UC Berkeley Lab Apparently Reverses Decision to End Diversity Initiatives
BY HANK REICHMAN The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has apparently restored its diversity, equity and inclusion program after lab Director Mike Witherell told employees that the program would be suspended on orders from the White House, which called such initiatives “un-American propaganda training sessions.” In a second memo, issued over the weekend, Witherell said a…
The Department of Education as Right-Wing Troll
BY JENNIFER RUTH It sounds like a bad joke. The Department of Education (DOE) has apparently launched an investigation into Princeton University. Why? Because President Eisgruber said that racism is embedded in the university structures and its history. “Based on its admitted racism, the U.S. Department of Education is concerned Princeton’s nondiscrimination and equal opportunity…
UC National Labs Suspend Diversity Training in Response to Trump Order
BY HANK REICHMAN Earlier this month the Trump administration instructed federal agencies to end racial sensitivity trainings that address topics like white privilege or employ critical race theory, calling them “divisive, anti-American propaganda.” In response, AAUP President Irene Mulvey issued a statement that deemed the move “a naked attempt to politicize our national reckoning with…
Dear Joe Biden: The Student Loan Crisis is Exploding. We Need Real Action
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The following open letter was published today in The Guardian. Dear Joe Biden, We write to you as the first generation made worse-off because of higher education. Student debt is a national crisis that destroys lives, drags down the economy and fuels the racial wealth gap. No one should be forced…
How States Are Voting in the 2020 Election
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH This color-coded map indicating the proportionate number of votes for each state was created for a detailed article published by the New York Times. A somewhat more up-to-date by conventional map has been produced by Axios: The following table has also been created by Axios, and the article that includes…
I Guess That Outrage Just Ain’t What It Used to Be
BY MARTIN KICH You may remember (it was less than a decade ago, though that hardly seems possible) when this salute with a hand holding a styrofoam coffee cup was considered an unforgivable insult to our military: The talking heads were out in force to mock and to denounce the president for his failure to…
One of Our Own Is Running for a Seat in the Ohio Senate
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Ten years ago, Joel O’Dorisio was campaigning for a faculty union at Bowling Green State University. Ten years later, he has been campaigning to be the next State Senator for Ohio’s 2nd District. Some political candidates “talk the talk” of support for public education and labor, but BGSU Art Professor Joel…
Law Professors Refute Claim that Sen. Harris Ineligible for Presidency
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN Last week, John C. Eastman , Professor of law at Chapman University and senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, posted an op-ed on the Newsweek web page arguing that Sen. Kamala Harris is not a natural-born citizen and hence ineligible for the presidency since her parents were not citizens at the…
AAUP Statement on July 6 DHS Ruling on International Students
BY THE AAUP The AAUP issued the following statement today: The Department of Homeland Security’s July 6 ruling regarding international students and the upcoming 2020–21 academic year is but the latest example of the Trump administration’s callous cruelty, especially toward immigrants and those it deems “other.” The American Association of University Professors thus joins many…