Quote of the Day: Glimmers of Hope at Brown University

There are still defenders of free speech and open inquiry on campus.  As one of them just said in an interview with FIRE, if he were a university president, he would say this:

"I would make some sort of public statement—whether unprompted or prompted by one of these events—in which I said, 'This is academia and you have the right to say anything, no matter how radical it is, no matter how offensive it may seem to existing power structures. You are not required to uphold ideals held by mainstream America at all.'

Every time one of these issues came up, I would say, 'You can say here whatever you want. We can't police what you say. We can police what you do. And even though we can't police what you say, we discourage students in the strongest of terms attempting to shut down other students and we reject the notion that there are no open questions on controversial matters.'"

He then boldly slams Brown's administration for its deplorable spinelessness.  Kudos.  More of this, please.  Nobody cares much if teachers push back, but if more dissenting students do, it matters more in these ongoing and increasingly nasty campus culture wars.

The Bamboo Ceiling: Asian Students Sue Harvard and Chapel Hill Over Affirmative Action Policies

It's not the first lawsuit in educational circles, and it won't be the last.  Remember, higher ed is the place that told me to my face, "You don't count as a minority."  In all honesty, I don't want different standards; I want to compete on level ground with everybody else - I will go toe to toe with any white guy you please in this field (and I have).  Nevertheless, it is neither fair nor right when the gatekeepers pick and choose the "minorities" that they want (and exclude the ones that they don't).

Nerd News: Harvard Headline of the Year

"Black Mass Cancelled Amid Uproar As Cultural Studies Club Withdraws Sponsorship." Seriously, this is the real headline!  Then again, some of us have always known that Hahvahd was of the Devil, hahaha!

By the way, here is the statement from Hahvahd President Drew Faust - FAUST!  Folks, I can't make this stuff up if I tried.  

Here's a piece of it (issued before the club withdrew its sponsorship):

"The decision by a student club to sponsor an enactment of this ritual is abhorrent; it represents a fundamental affront to the values of inclusion, belonging and mutual respect that must define our community. It is deeply regrettable that the organizers of this event, well aware of the offense they are causing so many others, have chosen to proceed with a form of expression that is so flagrantly disrespectful and inflammatory.

Nevertheless, consistent with the University’s commitment to free expression, including expression that may deeply offend us, the decision to proceed is and will remain theirs. At the same time, we will vigorously protect the right of others to respond—and to address offensive expression with expression of their own. 

I plan to attend a Eucharistic Holy Hour and Benediction at St. Paul's Church on our campus on Monday evening in order to join others in reaffirming our respect for the Catholic faith at Harvard and to demonstrate that the most powerful response to offensive speech is not censorship, but reasoned discourse and robust dissent."

Nerd Notes: A Princeton Freshman Checks His Privilege

It's not what you think.  This little op-ed has blown up the Nerdverse, and plenty of people are unloading on the guy, but you should first read what he has to say.

Nerd News: Hahvahd Student Arrested for Bomb Hoax

So is this guy a bigger idiot than he is a dirtbag? Tough call.  Apparently he wanted to get out of taking his final exams.  SCREW YOU, MAN.  Suck it up and do it like the rest of us.

UPDATE: Quote of the day about this:

“I don't think any lawyer in the world could save him at this point,” said Harvard Law School professor Alan M. Dershowitz, who predicted Kim will plead guilty.

LOL: Conan on the Cost of Higher Education

Nerd News: When College Admissions Essays Go Viral

Do you really want people reading stuff you wrote when you were 17 and clueless?

Princeton's MRS Degree

Oh, dear.  Then again, what do I know?  I'm a childless unmarried monster.

Ivy League Admissions and Asian American Students

*Sigh.*  

RELATED: Entrance exam issues at Stuy earlier this year.

Nerd News: Dissent and Discontent at Hahvahd Law

Here, read this.

Forgotten History: The Titanic and Harvard's Widener Library

Did you know that Hahvahd's famous library is a consequence of the Titanic disaster?

Edupunk Nerd News: The Minerva Project

Oh, online Ivy League-challenging higher education initiative, you had me at "Minerva."

LOL: The Pampered Poseurs of "Occupy Harvard"

This is hilarious.

Nerd News: Protesting Professor Mankiw's Economics 10 Class

OWS sympathizers disrupt a Harvard economics class.  In the words of the econ prof himself, "Here's what happened: About 5 to 10 percent of the class participated in the walk-out. At the same time, some previous ec 10 students came in to sit in the lecture as counter-protesters. The lecture then proceeded as planned."  I say good on the class alums who returned as counter-protesters.  

Professor Mankiw links to coverage by the Harvard paper.  I like this bit from an op-ed in the Crimson:

The Occupy movement has become known for its many, and often contradictory, faces. Now we can add a new group of faces to that list—Ec 10 students.  Students in the popular introductory economics class walked out fifteen minutes into the class yesterday in a gesture of solidarity with the Occupy movement and to protest what the event organizers consider a class that promotes a “strongly conservative neoliberal ideology.”  We find it troubling that students would protest a class because of its supposed ideological bent at an institution dedicated to academic integrity.  Such an action sets a dangerous precedent of ideological discrimination against professors. 

... Furthermore, the students’ attempt to connect their classroom protestations to the Occupy movement illustrates the disjointed and often unfocused nature of the movement.  Indeed, it seems ironic that students in an introductory economics course at Harvard feel that by walking out of their completely optional lecture taught by a famous economist on the theme of income inequality feel that their actions ought to be considered a sign of solidarity with the Occupy movement.  Such protests don’t show solidarity, they show ignorance and a lack of self-awareness. 

You don't say!  (Also, Crimson editors, please fix that comma splice.)


UPDATE:  "... one major criticism of the Occupy movement is that protesters do not generally seem to be well-informed on the economic issues they care so strongly about. Walking out of an economics lecture will do little to quell this stereotype."  HEH!  Note that all this happened at Hahvahd.  Smart people can be idiots too -- a very special kind of idiot.

Nerd News: Why Is Columbia University an Ahmadinejad Fanboy?

Guess who's coming to dinner.  I think I've lost my appetite.  Disgusting.

Nerd News: Meet Professor Bernard Lewis

A giant in the field of Middle Eastern studies.  He is the antidote to the execrable Edward Said.  See also some nice remarks by Fouad Ajami.

Nerd News: Dartmouth Grad Student Busted for Meth Lab

That's the WRONG KIND OF LAB, pal!  Trivia: He happens to be Belgian.

Nerd News: Shuttering the Yale Interdisciplinary Initiative for the Study of Anti-Semitism

The campus Powers That Be have decided to pull the plug on its five-year-old Yale Interdisciplinary Initiative for the Study of Antisemitism. Needless to say, this has caused a flap.  Powerline has 3 recent posts on this: here, here, and most recently here.  At the very least, the whole thing simply looks bad on Yale: "Let's take a serious look at anti-Semitism ... Oops, we don't think we're going to anymore."  Well, it can't be because they think anti-Semitism is no longer a problem.

Nerd News: Conan O'Brien's Commencement Address at Dartmouth

Here's one more reason to love Conan.  I embed for you:

Nerd News: The Suicide of a Princeton Instructor

Oh, no.  The vicious behavior of three other academics has been implicated.