Last updated on 12/01/2021
Everything important has been done or will be done in secret. Two days of meetings and the only vote is a pro-forma one on some Ed School MS/certificate program. No way this in-person meeting is worth even an epsilon chance of the Omicron, but it will be online if you just like to watch:
Wednesday, December 1st, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time
Thursday, December 2nd, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time
Meeting of the Board — December 1-2, 2021
[Meeting Materials] [Livestream-December 1] [Livestream-December 2]
“pointless meeting” – redundancy alert!
Apparently there was some sort of basket ball thing tonight, which explains why the meeting was in person. Can’t have a Board of Trustees meeting without some sports to remind the trustees what their public service is really about!
Off-topic: We’re getting another 15m of fame:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10272875/Woke-University-Oregon-student-body-wants-critical-race-theory-graduation-requirement.html
https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-university-critical-race-theory-graduation-requirement
I’d not heard of it before, but something tells me the course would not a critical history and analysis of the positives and negatives of CRT, but rather a “agree with the instructor or you fail” sort of course. I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
In my experience most faculty love having students who care enough about a subject to argue about it.
I must be inhabiting a different corner of the University. From my seat, it’s probably the most intellectually and ideologically stultifying place I’ve ever worked. I’m sad about it. The only environment I’ve experienced that seemed similar was growing up in the South in the 60s and 70s. Sunday school was often (though not always) like this. Say the wrong words, express the wrong ideas, and expect to be shamed and ostracized. Certainly it was not a place where one could discuss and debate ideas.
Saw this article today, which captures a bit of the idea. If you hit the paywall, put the URL into ‘archive.is’ or similar.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/alumni-withhold-donations-demand-colleges-enforce-free-speech-11638280801
Related, and relatable: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/the-turn-liel-leibovitz
Once again, higher ed reporting in right-wing media consists entirely of dumb fear-mongering stories about what some student group wants. It will be fun watching this bit of overblown irrelevancy metastisize across the echo chamber.
Certainly it’s not the sort of story the left-wing media will cover. Conservative outlets do cover other aspects, though. One learns that there at least a few obviously brilliant conservatives in academia (e.g., McWhorter), and that journals continue to credulously publish obvious nonsense (e.g., Sokal III).
With respect to the course requirement, honest people on both sides understand that no hearts and minds will be changed by bludgeoning people and force-feeding them propaganda. People know when they are being punished, and it just hardens their stances.
Still trolling for a threadjack, huh? I’ll just point out that McWhorter calls himself a liberal Democrat, Sokal has always been a Marxist (who did something irresponsible and ill-considered in a misguided attempt to help the left), and his imitators are no-talent attention-seeking frauds who figured out that pandering to the right would get them noticed.
Kind of a “threadjack”, yes. But AFAIK, it’s not possible for peons such as myself to start new threads on this board. So, here we are.
Yes, yes, McWhorter calls himself a liberal Democrat. So do I. I still consider Ralph Nader to be a personal hero, and probably the most respectable figure in modern politics.
The Wikipedia page for Alan Sokal does not mention him as a Marxist. I would have thought they’d have claimed him as one of their own if that were true.
It will delight you to know, though, that I’ve started talking to recruiters. There’s a non-zero possibility that I do work for you, and perhaps you will notice if I leave. I take it as a point of pride that no one on any job I’ve ever worked has any notion whatsoever of my political or religious leanings, nor would they if they could observe every action I take at work. That used to be known as “professionalism”. Perhaps it’s a value whose time has passed.