partisan debate, dialogue, and discussion.'

"But it has courted controversy in the U.S. on account of some of its tactics. These include disseminating a "professor watch list" of university teachers whom the group considers to be spreading "leftist propaganda" in the classroom; staging provocative stunts mocking campus "safe spaces" and free speech zones; and hosting polarizing figures of the far right, such as Milo Yiannopoulos.

"'They will videotape you. They will perhaps have people in your classroom to take a class to ask certain questions, to get a video clip that they can send to ... their own news website,' said Matthew Boedy, assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia....

"Those who started the Canadian offshoot say it takes no cues from its American counterpart. 'They have not told us what do. They just kind of let us do as we please,' said Wayd Miller, the national chair.... Miller said Turning Point Canada receives no money from its U.S. counterpart and is entirely self-funded.

"For now, Turning Point Canada is registered as a club at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., but Miller said the group has plans to expand to several Ontario campuses in the fall, including McMaster University in Hamilton and Ryerson University in Toronto.... Miller said each campus chapter of Turning Point Canada will be free to do as it pleases....

"Turning Point Canada appears to have a tangential connection to the federal Conservative Party by way of one of its co-founders, Charlie Beldman, who currently works as a member's assistant at the Ottawa office of Tory Leader Andrew Scheer.... When asked about Beldman's involvement, Miller said, "Charlie hasn't had anything to do with us since he started his job with the Conservatives [last summer]'....

"The president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers ... said the arrival of Turning Point in Canada caught his attention primarily because of the professor watch list in the U.S. 'That's an attack on academic freedom," he said of the watch list.... We don't have a problem with controversial speakers.... That's how the academy grows, with vigorous debate.'"

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/turning-point-canada-scheer-1.4658239
'via Blog this'

The libertarian who founded a university

The Guatemalan Economic Miracle and the Man Who Helped It Happen - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world - Alfonso Abril:

March 15, 2018 - "Guatemala is a poor country, but we were richly blessed by the late Manuel 'Muso' Ayau, who was born here in 1925.... What can an honest citizen do to change a poor country for the better? Muso knew the recipe. Let me tell you how I interpret this Guatemalan hero’s vision and how his legacy contributes toward building a prosperous Guatemala.

"Our country is full of smart and passionate people. We have splendid weather, bountiful natural resources, and a strategic location with access to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. So why is Guatemala poor? The reason lies in our weak institutions and flawed ideas, not in a lack of resources. Changing ideas so people support institutional reform, and then making those institutions work in people’s favor to create a prosperous society were the challenges that Muso tackled....

"Donald Boudreaux explains some background: 'Soon encountering burdensome regulations, corrupt bureaucrats, and absurd taxes, he joined with other Guatemalan businessmen seeking to free consumers and producers from the then-dominant command-and-control regulatory regime.... But as Muso once recalled to me, "I quickly became disillusioned. Even when we won a battle now and then, we continued to lose the war against statism. I realized that we would make no real progress unless we changed the underlying ideas of the people. We had to take a long-run perspective. I learned that freedom must triumph in people’s minds and hearts before it can make any headway in politics."'

"Muso believed in education, especially the education of intellectuals and other influencers to ensure a proper understanding of economic principles and the philosophy of freedom.... In 1958, he co-founded the Center for Economic–Social Studies (CEES), which began publishing and disseminating its own analyses of Guatemalan issues and also translating and distributing classic works in freedom literature such as Frederic Bastiat’s The Law....

"Undaunted by obstacles and skepticism, he founded Universidad Francisco Marroquín (UFM) in 1971, now a leading private university in Guatemala City, one of the finest in Latin America, and a beacon of freedom ideas. UFM, where academic excellence is a passion, is where I studied business.

"Muso established a rule at the founding of the University: Every student, no matter what his or her major field of study, must enroll and pass the 'Economic Process and Philosophy' courses. Those courses acquaint students with the 'Austrian School' of Economics, particularly the insights of two giants among 20th Century economists, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich A. Hayek. With that policy in practice at the university now for more than 40 years, solid free-market economic ideas have been spreading, slowly but surely, across the country....

"UFM is without a doubt the most important and enduring achievement of Manuel Ayau. His energy and his spirit endow every building and room on a stunning campus — in particular, the Mises Library, the Hayek Auditorium, the Atlas Libertas Sculpture, and the Liberty Plaza. The University teaches free-market economics and the philosophy of freedom to influential leaders of the future. The budget of UFM amounts to more than $30 million per year, a very significant figure for Guatemala. Visiting intellectuals from all over the world ensure lively discussions that keep the professors experts on the most innovative trends and ideas."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/the-guatemalan-economic-miracle-and-the-man-who-helped-it-happen/
'via Blog this'

Instructor fired for protesting gets libertarian aid

Libertarian advocates defend professor who was fired for protesting conservative student group – TheBlaze - Sara Gonzelez:

December 19, 2017 - "University of Nebraska-Lincoln [UNL] graduate instructor Courtney Lawton became a minor internet sensation earlier this year when members of the conservative student organization, TurningPoint USA, posted video of her peacefully protesting one of their recruiting events.

"Now, Lawton claims that she has been fired by the university, and with the help of prominent libertarian free speech activists, she’s fighting back.

"In the video, Lawton can be seen holding a sign that says 'Say no to neo-fascism' and verbally criticizing both TPUSA and the recruiters who were present. At one point, Lawton flips off the person holding the camera. The video did not indicate that any violence or threats of violence occurred....

"When video of the confrontation was posted online by TPUSA, the school was bombarded with emails and threats.

"Lawton was removed from the classroom effective Sept. 1 and was informed that her contract would not be renewed.... In a statement released to libertarian free speech organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education [FIRE], UNL claimed that Lawton was released because she failed to meet the university’s 'expectations for civility.'

"In an email to popular libertarian blog Reason, however, Lawton claims that the school gave her contradictory reasons for her termination. Lawton claims that she was initially told that her removal was due to 'safety concerns for students' but later was told in a follow-up meeting that she was being removed from the classroom because her presence would be 'too disruptive to students'....

"Both FIRE and Reason have responded to the university, arguing that the policy under which Lawton was dismissed was unconstitutionally vague. Additionally, ... FIRE argued that Lawton’s speech was constitutionally protected under the First Amendment and that her termination was unconstitutional....

"FIRE has filed lawsuits on behalf of students and professors in order to preserve free speech on campus. It is not clear if FIRE intends to file a lawsuit against the university if it does not respond in a timely manner."

Read more: http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/12/19/libertarian-advocates-defend-professor-who-was-fired-for-protesting-conservative-student-group
'via Blog this'

Young Americans for Liberty sue UC Berkeley

Libertarian Student Group Sues UC Berkeley for Refusing to Grant It Official Club Status - Rachel Frommer, Washington Free Beacon:

December 5, 2017 - "A libertarian student group has sued the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) for refusing to grant it official club status, alleging political discrimination.

"Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), which describes itself as 'not political, or partisan,' has challenged the university's explanation that it denied the club recognition because YAL is 'too similar' to an extant campus organization, the Cal Libertarians.

"The federal lawsuit, filed Monday, charges that Berkeley's policies governing status recognition are 'arbitrary and without justification and result in and from content and/or viewpoint discrimination.'

"Lacking official status, YAL cannot reserve space, invite speakers, or receive university funding drawn from the $694 per-semester campus fee, according to the suit.

"In the absence of Berkeley support, YAL members say they have spent over $100 to fund their activities.....

"YAL says multiple clubs exist that "appear almost identical," such as the Queer Alliance & Resource Center, the Queer Student Union, and the UNITY Resource Center."

Read more: http://gdspoliticalanimal.blogspot.ca/2017/12/young-americans-for-liberty-sue-uc.html
'via Blog this'

Antifa chapter wants libertarian professor fired

Antifa Wants 'Bleeding Heart Libertarian' Professor Fired. We're Not Exactly Sure Why. - Reason.com - Dan King:

November 30, 2017 - "The Eugene, Oregon chapter of Antifa wants Lane Community College philosophy instructor Jeffrey Borrowdale fired. The self-described libertarian's offenses? Borrowdale participated in a discussion of free speech versus hate speech, and he once included a politically incorrect question on a test.

"Fliers promoting a November 18 'LCC Speak Out' described ... as a 'deliberative dialogue discussion addressing issues on free speech versus hate speech' [had] ... no mention of race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, or any ... identity politics issues.... Nevertheless, on the day of the event, @EugeneAntifa sent out a tweet, urging students to attend the discussion and 'let him [Borrowdale] know it's time for him to go!' The tweet included a photo Borrowdale had previously taken with conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, and described the philosophy instructor as 'Young Americans for Liberty sponsor, alt-right, Milo admirer and all around crappy "instructor"'....

"Borrowdale is indeed the adviser for the school's Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) chapter. He describes himself as a 'bleeding heart libertarian, transhumanist, not a Nazi' and 'a trans ally.' Antifa never elaborated on what views of Borrowdale's justified its labeling of him as alt-right, other than the Milo photo.

"'They've been trying to incite students against me since last fall when someone found the picture I took with Milo on Facebook,' he told Campus Reform on November 21.... Borrowdale said activists have been sending him threatening messages, publishing his personal information on social media, tearing down or defacing fliers for his YAL group and urging students to infiltrate and disrupt YAL meetings.

"Photos Borrowdale provided to Reason show YAL posters covered by memes from Antifa members.... One meme features Sen. Rand Paul with the words 'Is Free Market, Dies Anyway.' Another is a picture of an Antifa member punching an alt-right figure with the words 'Good night, alt-right.'

"Some students, alleging he is transphobic, have attempted to get him fired, for a multiple choice current events question he asked on one of his midterm exams. ''Did you hear that the leader of this new transgender bathroom ordinance here in Charlotte is a registered sex offender? I'm voting No and so should you.'".... Students were to choose from three philosophy answers and one clearly sarcastic, wrong answer: 'a strong argument that the ordinance will lead to a rise in sexual molestation and assaults'.... Borrowdale said he 'miskeyed' the clearly sarcastic answer to show up as the correct answer and apologized for the mistake."

Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2017/11/30/antifa-wants-bleeding-heart-libertarian
'via Blog this'

CA governor vetoes campus sexcrimes bill

Jerry Brown Vetoes Campus Sexual Assault Bill Because It Threatens Due Process - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Robby Soave:

October 16, 2017 - "Today California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 169, which would have codified the Obama-era Education Department's guidance for how college campuses should deal with sexual misconduct.

"What's more, he vetoed the bill on explicit due-process grounds. Accused students, guilty or not, 'must be treated fairly and with the presumption of innocence until the facts speak otherwise,' he wrote in a statement.

"Brown's veto comes at a time when the new Education Department, led by Betsy DeVos, is revising the guidance.... The California legislature tried to ensure that schools keep doing things the old way. But as Brown noted:

Thoughtful legal minds have increasingly questioned whether federal and state actions to prevent and redress sexual harassment and assault — well-intentioned as they are — have also unintentionally resulted in some colleges' failure to uphold due process for accused students. Depriving any student of higher education opportunities should not be done lightly, or out of fear of losing state or federal funding.

Given the strong state of our laws already, I am not prepared to codify additional requirements in reaction to a shifting federal landscape, when we haven't yet ascertained the full impact of what we recently enacted. We have no insight into how many formal investigations result in expulsion, what circumstances lead to expulsion, or whether there is disproportionate impact on race or ethnicity.

"Brown isn't wrong to suggest that the softening of due process protections for accused students might have disproportionately affected students of color. As Emily Yoffe discussed in a thoroughly reported series for The Atlantic, there are good reasons to think minority students are much more likely to run afoul of the campus anti-rape bureaucracy.

"I'm pleasantly surprised that Brown vetoed this bill and released such a strong statement reaffirming the importance of due process ... a brave stance that makes him an outlier within the Democratic Party, whose leaders have been far more likely to condemn DeVos for trying to tamper with the system."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/10/16/gov-jerry-brown-vetoes-campus-sexual-ass
'via Blog this'

American U cancels YAL meeting event

My Alma Mater American University Cancelled My Title IX 'Hate Speech' Panel - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Elizabeth Nolan Brown:

September 29, 2107 - "I was supposed to participate in a panel at my alma mater, American University, on feminism, free speech, and Title IX.... But in the days leading up to the event, the AU chapter of American Association of University Women organized a campaign to 'Keep Our Campus Safe,' describing the panel as 'hate speech' and 'violence'....

"The panel was put together by spiked as part of its "Unsafe Space" tour.... The event on American's D.C. campus was to kick off the tour, with me, spiked's Ella Whelan, former ACLU chief Nadine Strossen, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education director Robert Shibley on a panel moderated by spiked Deputy Editor Tom Slater.

"Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) was the student group hosting the event, and was in charge of making arrangements with the campus. An auditorium had been secured since summer, but a few days before the event AU administrators told YAL that the space was no longer available and then that the panel had to be canceled altogether.

"Annamarie Rienzi, D.C. chair of YAL and one of the student organizers of last night's event, told me that the school claimed it came down to YAL classifying the panel as a 'meeting' rather than an 'event.' But this is standard practice for YAL and other student groups, she says, when a talk or panel does not involve bringing paid speakers to campus or providing refreshments....

"The event went on ... in ... Reason's D.C. office.... We talked about how Title IX proceedings ... encompass a range of other areas that can have nothing to do with sexual activity or violence, and that can seriously jeopardize academic freedom and (often liberal) professors' livelihoods. Whelan talked about how Title IX proceedings and the general sexual climate on campus can infantilize female students and take women's progress a step backward.

"Shibley argued that Title IX had had many positive accomplishments before it was, only recently, expanded to its current form under the Obama administration.... I talked about how it's the feds, much more than any minority of illiberal students, who are forcing campuses into absurd 'safe spaces' ... rather than face steep fines or lose the ability to participate in federal student-loan programs....

"It was especially disappointing to learn today that this may have been provoked by a women's student group severely misrepresenting the event.... Here's how the American Association of University Women (AAUW) of AU described the spiked panel: 'The Unsafe Space Tour is coming to AU. What do they want to talk about? Completely revising and undoing decades of work by activists around campuses across the country to make campuses safer for victims of sexual violence'.... [I]t added: 'A note on First Amendment rights to free speech: AAUW at AU fully supports free speech. This does not mean we support forcing marginalized students to [experience] hate speech and other forms of violence and trauma'....

"After learning that AU had canceled the event, the group posted (twice): 'We are STOKED to announce that the Unsafe Space Tour has been canceled at AU! In their words, they, 'got word of resistance from some campus groups.' Good riddance! Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in [the "Keep Our Campus Safe" counter-event] and spoke out.'"

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/09/29/au-campus-safe-from-title-ix-hate-speech
'via Blog this'