Category Archives: Education (higher ed)

UVa’s Modern-Day Barbarians

Posted on November 2, 2023 by | 14 comments

Image credit: Bing Image Creator

by James A. Bacon

The latest round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has stirred up emotions at the University of Virginia more than any event since the George Floyd riots. Not only are students holding demonstrations and counter-demonstrations; faculty, parents, and alumni are chiming in.

Eighty University of Virginia professors signed an open letter proclaiming themselves to be “unsettled” by the tone of a statement previously issued by President Jim Ryan concerning events stemming from Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks on Israel. Ryan expressed sorrow for the atrocities inflicted upon Israeli citizens, the writers aver, but did not acknowledge the sufferings of the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, more than 15o parents and alumni have signed a letter expressing concern for the safety of Jewish students in an atmosphere of increasing antisemitism nationally. The university, they say, needs to create a task force to eradicate antisemitism within the UVa community.

The Jefferson Council members with whom I am in contact — and I have heard from many — are unanimously supportive of Israel. The Jewish state is far from perfect when measured against a utopian ideal of pluralistic, democratic, rights-respecting nations, but Hamas, a terrorist organization masquerading as a state, bears no comparison. It is in the same league as the Huns, Vandals, Goths, Vikings and other ancient barbarians who laid waste to the settled societies around them. Council members have chosen to side with the heirs of Western Civilization and against those who seek to destroy it. Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (higher ed)

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Governor Youngkin Steps to Curb Anti-Semitic Activities – How about Law Enforcement?

Posted on October 31, 2023 by | 38 comments

by James C. Sherlock

Governor Glenn Youngkin took action today with an Executive Directive to “Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Religious Bigotry in the Commonwealth and on Campuses.”

It is excellent, and we look forward to immediate steps by other actors in the Commonwealth. Continue reading →

38 Comments

Posted in Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Education (higher ed), Governance, Planning, Threat Assessment

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What is Actually Taught about the History of the Jews and the Jewish State in Virginia Schools?

Posted on October 30, 2023 by | 103 comments

German-Israeli woman Shani Louk, whose semi-naked body was paraded through Gaza by Hamas, has been declared dead. Her skull was found separated from her body. Credit Instagram

by James C. Sherlock

What comes first? Sadism or hatred? Does religious radicalism create sadists or do sadists flock there for approval and opportunity?

Some on the radical right and the radical left in the United States share a hatred for Jews.

The radical right may not be able to remember why, but pursue it anyway.

Radical Islam combines Nazi views and medieval sadism and does not hesitate to act them out. Remember the Munich Olympics massacre, 9/11 and the ISIS beheadings? Now Oct. 7th? Any questions?

Virginia’s schools have lessons to teach. Unfortunately it is not clear what the message has been and will be in the future. Continue reading →

103 Comments

Posted in Democracy and Western Civilization, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12)

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A’s for All!

Posted on October 29, 2023 by | 28 comments

by James A. Bacon

Grade inflation in American universities is a well-documented phenomenon. Nearly half of all grades handed out at Harvard are A’s. The average Grade Point Average (GPA) at the University of Virginia, having drifted steadily upward over the past 30 years, is moving higher at an accelerating rate. One possible explanation — in defiance of the downward trend in standardized test scores in K-12 education — is that the kids are just so darn smart! They deserve the A’s!

Another explanation points to the obsession with equality and self-esteem, and to the attendant collapse in standards that would differentiate between excellence, mediocrity and failure.

The question arises in a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education which profiles a controversy at James Madison University. Six economics professors told the Chronicle that their annual evaluations have been penalized because they are handing out too many D’s and F’s. Continue reading →

28 Comments

Posted in Education (higher ed)

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Foreign Student Influence in Students for Justice in Palestine Chapters at Virginia Universities and their “Allies”

Posted on October 28, 2023 by | 87 comments

Caption: “Show up, share, and support the resistance movement! Let’s keep the momentum going” GMU SJP member

by James C. Sherlock

The SJP organizations at three Virginia state universities, the University of Virginia, George Mason University, and the University of Mary Washington, have been active since October 7th on the Hamas side.

Some attempt to thread two needles simultaneously: to separate Gazans from their elected government, the terrorist organization Hamas, and to separate Israelis from Jews.

In celebrating the October 7th slaughter, those are distinctions without a difference.

We’ll look at the influence of foreign students in Virginia universities’ SJP chapters, then the GMU chapter, and then briefly examine the progressive/Marxist “intersectionality” of SJP to see the extent of who and what we are dealing with.

The results are interesting, but not surprising. Continue reading →

87 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Education (higher ed), Immigration, Marxism, Virginia Law

Hey NCAA, Let JMU Go Bowling!

Posted on October 27, 2023 by | 3 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

File this under “Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Nut Occasionally”:

Louise Lucas, one of the worst members of Virginia’s General Assembly and the ringleader of the obstructionist “brick wall” in the state Senate that blocked chunks of Gov. Glenn Youngin’s popular agenda, is on the right side of an issue.

For once.

She recently posted this on X, the website formerly known as Twitter:

Let me remind the @NCAA that they are required by their charter to follow state laws where they operate. If they continue to hold @JMUFootball hostage to a technical rule and stop them from competing in the postseason they will face a very unfriendly future from our legislature.

I’m not sure there’s much to her veiled threat of “unfriendliness” from Virginia’s General Assembly, but her heart’s in the right place on this one. Until she brings race into it. As she always does. Sigh.

She’s one of many Virginia politicians – Republicans and Democrats – who are lobbying the NCAA to allow James Madison University to become bowl-eligible this year.

Let’s back up. In 2022 JMU moved up to Division 1 football after dominating the FCS for many years. This week the Dukes broke into both the AP and Coaches’ Polls national rankings in the 25th spot. The only Virginia college football program in the top 25.

No surprise, considering that after seven games, the university in Harrisonburg remains undefeated.

For most football programs, hitting six wins promises an invitation to play in one of the 41 bowl games. Seven wins? It’s a lock.

But NCAA rules prevent programs from participating in bowl games until they’ve been in the higher division for two seasons.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Education (higher ed), Political Influence

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In Defense of Painful Free Speech

Posted on October 26, 2023 by | 75 comments

by Allan Stam

The horrific attacks of October 7th on Jews in Israel have prompted pro-Palestinian groups, including several at UVA, to rally in support of Hamas. In recent days, we have heard growing calls for support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as the Israeli Defense Forces and Iran’s proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Ansar Allah (the Houthi movement in Yemen) wage the most significant war in and around Israel in years. This is a war precipitated solely by Hamas’ surprise terror attack of unprecedented scale and proportion on unarmed Israeli civilians.

A common theme across the statements of pro-Palestinian groups and many university administrators and faculty is an explicit or implicit assertion of some moral equivalence between the suffering of human shields in Gaza and the victims of barbaric terror attacks in Israel. The linguistic turn that Hamas’ apologists employ most commonly is the ‘yes, but…’ device.

Some responded to these abhorrent statements with calls to restrict free speech, to sanction the terrorists’ enablers formally, and to quell somehow this pruriently hateful speech. I disagree. Most vehemently. Let the antisemites have their say. Why? Because now we know with certainty what they believe and how they genuinely feel about others in our community.

The downside of strict censorship is uncertainty about peoples’ actual beliefs. For example, by making the use of the n-word utterly forbidden, we protect the sensibilities of Black people who would suffer, at a minimum, great offense and possibly some genuine harm. However, the cost of that protection is that it enhances the ability of the faithful or casual racists to hide in our midst. Continue reading →

75 Comments

Posted in Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Education (higher ed)

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Crime and Punishment in Charlottesville

Posted on October 25, 2023 by | 109 comments

by James C. Sherlock

UVa and Harvard are the two campuses most often cited by the national and world press as homes to the worst actors after October 7.

It is easy work.

I posted a column on Saturday making a series of recommendations for actions by the University of Virginia to protect its Jewish community and rid itself of those that threaten it.

That was my response to the infamous support of UVa-funded organizations for the slaughter of innocents in Israel by Hamas, a group designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.

Kill Jews “by any means necessary” they wrote.

Read the column.  I named them.

Now I have been told by the Executive Director of Hillel at UVa, Rabbi Jake Rubin, that the President’s office and law enforcement “have been incredibly responsive, helpful, and present during this difficult time.”

Good start, and Virginians thank them for it, but it does not answer the questions about enforcement of state and federal laws.

So, there is more to do. Continue reading →

109 Comments

Posted in Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Culture wars, DEI, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12)

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“Hate” Speech Does Not Make Students “Unsafe”

Posted on October 25, 2023 by | 21 comments

Scene from “Clockwork Orange”

by James A. Bacon

There is a widespread notion among militant leftists at the University of Virginia, as there is in universities across the Commonwealth, that exposure to objectionable ideas causes “harm” to those who hear them and, thus, should be suppressed. This logic is a totalitarian wolf in sheep’s clothing. While I do not countenance the banning of speech — even the speech of those who would happily ban mine — I do believe this leftist trope must be combatted forcefully in the marketplace of ideas.

We observed this thinking in the run-up to the speech by Abigail Shrier, author of Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, which highlights the role of social contagion in the spread of transgender identity among teenage girls and the potentially irreversible damage of hormone treatments and sex-change surgery.

Shrier is Public Enemy No. 1 to transgender activists, and their social media accounts lit up once word got out that The Jefferson Council and its partners were holding a Q&A event with Shrier on the Grounds. I won’t bore you with the serial misrepresentations of Shrier as a transphobe and a hater. Rather, my intent here is to explore the logic that speakers with views like hers are unwelcome at UVa. 

“Unfortunately, knowing that the university is OK w allowing hateful ppl to come to this school (pence, pompeo, other hateful republicans) it is clear that ‘free speech’ and ‘bipartisanship’ is valued over the safety of their students,” messaged one writer in a QSU (Queer Student Union) account. [My bold face.] Continue reading →

21 Comments

Posted in Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Culture wars, Education (higher ed), LGBQT

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The Impact of Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need Laws on Nursing Home and Home Health Care Availability and Expenditures

Posted on October 23, 2023 by | 4 comments

by James C. Sherlock

I have come across a major study in the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine that made a point that I have not explored sufficiently to this point.

It discusses the intersection of nursing homes, home health care, CON laws like Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law, and Medicaid expenditures.

I have shown over time in a series of columns how bad many of Virginia’s nursing homes are.

Antitrust authorities at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and at the US Department of Justice (DOJ) have long taken the position that CON laws are anticompetitive.

This study, conducted prior to COVID, indicates that COPN administration will ensure that nursing facilities not only have little competition from other facilities, which it was designed to do, but also will limit home health care expansion, which the COPN law does not mention.

That is very good for the Virginia nursing home industry.

It is bad for every other Virginian, every one of whom may need at least post-operative recovery and rehabilitation if not long term care.

Some will need it in a dedicated facility, others can be better served at home.

The study indicated that COPN will tend to make home health care less available and potentially raise total Medicaid spending. It also showed that market forces unconstrained by CON laws like COPN will tend to reverse those trends.

So this article is dedicated to our politicians and their constituents.

You. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Central planning, Consumer Protection, Education (higher ed), Ethics, General Assembly, Governance, Health Care, Regulations and Government Oversight

What the Heck Does “a Historical Connection to Slavery” Mean?

Posted on October 22, 2023 by | 71 comments

by James A. Bacon

Project Gabriel, an initiative of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, discussed ideas this summer on how to circumvent the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling restricting the role of race in college admissions, Do No Harm has found through a public records request.

“VCU and other medical schools are trying their utmost to circumvent the Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action,” Do No Harm Chairman Stanley Goldfarb told The College Fix. Do No Harm, a national organization headquartered in Henrico County, combats identity politics in medicine.

Project Gabriel scholarships, writes the College Fix, “would be available for ‘those with a historic connection to slavery.’ A list of challenges included questions such as ‘How do you determine someone’s historic connection to slavery?’ and ‘Restriction of affirmative action in college admission – how does this affect race-based scholarships?'”

“Work around the ruling on affirmative action and find ways we can still help give scholarships to those students in need,” say Project Gabriel notes. Continue reading →

71 Comments

Posted in Education (higher ed), Race and Race Relations

Anti-Jewish Extremism at UVa — Next Steps

Posted on October 21, 2023 by | 11 comments

Courtesy of SJP at UVa https://www.instagram.com/sjpuva/

by James C. Sherlock

The University of Virginia has made quite a national name for itself over the responses of its campus anti-Jewish extremists to the slaughter of babies in Israel.

It is not a reputation it wants.

On October 8th, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UVa, an organization officially recognized by the Student Council and eligible for funding by the student activities fee, issued a statement “unequivocally support(ing) Palestinian liberation “by any means necessary.”

“Any means necessary.”

It was cosigned by:

  1. Afghan Student Association
  2. Arab Student Organization
  3. Asian Pacific American Leadership Training Institute (APALTI)
  4. Asians Revolutionizing Together at UVA
  5. Asian Student Union
  6. Bengali Student Association
  7. Black Student Alliance
  8. Black Muslims at UVA
  9. Central Americans For Empowerment (CAFÉ)
  10. Environmental Justice Collective at UVA
  11. Ethiopian Eritrean Student Association
  12. FeelGood at UVA
  13. Hindu Student Council
  14. Indian Student Association
  15. La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity Inc.
  16. Lebanese Club
  17. Minority Rights Coalition
  18. Muslim Institute for Leadership and Empowerment (MILE)
  19. Muslim Student Association
  20. Muslims United
  21. National Pan-Hellenic Council
  22. National Society of Black Engineers
  23. Nepali Student Association
  24. Organization of African Students
  25. Pakistani Student Association
  26. Persian Cultural Society (PCS)
  27. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.
  28. Political Latinxs United for Movement & Action in Society (PLUMAS)
  29. She’s the First at UVA
  30. Sigma Omicron Rho (ΣOP)
  31. Sikh Students Association
  32. Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
  33. The 13 Society
  34. Turkish Student Organization
  35. undocUVA
  36. UVA Beyond Policing
  37. UVA Survivors
  38. Young Democratic Socialists of America

Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Education (higher ed)

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The Incomplete Case for Higher Tuition at UVa

Posted on October 21, 2023 by | 3 comments

by James A. Bacon

As the Board of Visitors ponders how much to raise tuition & fees in the next two academic years, the University of Virginia is grappling with strong inflationary pressures and a long-term shortfall in state aid, senior university administrators said Wednesday.

Even so, administrators told the Board’s Finance Committee, UVa offers a great “value proposition” compared to other Top 50 universities. Its in-state tuition is lower than that of top private universities, and its four-year graduation rate is the highest of any public university in the country.

The Finance Committee meeting yesterday marked the beginning of a two-month decision-making process. The purpose of the initial meeting, said Committee Chair Robert M. Blue, was to provide “context” for the discussion. A November hearing will allow students and others to express their views about college costs. The Board is scheduled to adopt a new tuition structure in December. 

Although university officials did not say explicitly that a tuition increase is justified, the “context” presented was geared to supporting such a conclusion. Board members offered no pushback during the one-and-a-half-hour session, asking only a few questions for purposes of clarification. They did not drill into the data proffered by administrators, nor, despite assurances that UVa was working assiduously to achieve efficiencies and reduce redundancies, did they ask for specifics. No one addressed faculty productivity, administrative overhead, or other drivers of university costs. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Education (higher ed), Efficiency in Government

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Hatred of Jews at UVa – A Pot Brewed in the Faculty Lounge Boils Over

Posted on October 19, 2023 by | 37 comments

PHOTOS of smiling infants hang next to their bullet-ridden coat pegs in a bloodstained nursery devastated by Hamas terrorists. A little girl’s bicycle lays in a bullet-ridden yard. Credit Internewscast.com

by James C. Sherlock

Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 7.

On October 8, this letter was issued in Charlottesville.

“Events” were “a step towards a free Palestine.”

On October 11, President James Ryan issued a strong message condemning the savage Hamas massacre in Israel. He deserves credit for that, but has not gotten it on the grounds of the University.

Also on October 11, Jewish students at the University felt it necessary to address the University community in the Cavalier Daily. Continue reading →

37 Comments

Posted in Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Ethics

Lose the Masks

Posted on October 16, 2023 by | 66 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Last Saturday’s horrors of Hamas were followed here and abroad with another kind of horror. There were anti-Israel rallies at colleges and in major cities across the nation. These heartless people were demonstrating for just one reason: to show support for the barbarians who had just invaded a country, slaughtered innocent people, raped women and children and grabbed hostages.

Frankly, I had no idea how widespread anti-Semitism was in the U.S. until I saw these shocking images.

Take a gander at their hatefests and tell me what you notice:

https://x.com/TBifford/status/1712577727071666607?s=20

https://x.com/therealmrbench/status/1712827303732932693?s=20

https://x.com/kerrydougherty/status/1713351767134466364?s=20

Yep, masks.x.com/…ugherty/status/1713351767134466364 Continue reading →

66 Comments

Posted in Democracy and Western Civilization, Education (higher ed)

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