Georgia Tech students will vote on approving a change to the school&rsquo;s fight song in the interest of gender inclusivity.The second verse of &ldquo;Ramblin&#39; Wreck from Georgia Tech&rdquo; <a href="https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gatech.edu/dist/9/988/files/2021/02/Fight-Song-Lyrics.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reads</a>, &ldquo;If I had a daughter, sir, I&rsquo;d dress her in White and Gold, and put her on the campus to cheer the brave and bold.&rdquo;&nbsp;However, students will be able to vote upon changing the word &ldquo;cheer&rdquo; to &ldquo;join.&rdquo;The spring 2021 student government elections <a href="https://www.sga.gatech.edu/elections/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ballot</a> contains a referendum for amending the lyrics.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15776" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Georgia Tech coughs up $50k to settle free speech lawsuit involving MLK&#39;s niece]</a>In a <a href="https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gatech.edu/dist/9/988/files/2021/03/Fight-Song-Referendum-Bill-1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">resolution</a> establishing the referendum, the undergraduate student legislature noted that an identical ballot measure was offered six years ago. At the time, 71.29 percent of respondents voted against swapping &ldquo;cheer&rdquo; with &ldquo;join,&rdquo; with 82 percent of alumni and 68 percent of students opposing the change.The resolution also reported that at the time, 70.67 percent of all respondents &ldquo;did not think there was a pertinent issue of gender equality on our campus.&rdquo; The vote was relatively evenly distributed, with 73 percent of alumni and 70 percent of the undergraduate and graduate students agreeing with the statement.The student government noted that the School Chairs of each academic department recently &ldquo;submitted a formal request to honor Georgia Tech&rsquo;s women students&rdquo; by changing the fight song.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15294" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Majority of Georgia Tech profs call for &#39;default&#39; virtual instruction]</a>Caleb Torres, Chief of Staff to the Student Body President at Georgia Tech, told Campus Reform that &ldquo;as of now, the course of action pertaining to the proposed change to the fight song is undecided.&rdquo;&ldquo;We will continue collaborating with the Institute, including the group of School Chairs who proposed the change,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The referendum is simply helping us collect the opinions of the student body on this important issue.&rdquo;Campus Reform reached out to Georgia Tech and the student government for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

In 2015, students overwhelmingly shot down the same proposed change.

Georgia Tech may change its fight song to be more gender-inclusive

Nearly 89 percent of students who voted in the University of Virginia&rsquo;s recent Student Council elections approved removing gendered pronouns from their constitution.The first referendum question on the students&rsquo; ballot was entitled &ldquo;Modernization and Inclusion of Student Council Constitution.&rdquo; As University of Virginia Student Council Director of University Relations Noah Strike confirmed to Campus Reform, the updates strike &ldquo;any use of &lsquo;he or she,&rsquo; him or her,&rsquo; or &lsquo;his or hers&rsquo; to the gender-neutral singular &lsquo;they&rsquo; pronoun&rdquo; in the student government&rsquo;s constitution.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16251" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: UVA student newspaper opinion writer: &#39;Stand up&rsquo; to &lsquo;racist family&#39; at Thanksgiving]</a>&ldquo;Seeing as our offices are all gender-neutral (i.e. not limited to &lsquo;men only&rsquo; etc.), the update reflects how students of any gender identity could serve in positions,&rdquo; explained Strike.According to Strike, 25 percent of the student body<a href="https://studentelections.virginia.edu/spring-2021-election-results" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> voted</a> on the referendum question, with 88.75 percent approving the passage. The minimum threshold for passage is a 66.6 percent affirmative vote.Strike told Campus Reform that the team is currently working to update the existing constitution. The current version was last <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ba956a916b6406fa63a6a71/t/5c639444f4e1fc401aec7ed1/1550029892918/Student+Council+Constitution.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">amended</a> in February 2008.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16874" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: UVA, fourth best public college in US, lowers academic standards for two more years]</a>According to Strike, the University of Virginia Honor Committee&#39;s governing <a href="https://honor.virginia.edu/documents" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">documents</a> were &ldquo;updated to include gender-neutral pronouns&rdquo; in 2018.As Campus Reform recently reported, the University of Virginia Student Council recently passed legislation to encourage the university to &ldquo;divest&rdquo; from fossil fuel investments.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16898" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Utopian dream? UVA student gov wants &#39;community gardens&#39; instead of fossil fuels]</a>Campus Reform reached out to the University of Virginia for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

Nearly 89 percent of the student body voted to scrap gendered pronouns for gender-neutral pronouns, such as “they.”

UVA students scrap gendered pronouns from constitution

A University of Utah campus recreation job posting demands that applicants &ldquo;promote racial equity and inclusivity.&rdquo;The university <a href="https://archive.vn/9okNH" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published</a> a job ad for a Campus Recreation Director of Student Services who is able to &ldquo;nurture the habit of using a racial equity lens in the operation of the department.&rdquo; The successful candidate will earn between $90,000 and $115,300 annually.The candidate must also be able to develop &ldquo;an efficient diverse department by recruiting, hiring, training, retaining, evaluating and providing development opportunities for all Campus Recreation Services staff members.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17031" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;Woke&#39; books authored by &#39;anti-racist&#39; profs infiltrate US Navy reading list]</a>The candidate must also be &ldquo;knowledgeable about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion best practices as they relate to the mission of the department and university as a whole&rdquo; and facilitate &ldquo;a work environment that encourages knowledge of, respect for, and development of skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds.&rdquo;Indeed, at least five of the nineteen job responsibilities are directly related to diversity or cultural sensitivity.A student affairs employee at the University of Utah &mdash; who told Campus Reform that &ldquo;having my name attached to anything critical of racial equity would have detrimental effects on my career&rdquo; &mdash; noted how &ldquo;the posting lists &lsquo;promote racial equity&rsquo; is listed first, meaning that it was most important to the job posting.&rdquo;&ldquo;This issue with this is that student affairs professionals are not and should not be activists,&rdquo; the employee explained. &ldquo;For a public institution to institute a purity test and ask their employees to promote and implement a divisive ideology should be unacceptable.&rdquo;The employee also believes that generally speaking, &ldquo;the university is sacrificing their stated mission on the altar of wokeness&rdquo; by emphasizing &ldquo;social justice activism over intellectual development of students and in this instance, effective management of their rec center.&rdquo;Campus Reform has repeatedly reported on universities&rsquo; fascination with ensuring that administrators address race relations. In many cases, universities have hired vice presidents and directors of diversity, equity, and inclusion.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16473" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Rutgers pays new &#39;Equity&#39; VP $300,000, despite projected $200 million COVID losses]</a>Campus Reform reached out to the University of Utah for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

Five of the nineteen listed job responsibilities directly relate to racial equity or diversity.

Want to work in the University of Utah’s gym? Better bring your ‘racial equity’ creds.

The English department at the University of Arizona has released a list of new courses that are scheduled to begin this Fall. One class on this list is titled &ldquo;<a href="https://english.arizona.edu/upcoming-courses" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anger and Resentment in the Wake of Trump and the Coronavirus</a>.&rdquo; <a href="https://english.arizona.edu/people/matthew-abraham" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matthew Abraham</a>, an English Professor specializing in &ldquo;Rhetoric and Composition&rdquo; at the University of Arizona, is listed as the instructor for the online course which will last 7 weeks. Abraham is the<a href="https://parlorpress.com/products/the-making-of-barack-obama-the-politics-of-persuasion" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;co-editor</a> of &ldquo;The Making of Barack Obama: The Politics of Persuasion&rdquo; and the <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137031945" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">author</a> of &ldquo;Intellectual Resistance and the Struggle for Palestine.&rdquo; The <a href="https://catalog.sbs.arizona.edu/?dept=9&faculty=Abraham" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">professor</a> currently teaches several classes including &ldquo;Studies in Rhetoric and Composition&rdquo; and &ldquo;Critical Cultural Concepts.&rdquo; <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16951" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16951" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16951" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Here&#39;s how much American academia spent lobbying the federal government]</a> According to a description of the curriculum, the students will focus on exploring &quot;the role of anger and resentment in the context of understanding this current historical and political movement that has made resistance fashionable again.&rdquo; Division in our nation is due to &ldquo;anger, resentment, and calls for resistance&rdquo; that have been &ldquo;especially prominent since January of 2017,&rdquo; the website states. The brief summary goes on to mention the Coronavirus pandemic and the lack of resources which have caused &ldquo;general disgust directed toward those who look or behave differently.&rdquo; &ldquo;The rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement, #MeToo, and immigrant activism point to a widespread recognition of how systemic abuses of power are being resisted strongly by certain demographic sectors,&rdquo; the course description states. <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17021" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Collin College fires prof who tweeted about Mike Pence&#39;s &#39;demon mouth&#39;]</a> &ldquo;At the center of this storm of protest and resistance is the presidency of Donald J. Trump, whose unprecedented campaign and election fueled the rise of large-scale resistance movements among women, ethnic minorities, environmentalists, and ordinary citizens intent on defending constitutional norms and mainstream governmental institutions,&quot; the description continues. The course description makes a direct link between the &ldquo;backlash against these movements&rdquo; and &ldquo;the rise of white supremacy and white nationalism.&rdquo; University of Arizona&rsquo;s web page also addresses some questions that will be &ldquo;explored&rdquo; during the class, such as &ldquo;how have other oppositional movements, such as those expressing nativist and racial supremacist sentiments, channeled their anger and resentment in the age of Trump through social media?&rdquo; &nbsp; <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17010" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Iowa universities receive backlash for silencing conservative voices on campus]</a> The possible textbooks listed for this course are &ldquo;<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190785/deaths-of-despair-and-the-future-of-capitalism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism</a>,&rdquo; &ldquo;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dying-Whiteness-Politics-Resentment-Heartland/dp/1541644980" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America&rsquo;s Heartland,</a>&rdquo; and &ldquo;<a href="https://katherinestewart.me/books/the-power-worshippers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism</a>.&rdquo; Alton Zhang, the President of College Republicans at University of Arizona, stated during a phone call with Campus Reform that &ldquo;the U of A CR&rsquo;s are incredibly appalled by these actions&rdquo; and &ldquo;colleges were never meant to be politicized. It&rsquo;s very upsetting to see an Arizona college stoop to this level.&rdquo; &ldquo;When a professor puts together a class like this it makes you wonder what their true intentions are for their students. Because in the end the students are not the ones benefiting from this,&quot; Zhang said.

Students will discuss why “anger and resentment” have become prominent in political movements during the past several years and how they link to “white supremacy and white nationalism.”  

UArizona unveils English course on ‘Anger and Resentment in the Wake of Trump’

The University of California Berkeley is looking to hire a <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">&ldquo;Wellness and Environmental Justice Coordinator&rdquo; that will run environmentally-focused student programs such as &quot;meet-ups with Bay Area QT+ and BIPOC climate activists,&quot; &quot;climate healing circles,&quot; &quot;wellness collaboration days,&quot; and more.To be considered for the <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:sfI_Yapdk3QJ:https://www.uzoes.com/us/details/f754529216dbd4454c651dad4038862d+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">job,</a> the applicant must have a &quot;intention of justice and liberation over status quo/reformation,&quot; in addition to a bachelor&#39;s degree and &quot;at least&quot; two years of experience in &quot;sustainability or environmental jobs.&quot; The job is part-time and will pay $23.95-$25.34 per hour. The position is housed in the Student Environmental Resource Center, which is a department within the Dean of Students office. <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16879" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Lawmakers propose tapping academics for $94 million &lsquo;environmental justice committee&rsquo;]</a>According to the center&#39;s <a href="https://serc.berkeley.edu/our-values/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website</a> it provides &quot;environmental and social justice programming and resources to create a space that values the perspectives and narratives of marginalized and underrepresented students.&quot; This particular position&#39;s duties ar4e to be executed while &quot;centering under-served and historically marginalized populations on campus.&quot; <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">&ldquo;We are looking for equity-minded applicants who represent the full diversity of California and who demonstrate a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds present in our community,&quot; the job description states. The coordinator will also be tasked with reinforcing student advocacy and &ldquo;fostering wellness and collectivism&quot; and developing &quot;and/or adapt curriculum surrounding wellness and healing in the environmental movement.&quot; <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=14836" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: American University caves to environmentalist students&#39; demands]</a> Despite being a part-time job, the coordinator, according to the job description, will be in charge of &quot;Wellness and Environmental Justice Education and Programming,&quot; &quot;Strategic Program Analysis and Assessment,&quot; &quot;Student Group and Civic Engagement Advising Services,&quot; &quot;Community Engagement and Partnership Creation,&quot; &quot;Student Supervision,&quot; and &quot;Budget Management and Administration.&quot; Dan Mogulof, the assistant vice chancellor for executive communications at the University of California Berkeley told Campus Reform that &quot;The position is in the process of being filled,&quot; and said that the position is a temporary, three year contract.<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/07/ocasio-cortez-green-new-deal-oppression/" style="text-decoration:none;"></a>

Successful applicants must have a "intention of justice and liberation over status quo/reformation."

Berkeley is looking for an employee to run 'climate healing circles' with 'BIPOC' activists

JACOBSON: BLM co-founder’s million dollar mansions a prime example of ‘rules for thee…not for me’

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh tapped a counseling professor to focus upon &ldquo;racial battle fatigue&rdquo; and &ldquo;microaggressions.&rdquo; The university hired <a href="https://uwosh.edu/coehs/people/bowser-ph-d-ncc-teysha/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Teysha Bowser</a> &mdash; who wrote a dissertation called &ldquo;Gendered Racial Microaggressions, Racial Battle Fatigue and Intergenerational Learning with Three Generations of Black Women&rdquo; &mdash; and highlighted her work in an article <a href="https://uwosh.edu/today/94852/new-prof-offers-uwo-professional-counseling-students-perspective-on-racial-battle-fatigue/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">posted</a> to the university website. Bowser&rsquo;s work examined &ldquo;coping mechanisms in response to racial battle fatigue&rdquo; &mdash; which Bowser defines as &ldquo;a stress response that people of color experience from constantly dealing with racism and microaggressions in their daily lives.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16884" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16884" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Why don&#39;t Black people ski? One prof blames systemic racism]</a> Bowser will incorporate her research into graduate level courses for professional counseling students, according to UW Oshkosh Today. &ldquo;At first, some Black women might feel like the gendered racial microaggressions they experience are not that bad, but then they build up and gradually make an impact,&rdquo; explained Bowser. &ldquo;Counselors should emphasize the need for Black women to check in with themselves and incorporate more balance in their lives, but they also need to understand the context and barriers that may make it difficult for them to do so.&rdquo; &ldquo;While it is important and necessary for Black women to find time to take a breath and be more attuned with what they are experiencing in body, mind, spirit, they will not be able to fully do so if we as counselors are not able to identify and address what prevents them from doing so,&rdquo; she added.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16880" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16880" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Want to fight racism? According to one university, cancel classes and take a nap.]</a> As National Association of Scholars Director of Research David Randall explained to Campus Reform, &ldquo;counseling is already a heavily politicized field&rdquo; and noted that &quot;therapeutic managerialism&quot; has become the &ldquo;raison d&#39;etre of the American elite.&rdquo; &ldquo;A field dedicated to training &lsquo;counselors&rsquo; will have a vested interest in telling society that they need well-paid counsel,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;The racialized version is particularly noxious in that it says that to be black (or a member of any other &lsquo;oppressed&rsquo; group) is to be so mentally damaged as to require permanent &lsquo;counseling.&rsquo; Because our progressive elites ascribe social status to claims to this sort of &lsquo;mental damage,&rsquo; too many Americans are willing to claim they are sufferers, as a means to acquire social status.&rdquo; &ldquo;It is always difficult to tell how many such status-seekers sincerely believe themselves to be mentally damaged,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;But surely too many habituate themselves to the impaired life of the &lsquo;mentally damaged.&rsquo; The counseling profession, along with the other therapeutic managers of American society, certainly lessen Americans&#39; vigor, cheer, and self-reliance.&rdquo; Campus Reform&nbsp;reached out to Bowser and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh for comment; this article will be updated accordingly. <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BenZeisloft?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">@BenZeisloft</a>

The professor will incorporate her research into graduate-level courses so that future counselors can “emphasize the need for Black women to check in with themselves and incorporate more balance in their lives.”

UW Oshkosh hires counseling prof who specializes in 'racial battle fatigue'

VIDEO: Students support court packing... until they hear Democrats used to oppose it

Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota is offering race-based &quot;affinity groups,&quot; including a new &quot;weightlifting for women of color&quot; program, according to a statement from the college&#39;s president.&nbsp;President Suzanne Rivera of Macalester College, a private liberal arts school in St. Paul, Minnesota, provided an &ldquo;<a href="https://www.macalester.edu/president/messages/update-on-equity-and-anti-racism-initiatives/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Update on Equity and Anti-racism Initiatives</a>,&quot; which read, &quot;Macalester continues to do the important work of self-assessment with a focus on identifying opportunities to increase the diversity of students, faculty, and staff on our campus and to foster a culture of inclusion in which each member of this community can thrive and flourish.&rdquo;&nbsp;In the update, Rivera wrote about identity-based affinity groups for Macalester&rsquo;s very diverse staff. Rivera noted, &ldquo;Identity-based affinity groups are being established to provide support for underrepresented employees at Macalester. Information about these spaces will be posted on the Employment Services website by the end of the week.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17040" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;The endpoint of critical race theory&#39;: Columbia University faces backlash for segregated graduations]</a>Rivera continued on to note that &ldquo;50% of our full-time staff hires identified as being a part of a minoritized group,&rdquo; the past year at Macalester collegeIn addition, Macalester College is creating a new Vice President position &ldquo;to lead the college in the fostering of inclusive excellence in learning and teaching, institutional equity, and community flourishing.&rdquo;In the update provided, a number of priorities are outlined, including &ldquo;weightlifting for women of color,&quot; specialization of &ldquo;mental health for &nbsp;LGBTQIA+&rdquo; and an &ldquo;Equity purchasing Initiative,&quot; which &quot;provides resources to help identify minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses.&quot;&nbsp;Rivera wrote that, &ldquo; Business Services announced details of our new Equity Purchasing Initiative. This initiative helps us all to consider the ways and the places we spend the college&rsquo;s money.&rdquo; Rivera also wrote that&ldquo; we have been engaged in a search for an additional full-time mental health counselor, with expertise in mental health care for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16955" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;Yoga for QTPOC Folx&#39;: Despite segregated rock climbing backlash, Cornell offers more identity-specific classes]</a>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said before that there is still much work to be done as we advance our institutional commitments to equity and inclusion. I&rsquo;m excited to be engaging with so many of you in this important work,&quot; Rivera concluded.&nbsp;Macalester College did not respond to&nbsp;Campus Reform&#39;s request for comment in time for publication.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/hannahkeller77" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@hannahkeller77</a>

The announcement from the college's president is the latest in a nationwide trend toward racially segregated spaces.

Macalester College offers 'weightlifting for women of color'

Students and alumni want a statue of former NFL quarterback Colin Kapernick installed at the University of Nevada-Reno.Kaepernick &mdash; who graduated in 2011 and led the school&rsquo;s football team to record victories &mdash; gained national notoriety after kneeling during the national anthem at a San Francisco 49ers football game.Today, Kaepernick focuses much of his efforts on racial activism work. As Campus Reform recently reported, Kaepernick&rsquo;s organization sponsored a series of essays about police reform and racism. One of the writings alleged that to &ldquo;reform the police&rdquo; is to &ldquo;reward the police&rdquo; while they &ldquo;brutalize and kill.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16138" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Colin Kaepernick endorsed Princeton prof: Police are &lsquo;inherently predatory and violent&#39;]</a>A Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/638601343411903" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">group</a> called UNR Alumni Campaign for Statue of Kaepernick Kneeling in Mackay Stadium &mdash; which launched following the death of George Floyd and which boasted 1,500 members as of the time of publication &mdash; said that creating the statue &ldquo;would make a very powerful statement to future students, especially Black ones.&rdquo;&ldquo;The university states that it supports inclusion and diversity. Let&rsquo;s see. Does UNR want to be on the correct side of history, or not?&rdquo; reads the group&rsquo;s description.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16609" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Harvard hires Obama-connected firm for police review. The result is unsurprising.]</a>Corresponding with alumni, the Associated Students of the University of Nevada proposed a resolution to install a statue of Kaepernick.Listing Kaepernick&rsquo;s activism credentials, the <a href="http://de5u0yfu98nbk.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/15204535/88-117_S.Res_SupportKaepernickStatue.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">resolution</a> states that &ldquo;having a statute of Colin Kaepernick will be representing Black students at the University of Nevada, Reno as well as be representative of social justice movements in response to deep-rooted disenfranchisement of the Black community.&rdquo;UNR spokesperson Kerri Garcia Hendricks told Campus Reform that the president&rsquo;s office is currently reviewing the student government&rsquo;s resolution, which passed in December.&ldquo;We are proud of all of our alumni, Colin Kaepernick being one of the most recognizable,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;We have had students, faculty and alumni talk about how we could recognize the social justice conversation Colin started in this county by taking a knee.&rdquo;&quot;President Sandoval is considering the best way to recognize Colin, looking at the options that are available, such as many of the University&rsquo;s prestigious awards that may be appropriate, such as honorary degrees, Distinguished Nevadan awards and the President&rsquo;s Medal,&rdquo; she added.Campus Reform reached out to the University of Nevada-Reno for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

The school’s student government passed a resolution requesting the installation of a Kaepernick statue.

Students and alumni want statue of Colin Kaepernick on campus

A University of Florida professor gave students a &quot;Diversity Bingo&quot; extra credit assignment, which called for students to find people of various ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations.The course, titled Problem Solving with Computer Software, is a general requirement course for all business majors at the University of Florida. &quot;Diversity Bingo&quot; was offered to students in the class as an extra credit assignment.&nbsp;The assignment appears within a chapter dedicated to problem-solving specify, using groups and critical thinking strategies. Within this chapter students learned about Problem Definition, Idea Generation, and Decision making. The professor also included this assignment as being relevant to the material. <a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16934" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Macalester College student gov approves &lsquo;care packages&#39; with &#39;priority&#39; for Black students]</a>Students were informed of the opportunity to complete the extra credit Diversity Bingo assignment in an online announcement, which read, &ldquo;we are talking about diversity and how a diverse team would be more effective when addressing the complexity and different challenges that are inherent to open-ended problems.&rdquo; Giving instructions for students to &ldquo;Look for other students who can fit into the description.&rdquo;Students were encouraged to find others who fit into categories, including &quot;a person who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual,&quot; &quot;a person with special needs,&quot; and &quot;has celebrated &#39;Ramadan.&#39;&quot;&nbsp;Students could also find others who fit into categories such as those who have had their &ldquo;last name mispronounced,&rdquo; &quot;is a first or second-generation immigrant to the U.S.,&quot; or &quot;has Black African Ancestry.&quot;&nbsp;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16901" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Five top law schools partner with alumni to create &#39;Social Justice Legal Foundation&#39;]</a><a href="https://www.eng.ufl.edu/eed/faculty-staff/john-mendoza-garcia/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John Mendoza-Garcia</a> is the professor who teaches the class. Within the syllabus of his computer class, students can see a picture of the Black Lives Matter logo. Mendoza-Garcia writes that he is aware of the &ldquo;systemic racism that have [sic] been present in our society.&quot;Mendoza-Garcia also mentions in his syllabus that he has become &ldquo;anti-racist&rdquo; and invites students &ldquo;to be anti-racist as well.&rdquo; Additionally, he mentions &ldquo;if you are Black and you are reading this syllabus, please remember that you matter, and your success in this class matters to me.&rdquo;&nbsp;UF student Zachary Forbes told Campus Reform he thinks the assignment &ldquo;teaches the wrong message about problem-solving.Forbes believes that students &ldquo;should look for people with the experience and expertise for the problem at hand,&quot; that the physical characteristics or background &ldquo;shouldn&rsquo;t determine whether you reach out to them or not.&rdquo; Students should be taught to &ldquo;stand out within their field based on their work and devotion to the subject,&quot; Forbes said.&nbsp;Forbes identifies as being from a Portuguese family that moved to Massachusetts, but he would &ldquo;want to be hired as a manager or accountant based on the fact that I&rsquo;m damn good at it, not based on the fact that I look more brown than my peers.&rdquo;Campus Reform reached out to the professor for comment, who informed this correspondent &quot;it is best if you do not write a story about an assignment in the CGS2531 class while you are one of the students in that class,&quot; adding &quot;I can consider writing a note again after the class is over.&quot;Asked to clarify that statement, the professor elaborated that &quot;it is because you are a student in my class, and there is a conflict because of that asymmetric relationship.&quot;&quot;Any comment you or any student has regarding an assignment in my course or any UF course should be provided to the instructor through teaching evaluations. Such evaluations are only accessible to instructors after we have submitted final grades to the registrar. This post-course access to students&rsquo; comments about the class is because of the asymmetric relationship students and instructors have,&quot; Mendoza-Garcia said.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ajmunguia23" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@ajmunguia23</a>

The assignment instructs students to find peers with certain race and ethnicity-based attributes. 

EXCLUSIVE: 'Anti-racist' prof with BLM syllabus offers 'Diversity Bingo' extra credit

At the University of Michigan, a dean under fire for &quot;offensive characterization&quot; of Asians has issued an apology calling himself &ldquo;part of the problem.&rdquo;Michigan Law Dean <a href="https://www.law.umich.edu/dean/pages/default.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mark West</a> has published several books on Japanese culture, including Secrets, Sex and Spectacle: The Rules of Scandal in Japan and the United States and&nbsp;Lovesick Japan: Sex, Marriage, Romance, Law. After pushback over the book covers, the dean <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2021/03/mich-dean-books/2/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced</a> in an email to students that the covers will be redesigned.Courtney Liss, a third-year University of Michigan law student, shared tweets on March 17 about the <a href="https://twitter.com/CourtneyLiss/status/1372291665294200835?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">book covers</a> and her March 16 email to the college&rsquo;s deans, calling on them to <a href="https://twitter.com/CourtneyLiss/status/1372291672822972418?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">release a statement</a> about &ldquo;anti-Asian xenophobia and racist attacks.&rdquo;&nbsp;Liss has been <a href="https://twitter.com/CourtneyLiss/status/1373449590259789825" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rallying</a> for the book covers to changed for three years.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17135" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Prof claimed on class assignment that Trump supported Japanese internment camps, student alleges. Here&#39;s what he actually said.]</a>A <a href="https://twitter.com/CourtneyLiss/status/1372378200978898945?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a> released by West on March 17 discussed inequalities, the Atlanta shooting, calling on the community to &ldquo;eliminate anti-Asian sentiment and all aspects of racism.&rdquo;&nbsp;Days later, the dean shared with UM law students how his books on Japanese culture have &ldquo;contributed to a narrative that promotes a two-dimensional and offensive characterization of people, and especially women.&rdquo; The <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2021/03/mich-dean-books/2/?rf=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">email</a>, published by Above The Law, states that the dean initially saw the covers as &ldquo;edgy,&rdquo; but began changing the book covers in spring 2020.&nbsp;&ldquo;We as an institution have been grappling with the structural racism in American life and with our own role in addressing it...I have been reflecting on choices I have made that are, quite simply, part of the problem,&rdquo; Dean West said in the email.West shared that he found himself &ldquo;increasingly uncomfortable&rdquo; with the imagery and believed the books would have gone out of print sooner. The dean is now working with the publishers to completely change the covers on his books and on the publisher&rsquo;s website.<a href="https://campusreform.org/?id=16878" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Want more info on UMich China ties? That will cost you $1,200.]</a>&ldquo;I am glad to see Dean West is recognizing the racist and sexist stereotypes that his book covers portrayed and working to change the book covers,&rdquo; Liss told Campus Reform. &ldquo;This is a great step in creating a more equitable law school and I hope to see Dean West and the rest of the administration continue to confront these issues as they arise.&rdquo;Campus Reform reached out to West and the university for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SergeiKelley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@SergeiKelley</a>

A UM law student has been campaigning for the college to release a statement on anti-Asian racism. 

'#StopAsianHate': UMich dean caves to left, changes book covers amid claims of racism

An anonymous Instagram account claimed that Black students at Adelphi University received lynching threats. Although the university sent two warnings to the student body, local police found no evidence of hate crime threats.Black at AU &mdash; an account that seeks to &ldquo;discuss the institutional racism at Adelphi university&rdquo; &mdash; sounded the alarm that students had been targeted with racially motivated threats.&ldquo;ALERT!! Students are threatening to lynch Black students in retaliation to this page,&rdquo; read the post. &ldquo;Students addresses have been posted. Be safe.&rdquo;The students tagged NPR, CNN, and racial activist Shaun King in the post.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17040" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;The endpoint of critical race theory&#39;: Columbia University faces backlash for segregated graduations]</a>In response to the anonymous post &mdash; which included no corroborating evidence &mdash; the school sent a statement to the student body.&ldquo;There have been recent incidents of students using racial slurs, hateful comments, and reported threats of violence and retaliation on social media &mdash; and sadly, this is not the first time these issues have occurred,&rdquo;<a href="https://www.adelphi.edu/news/a-joint-statement-from-faculty-and-administration/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;said</a> Adelphi President Christine Riordan. &ldquo;To those among us who have been targeted, directly and indirectly, we hate that this has happened to you, and we hate that we have not yet found a way to stop it.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17031" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;Woke&#39; books authored by &#39;anti-racist&#39; profs infiltrate US Navy reading list]</a>&ldquo;Ignorance, racism, hate and violence hold no place in the Adelphi community, yet those things keep happening here,&rdquo; continued the communication. &ldquo;We know there is no place at Adelphi for inexcusable messages of white supremacy and anti-Blackness, but such racist attacks are a stark reminder of the work we need to do to combat systemic inequality and ongoing racism in our very own community.&rdquo;Adelphi University Strategic Communications Director Todd Wilson directed Campus Reform toward another statement published the following day.The second statement admitted that public safety and local police officers &ldquo;have continued to ask for direct evidence of threats from those who have received them firsthand and none have been submitted for investigation.&rdquo;&nbsp;Nevertheless, the university enlisted &ldquo;an external cyber/digital forensic firm to add to the police investigations.&rdquo;&quot;After an investigation this week by public safety and the Garden City police, we do not currently have any substantiated claims or specific examples of threats of racially motivated violence or harm to our community members. We do not have any names of people perpetuating these crimes,&quot; the university said in a statement.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

The university sent two communications to the student body, even though local police found no evidence of hate crime threats.

University admin sounds alarm over anonymously reported hate crimes. There's just one problem.

The search is on for a new chief diversity officer at the University of Florida.&nbsp;The individual who previously held that position was paid $288,400 in 2019 alone, according to UF&#39;s campus newspaper <a href="https://www.alligator.org/article/2021/03/chief-diversity-officer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Alligator</a>. Asked how much the next CDO would make, UF spokesperson Hessy Fernandez told Campus Reform, &quot;The salary to be offered to our next CDO will be competitive and commensurate with education and experience.&quot; In 2017,<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9428" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Campus Reform reported</a> that the average salary of diversity officers at that time was a whopping $175,088.&nbsp;The University of Florida&#39;s Chief Diversity Officer position is charged with various duties, including oversight of &ldquo;<a href="https://news.ufl.edu/2020/07/racial-justice-research-fund-release/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">racial justice grants</a>.&quot; The position was <a href="https://www.alligator.org/article/2018/05/uf-hires-first-ever-chief-diversity-officer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">created</a> in 2018, with the seat first being filled by Antonio Farias who, in 2018, had stated after some controversial events at the university that they represent &ldquo;something systemic in the culture that needs to be addressed.&rdquo; Farias added that in the U.S. there is a &ldquo;very checkered history when it comes to questions of exclusion and inclusion.&rdquo;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17044" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Students support boycotting Panda Express for &#39;cultural appropriation&#39;]</a>Farias also oversaw &ldquo;the foundation of an inclusive culture,&rdquo; where the university trained more than 300 faculty and staff in what they call &ldquo;Crucial Conversations.&rdquo;The chief diversity officer also<a href="https://news.ufl.edu/2020/07/racial-justice-research-fund-release/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;oversees&nbsp;</a>the &ldquo;Racial Justice Research Fund.&rdquo; The goal of this fund is to &ldquo;inform understanding of the Black experience, racial justice, diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and beyond.&rdquo;&nbsp;Grants distributed from this fund range from as low as $15,000 to as much as $75,000.&nbsp;For years, research has shown these diversity head positions do <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=11311" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">very little</a> in terms of racial equality. Universities over the years have spent more money on the problem, which has <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=13471" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shown</a> to neither increase diversity amongst the staff, nor the <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=13290" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">student body</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17040" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;The endpoint of critical race theory&#39;: Columbia University faces backlash for segregated graduations]</a>While these programs have <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=11347" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cost millions</a> of dollars, universities continue to accept billions in <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=14787" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">federal funds</a>.Zachary Forbes is a student at the University of Florida who told Campus Reform that &ldquo;universities are like mini versions of actual governments, they invent fake problems and then throw money at those fake problems in order to make it look like they&rsquo;re doing something productive.&rdquo;Forbes further stated that admission rates for each demographic are bound to change year to year and that &ldquo;UF thinks that&rsquo;s an excuse to pay someone $300,000 to complain about it.&quot;Forbes further pointed out that if the University would like to change admissions rates, it should &quot;remember that they chose to go completely online last year and still charged the same tuition to sit alone in our rooms behind a screen.&quot;&nbsp;Forbes added that the &quot;lower-income households don&rsquo;t want to throw away money for a useless year of college, so you see a bigger percentage of upper-middle-class students with stable family income.&quot;Forbes ultimately concluded that &quot;the COVID policies are at fault, but UF would never admit that cause they need to pander to COVID fear too.&quot;&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ajmunguia23" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@ajmunguia23</a>

However, despite the lucrative pay, studies have shown that initiatives led by people in such positions have done little to increase diversity.

UF 'Chief Diversity Officer' search continues, despite studies showing it's a waste

Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas threatened to discipline a student journalist attempting to carry out basic inquiries. The university backtracked after the student sued in response and federal officials intervened.According to a <a href="https://d28htnjz2elwuj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/02094158/Doc.-1_Nally-v.-Graham_Complaint.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">suit</a> filed in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, Jared Nally &mdash; editor-in-chief of The Indian Leader &mdash; the university &ldquo;is violating the First Amendment by retaliating against them for engaging in protected expression and journalistic activities and by enforcing a sweeping and vague policy on campus expression that was applied to Nally to impose an unconstitutional prior restraint.&rdquo;The suit stated that Haskell President Ronald Graham issued Nally a &ldquo;directive&rdquo; demanding that he avoid criticizing university officials or &ldquo;requesting information from government agencies while identifying himself as a student journalist.&rdquo; Referring to the school&rsquo;s code of conduct, Graham also &ldquo;threatened disciplinary action if Nally failed to show Haskell officials &lsquo;appropriate respect&rsquo; by continuing to engage in these protected activities.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16431" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: MSNBC host Joy Reid lands journalism teaching gig]</a>As detailed in a <a href="https://d28htnjz2elwuj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/26122201/FIRE-Letter-to-Haskell-Indian-Nations-University-October-26-20201.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">letter</a> sent to administrators by the Native American Journalists Association, the Student Press Law Center, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Nally provoked Graham&rsquo;s directive by asking the local police department for confirmation of the death of a prominent community member&rsquo;s death so that he could write a death notice.&ldquo;Your &lsquo;directive&rsquo; to Nally is an appalling and unequivocal departure from the First Amendment, betraying willful blindness to the basic concepts of constitutional rights,&rdquo; read the letter.Haskell withheld $10,000 in the newspaper&rsquo;s funding &ldquo;without any notice or explanation.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16999" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Top scientific journal pushes diversity litmus test for would-be authors]</a>The lawsuit also mentioned that three decades ago, the same district court ruled in favor of student leadership of The Indian Review after the school temporarily halted publication &ldquo;in retaliation for critical coverage.&rdquo;&ldquo;Haskell is making it very clear that they put institutional reputation above student rights,&rdquo; said FIRE attorney Katlyn Patton in a <a href="https://www.thefire.org/lawsuit-student-reporter-sues-university-president-for-forbidding-journalism/?utm_source=FIRE_Update&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Update&show_popup=false" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a>. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not only defending Jared&rsquo;s constitutional rights, but the rights of all Haskell students, and student reporters across the country. In doing so, we&rsquo;re showing public institutions that the First Amendment is non-negotiable.&rdquo;United States Bureau of Indian Education spokeswoman Klarissa Jensen told Campus Reform that the department &ldquo;does not comment on matters in active litigation.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16944" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: St. Joseph&rsquo;s prof placed on paid leave after criticizing reparations]</a>Days after Nally&rsquo;s lawsuit became national news, Graham issued another directive silencing Haskell employee criticism of his administration.The <a href="https://d28htnjz2elwuj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/25092506/Haskell-Indian-Nations-University-Directive-to-Employees-March-11-2021.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">directive</a> said that Graham had faced &ldquo;detractors&rdquo; since he assumed the role of university president, and told &ldquo;employees, supervisors, and managers&rdquo; that they are &ldquo;always expected to be professional and conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively&rdquo; on the school.&ldquo;Derogatory opinions regarding coworkers, colleagues, and supervisors or administration is not protected under &lsquo;academic freedom&rsquo; and is not consistent with the standards of conduct expected of all Federal employees,&rdquo; it read.&quot;Now Haskell has chosen to open another front in its war on free expression,&rdquo; FIRE program officer Lindsie Rank told Campus Reform. &ldquo;Haskell administrators took an oath to support and defend the Constitution. I implore the university to end its betrayal of that oath and respect people&rsquo;s basic rights.&rdquo;In early April, however, Graham backtracked on his administration&rsquo;s speech policies after the Bureau of Indian Education <a href="https://www.thefire.org/fire-2-haskell-0-as-university-rescinds-misguided-directives-muzzling-faculty-speech/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">intervened</a>.&ldquo;Haskell&rsquo;s latest directives sent a clear message to faculty: The administration is watching and is prepared to violate the Constitution to protect its reputation,&rdquo; said Rank. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re relieved that the BIE finally stepped in to preserve faculty rights, but the Haskell administration has repeatedly tried to suppress dissent, and the BIE &mdash; which operates the university &mdash; should have acted long ago to end the pattern of rights violations endemic to Haskell.&rdquo;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

The administration has since backtracked on its speech policies.

This Kansas student is suing his university for over alleged First Amendment violations

Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam <a href="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/all-releases/2021/march/headline-893995-en.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">amended</a> a previous executive order to ease up on COVID-19 restrictions, effective on April 1, allowing up to 50 people to gather for indoor events and up to 100 people to gather for outdoor events. However, Virginia Polytechnic Institute announced it would not follow these guidelines but maintain previous restrictions that limit indoor gathering to 10 people and outdoor gatherings to 50 people.&nbsp;Alyssa Jones, president of the Turning Point USA chapter at Virginia Tech, contacted her school following Northam&#39;s announcement that he would ease COVID-19 restrictions.&nbsp;In a March 23 email obtained by Campus Reform, Student Engagement and Campus Life told Jones that &ldquo;after April 1st groups are permitted to have up to 50 people in attendance for indoor events.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16688" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Virginia Tech president admits US has lost trust in overly politicized higher ed]</a>Then, on March 24, one day after Jones&#39; inquiry, Virginia Tech<a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2021/03/unirel-hughes-wilson-statement-032.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;announced&nbsp;</a>that it would not adopt Northam&rsquo;s new guidelines. &ldquo;On-campus gatherings outdoors must be 50 people or less, indoor gatherings must be 10 people or less,&rdquo; stated the school&rsquo;s announcement.&nbsp;the university&#39;s decision to maintain previous restrictions was in line with that of the city of Blacksburg, which <a href="https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/local-news/new-river-valley-local-news/gathering-limits-to-remain-in-the-town-of-blacksburg-virginia-tech/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">decided</a> shortly after the governor&rsquo;s announcements that it would maintain a 50 person limit for both indoor and outdoor events.On March 25, the school reached out to Jones and informed her that it had previously given her &ldquo;misinformation.&quot; Jones then reached out to <a href="https://dsaleadership.dsa.vt.edu/index/Kristen_Abell.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kristen Abell</a>, Interim Director of Communications, to inquire about students attending events of 50 people or more outside of campus and the town of Blacksburg.On March 26, Abell told Jones that students are allowed to attend events of any capacity &ldquo;as long as whatever gathering you&rsquo;re attending is following the guidelines for that area. Our restrictions are just limited to the Blacksburg/campus area.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16018" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Virginia Tech. prof says phrase &#39;American people&#39; is racist, so is beer]</a>Virginia Tech Event Services also responded to Jones, stating in an email obtained by Campus Reform that &ldquo;you are welcome to host your event outside of Virginia Tech&rsquo;s Campus following the Blacksburg ordinance of 50 people capacity limit indoors and outdoors.&rdquo;The 10 person limit for in-person events on campus has been in place since <a href="https://campuslife.vt.edu/secl_services/event_planning/resources.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">November 16</a>, in accordance with the governor&rsquo;s previous order.&nbsp;Ryan Glennon, Regional Field Coordinator for Campus Reform&#39;s parent organization the Leadership Institute, explained that the event in question is supposed to be a speaker event put on by the TPUSA chapter as well as the Network of Enlightened Women chapter.&nbsp;Glennon reached out to Lorraine Spaulding, paralegal for the town of Blacksburg, who confirmed that the town&rsquo;s ordinance allows for a 50 person capacity at events both indoors and outdoors. While Virginia Tech has increased the number of people allowed at outdoor events, <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2021/03/unirel-hughes-wilson-statement-032.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">it has not increased</a> the limit on indoor events since November.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17062" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Athletes&#39; privilege: Virginia colleges bend COVID-19 rules for March Madness players]</a>Laken Land, president of the Network of Enlightened Women at Virginia Tech, told Campus Reform &ldquo;I called Event Services at Virginia Tech to inquire about these changes and see how they would affect student organization activities on campus.&rdquo;Land explained that she &ldquo;called on March 24,&rdquo; and told the school that she is &ldquo;the president of the Network of Enlightened Women&rdquo; and &ldquo;was interested in reserving an outdoor space on campus for a speaker event in mid to late April.&rdquo; The school informed Land that &ldquo;Virginia Tech was going by the new policy changes and would allow [the] organization to have a 100 person gathering outdoors on campus.&rdquo;&ldquo;Two days later I was informed by a fellow conservative organization leader that Virginia Tech was choosing to go against the new guidelines and had reversed their social gathering numbers back to 10 indoors and 50 outdoors.&rdquo; Land continued, &ldquo;Irregardless of affiliation, why is the university not following guidelines set forth by the CDC, the state of Virginia, and the town of Blacksburg?&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16888" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Virginia Tech uses federal COVID aid money to refund students $100]</a>Alyssa Jones explained to Campus Reform that &ldquo;Virginia Tech is making it seem like they are following the Blacksburg town ordinance&rdquo; but added that this is &ldquo;misleading to students&rdquo; because the university actually has different guidelines.&nbsp;&ldquo;Virginia Tech has received a lot of backlash from the community for their COVID-19 policies,&rdquo; she stated, referencing an Instagram post from the school that received over 300 comments which were almost all negative.A March 2 <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CL8DHsSnqYf/?igshid=11cjori81g9sj" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram post</a> from Virginia Tech announced a virtual commencement ceremony for spring 2021 graduates. Members of the university community were not satisfied with the school&rsquo;s decision.&nbsp;One student commented, &ldquo;VT saying &lsquo;invent the future&rsquo; but they can&rsquo;t even figure out how to safely space out small masked groups of students in their many large outdoor spaces.&rdquo; Hundreds of other comments piled on expressing the same negative emotions.VT then<a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2021/03/unirel-commencement-ceremonies.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;announced</a> on March 18 that it would be hosting &ldquo;multiple in-person commencement ceremonies in Lane Stadium.&rdquo;&nbsp;According to the CDC&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/considerations-for-events-gatherings.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">guidelines</a>, &ldquo;the size of the event should be determined based on whether attendees from different households can stay at least 6 feet (2 arms length)&rdquo; apart.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16823" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Virginia bill would create reparations scholarships]</a>Virginia Tech has multiple <a href="https://graduatelifecenter.vt.edu/space-reservations/descriptions.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">venues</a> available to host events, including a 550-seat auditorium and a &ldquo;4,000+ square-foot&rdquo; multipurpose room. According to a &ldquo;space calculator,&rdquo; if students used the multipurpose room they would be able to maintain 6 feet of social distancing with <a href="https://www.banquettablespro.com/social-distancing-room-space-calculator" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">111 guests</a> in attendance.Tim Sands, President of Virginia Tech, previously <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/03/president-covid-march17-message.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stated</a> that &ldquo;we will continue to follow guidance from state and national health officials and the governor&rsquo;s office, adapting and updating our plan as needed.&rdquo;&nbsp; The university is also planning to return to fully <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2021/03/unirel-fall-2021-plans.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">in-person</a> learning during the next school year.&nbsp;Campus Reform reached out to Sands for comment but he did not respond to the request.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/abbyystreetman" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@abbyystreetman</a>

However, the university announced that it would not be enforcing the governor's new order after informing the TPUSA chapter president that she was allowed to host an event with up to 50 people. 

Virginia Tech claims to follow the science on COVID...but it does just the opposite

<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">On Sunday, Assistant History Professor at the University of Massachusetts Asheesh Kapur Siddique, sent out a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AsheeshKSi/status/1381247227931283457" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">tweet</a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;claiming that colleges have &quot;too many conservatives&quot; on campus. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The problem with academia today is that it has too many conservatives. They run the university. They sit in admin &amp; on university boards enforcing manufactured austerity, combating unionization, &amp; casualizing most of the professoriate.&mdash; AKS (@AsheeshKSi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AsheeshKSi/status/1381247227931283457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&ldquo;The problem with academia today is that it has too many conservatives. They run the university. They sit in admin &amp; on university boards enforcing manufactured austerity, combating unionization, &amp; casualizing most of the professoriate,&rdquo; <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Siddique wrote on Twitter. <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Campus Reform&nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">contacted <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Siddique about this claim. When presented with a study published by the<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/partisan-registration-and-contributions-of-faculty-in-flagship-colleges" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">National Association of Scholars</a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">showing that college professors donate to Democrats ninety-five times more than to Republicans, <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Siddique insisted this was not relevant.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16060" style="text-decoration:none;"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16060" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">[RELATED: Nearly 99% of College Board employees&#39; political donations go to Democrats]</a> <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&ldquo;Partisan political affiliation has nothing to do with the teaching or research work that goes on in universities,&rdquo;<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Siddique&nbsp;said in response to the study.&nbsp; <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">After<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;Campus Reform<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;inquired to Siddique about <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16945" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Critical Race Theory</a> and the <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16038" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">1619 Project</a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;being taught in college courses, he responded by urging people to, &ldquo;Look at any business school or econ department, where free market / small government orthodoxy reigns.&rdquo; Siddique then&nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">referenced a 2018 article from<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/148368/ideology-business-school" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The New Republic</a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;that criticizes American MBA programs for teaching American economics, referring to them as, &ldquo;Ideological institutions committed to a strict blend of social liberalism and economic conservatism.&rdquo; <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Campus Reform&nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16084" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">reported</a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;on hundreds of business school professors who endorsed President Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15660" style="text-decoration:none;"></a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15660" style="text-decoration:none;"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15660" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">[RELATED: Students at Emory business orientation asked to put race next to Zoom names]</a> <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">When asked if he believed this is representative of college culture and academia as a whole, Siddique simply replied, &ldquo;Yes&rdquo;. <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Nicole Neily, President of<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;<a href="https://speechfirst.org/" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Speech First</a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, criticized Siddique for his factually &quot;incorrect&quot; premise, citing a <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2018/11/08/college-administrators-are-more-liberal-other-groups-including-faculty-members" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">study</a> showing that university administrators, on average, lean more left than their professors. <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&quot;<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Dr. Siddique&#39;s factual premise is incorrect; Sarah Lawrence professor Samuel Abrams the ideological composition of university administrators several years ago, and found that they actually lean farther left than even university professors,&quot; Neily told Campus Reform. <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Neily then encouraged Siddique to &quot;welcome&quot; different perspectives. <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&quot;Intellectual diversity is an essential component of higher education; there&#39;s a reason that studies are peer-reviewed, and dissertations are defended before committees. Uniformity of thought, opinion, and background can lead to devastating blind spots and groupthink - so scholars who are committed to high-quality scholarship should welcome different perspectives.&quot; <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Campus Reform&nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">contacted UMass for comment. The article will be updated accordingly. <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/_addisonsmith1" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Lora,serif;color:#cc0000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">@_addisonsmith1&nbsp;</a>

He insisted to Campus Reform that this "problem" includes culture on campus.

Prof: ‘The problem with academia today is that it has too many conservatives’

Mainstream media outlets are citing a San Francisco State University project to prove a rise in anti-Asian hate. For a variety of reasons, however, the project offers no meaningful statistical insights.<a href="https://stopaapihate.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stop AAPI Hate</a> &mdash; an initiative of the Asian Pacific Policy &amp; Planning Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and San Francisco State University &mdash; began gathering reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in March of 2020. Mainstream media outlets are citing the report as evidence of a surge in anti-Asian racism since the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 -- but the report offers no parallel data before that date, so it simply cannot substantiate such a claim. The project&rsquo;s site allows visitors to self-report incidents of alleged racism and discrimination. Although the site permits users to upload files and links to substantiate allegations, it is possible to submit a report with no accompanying evidence. &ldquo;Do you think specific parts of your identity were targeted in this incident?&rdquo; asked one question on the report form.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17095" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17095" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17095" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Ivy League schools accused of anti-Asian discrimination condemn anti-Asian hate]</a> The group&rsquo;s first annual <a href="https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/210312-Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">report</a> covers 3,795 incidents recorded by the site between March 2020 and February 2021. Of these incidents, the vast majority &mdash; 68.1 percent &mdash; involved verbal harassment or name calling. The self-reported findings also indicate significant skews in terms of gender and age that could call the project&rsquo;s statistical significance into question. Over two-thirds of respondents were female, and individuals above the age of 45 represented only 21 percent of the reports. However, individuals older than 45 years <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/241488/population-of-the-us-by-sex-and-age/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">represent&nbsp;</a>nearly 65 percent of the United States population.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17105" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17105" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17105" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: NY Times column: &#39;Stop vilifying China&rsquo;s Confucius Institutes.&rsquo; Chinese state media: &lsquo;good article.&rsquo;]</a> In an article for <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/539083-attacks-on-elderly-asian-americans-cause-advocates-to-stand" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Hill</a>, one journalist reported that Stop AAPI Hate &ldquo;received a shocking number of firsthand reports of anti-Asian hate across 47 states and Washington, D.C. &mdash; more than 2,800 of them.&rdquo; An article for <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/anti-asian-attacks-san-francisco-bay-area-racism-covid.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Slate</a> cited the project to claim that &ldquo;instances of violence and discrimination against Asian Americans were prevalent through 2020 as the coronavirus overtook the U.S.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asian-american-violence-discrimination-house-judiciary-hearing-watch-live-stream-today-2021-03-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asian-american-violence-discrimination-house-judiciary-hearing-watch-live-stream-today-2021-03-18/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asian-american-violence-discrimination-house-judiciary-hearing-watch-live-stream-today-2021-03-18/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CBS News</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/25-percent-asian-american-youths-racist-bullying-n1240380" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NBC News</a>, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/12/asian-hate-incidents-covid-19-lunar-new-year/4447037001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">USA Today</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/opinions/asian-hate-crimes-us-avlon/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a>, the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-16/anti-asian-hate-pandemic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LA Times</a>, <a href="https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a33432883/racist-attacks-asian-americans-coronavirus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oprah Magazine</a>, and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/we-have-been-through-this-before-why-anti-asian-hate-crimes-are-rising-amid-coronavirus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PBS</a> also cited the project in reports, many of which claimed the existence of a &quot;rise&quot; in &quot;crimes&quot; or &quot;attacks. National Association of Scholars Director of Research David Randall referred Campus Reform to his <a href="https://www.nas.org/storage/app/media/Reports/Social%20Justice%20Education%20in%20America/NAS_Social%20Justice_Report-Web.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">report</a> on San Francisco State University&rsquo;s extensive emphasis upon social justice education. &ldquo;The entire point of social justice education is to subordinate academic research to progressive activism &mdash; and producing this sort of website, intended to gather factitious data to support progressive policy, is exactly what they now think is their academic mission,&rdquo; Randall explained to Campus Reform. &ldquo;Certainly real academics would care more about best existing practices for collecting and reporting data, and seek to provide information to be used for any policy response whatsoever.&rdquo; &ldquo;All citizens, especially including journalists, should undertake due diligence to determine whether a supposedly neutral source of data is really the product of progressive activism, especially that disseminated via the camouflage of social justice education,&rdquo; he added. Campus Reform reached out to Stop AAPI Hate for comment; this article will be updated accordingly. Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

The project is based on self-reported data and offers no meaningful statistical insights.

Mainstream media outlets cite unscientific SFSU project to prove rise in anti-Asian crimes

Several professors told Campus Reform that they are required to direct all requests for comment to White House spokesman Andrew Bates.

Biden’s court packing committee contains an army of profs open to altering Supreme Court

Universities are announcing that they will require the COVID-19 vaccine for returning students. &ldquo;More than 90 million U.S. residents have safely received one or more doses of a currently approved COVID-19 vaccine,&rdquo; explained Cornell University President Martha Pollack in a <a href="https://statements.cornell.edu/2021/20210402-vaccination-fall-instruction.cfm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement,</a> &ldquo;and recent data indicate that these vaccines not only protect those inoculated from serious infection, but also are protective for asymptomatic infection and the risk of transmission of virus to others.&rdquo; Therefore, Cornell &ldquo;intends to require vaccination for students&rdquo; returning to one of its campuses in the fall.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16344" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16344" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16344" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Cornell offers &#39;person of color&#39; exemption for flu vaccine requirement]</a> &ldquo;Medical and religious exemptions will be accommodated, but the expectation will be that our campuses and classrooms will overwhelmingly consist of vaccinated individuals, greatly reducing the risk of infection for all,&rdquo; continued Pollack. The school also unveiled a &ldquo;COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination&rdquo; tool &mdash; a form that all students, faculty, and staff will be required to complete beginning on April 15. Brown University will likewise <a href="https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-04-06/fall-2021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mandate</a> &ldquo;COVID-19 vaccines for all undergraduate, graduate and medical students who will engage in in-person instruction.&rdquo; Exemptions &ldquo;will be granted to students, and reasonable accommodations will be provided as determined by applicable law.&rdquo; The university is working to determine whether vaccination should be a requirement for Brown employees as well. In contrast, a spokesperson for Columbia University &mdash; another Ivy League <a href="https://covid19.columbia.edu/content/faqs-regarding-sars-cov-2-vaccine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">school&nbsp;</a>&mdash; told Campus Reform&nbsp;it is &ldquo;strongly recommending, but not mandating&rdquo; vaccination for eligible persons.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16849" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16849" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16849" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Cornell renames English Department as part of &#39;decolonization efforts.&#39; Check out the new name.]</a> Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway, pointing out that the vaccine will be available to all Americans by the end of May, <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-require-covid-19-vaccine-students" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> that &ldquo;adding COVID-19 vaccination to our student immunization requirements will help provide a safer and more robust college experience for our students.&rdquo; Northeastern University also <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/coronavirus/university-messages/student-vaccination-requirements-for-fall-2021/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced</a> that all students &ldquo;will be expected to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the first day of classes.&rdquo; Students are permitted to &ldquo;request religious and medical exemptions to the policy.&rdquo; In the fall of 2020, universities across the United States began implementing flu vaccine requirements as part of efforts to fight COVID-19.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15875" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15875" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15875" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Universities mandate flu shots as part of COVID fighting efforts]</a> Campus Reform reached out to Cornell University, Rutgers University, and Northeastern University, but did not receive a response. Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@BenZeisloft</a>

Some schools are not mandating the vaccine, but are instead “strongly recommending” them.

Colleges nationwide mandate COVID vaccine for returning students

A number of schools within the University of California system are praising a federal court ruling that ordered President Donald Trump and his administration to fully restore the DACA program.&nbsp; <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/us/daca-reinstated.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">New York Times</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lora; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">,&nbsp;U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis ordered that the Trump administration fully restore the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows hundreds of thousands of young Americans born overseas but brought to the U.S. at a young age to remain in the country legally.&nbsp; Following the decision, several universities within the University of California system praised the ruling. <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13993" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Berkeley backs illegal students as SCOTUS hears DACA arguments]</a> On December 4, Garaufis ordered the Trump administration to allow more illegal immigrants to request legal status. Since the decision, schools across the United States have offered their opinions on the decision. University of California System President Michael Drake and Board of Regents Chair John A. P&eacute;rez <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-celebrates-court-order-restore-daca-program?utm_source=twitter-ucnewsroom&utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=daca" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">praised</a> the decision, calling it &quot;a win.&quot; The latest decision comes after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision in June that stated Trump&rsquo;s blockage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA) was unconstitutional.&nbsp; That decision came about as a result of a legal challenge brought by the University of California against the Trump administration. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the UC system president was Janet Napolitano, who served as former President Barack Obama&#39;s Homeland Security Secretary.&nbsp; UC-Davis Chancellor Gary S. May, praised Garaufis&rsquo;s decision, writing in a statement that &quot;while this decision is a great step forward, a permanent solution for DACA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and many other undocumented immigrant students is needed, including a path to citizenship.&quot;&nbsp; <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10528" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: UC Berkeley allocating up to $800k for &#39;undocumented&#39; students]</a> &quot;Undocumented immigrant students must have access to the basic and human rights afforded to U.S. citizens,&quot; May added. UC-Berkeley Senior Director of Strategic Communications Janet Gilmore told Campus Reform that more students will now be given the opportunity to enroll in the DACA program at UC Berkeley.&nbsp; &ldquo;Many students who were not previously afforded the opportunity to apply for DACA will be doing so, and others will need to re-apply. Our Undocumented Students Program is here to offer assistance and support to these students,&quot; Gilmore said.&nbsp; Follow the author of this article:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/profile?pid=5457360" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ethan Khaldarov</a>

The statements come after UC led the charge in suing the Trump administration.

University of California praises DACA ruling

Prior to the Supreme Court&rsquo;s recent ruling on DACA, campuses in the University of California system issued declarations of support for their illegal immigrant students. The University of California System sued the Trump administration in 2017 over its effort to reverse legal protections for DACA recipients. The legal protections were granted as part of an executive order issued by then-President Barack Obama, in whose administration the now-UC System President served as the Department of Homeland Security Secretary.The University of California-Berkeley issued a &ldquo;<a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/04/27/a-message-of-support-for-uc-berkeleys-undocumented-community/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">message of support</a>&rdquo; for illegal immigrant students, written by Chancellor Carol Christ and Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion Oscar Dub&oacute;n, Jr., calling for students &ldquo;to be mindful and respectful of each other during this time&rdquo; and to maintain a &ldquo;safe and open learning community.&ldquo;Every member of the UC Berkeley community is a valuable contributor to the university, regardless of immigration status,&rdquo; the letter reads. &ldquo;We recognize that there are many issues of concern that are causing a heightened level of anxiety for members of our community, including the pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which is expected soon. &nbsp;We remain committed to making sure Berkeley&rsquo;s undocumented community experiences our university as a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive space.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14755" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;A bit of fraud encouraged by Berkeley&#39;: University tells illegal immigrants to fill out census forms]</a>&ldquo;Many in our community are experiencing another level of uncertainty as we await the U.S. Supreme Court&rsquo;s ruling on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program,&rdquo; UC Davis Chancellor Gary May <a href="https://leadership.ucdavis.edu/news/messages/chancellor-messages/uc-davis-is-committed-to-our-undocumented-community" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">wrote in an open letter</a> prior to the justices&#39; decision.&ldquo;I want to assure you that UC Davis remains committed to supporting our undocumented community, no matter the outcome of this decision...Our AB 540 and Undocumented Student Center is a model of empowerment, opportunity and equity. During this critical time, the center provides a sense of community and solidarity,&quot; the chancellor added.The University of California system backed up Berkeley and Davis, <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/initiative/student-opportunity/undocumented-students" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">saying</a>, &ldquo;UC is committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for its undocumented students and to providing the resources for their success... UC will continue to welcome and support students without regard to immigration status, will not share student information without legal warrant and will not take part in joint efforts with any government agency to carry out federal immigration policy.&rdquo;In an email, University of California spokeswoman Sarah McBride <a href="https://undoc.ucmerced.edu/cares-act-undocumented-students" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">wrote</a>, &ldquo;The University of California is very disappointed that undocumented students, some of the most vulnerable members of our community, are not eligible to access funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.&rdquo;&ldquo;However,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;these students will not be left empty-handed; the University will leverage other institutional funds to replace financial support that these students have been unfairly restricted from accessing.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14934" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: WSU provides &#39;emergency&#39; funding to illegal immigrant students in response to bailout exclusion]</a>UC-San Francisco Chancellor Sam Hawgood joined the chorus with <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/01/striking-down-daca-thwart-americas-pandemic-response/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">an open letter</a> voicing support for DACA recipients.&nbsp;&ldquo;If the court strikes down DACA,&rdquo; Hawgood&rsquo;s letter, co-authored with Priscilla Chan, co-founder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, reads, &ldquo;then every DACA recipient &mdash; including 29,000 physicians, nurses, health aides, and technicians &mdash; could be forced from the United States within two years. Some could have only weeks.&rdquo; The letter concluded that the Supreme Court ought not to overturn DACA because it could impact the COVID-19 response.&ldquo;The University of California remains steadfast to its commitment of supporting undocumented students&rsquo; higher education, career readiness, and post-graduation opportunities,&rdquo; UC Los Angeles Associate Vice Provost for Diversity &amp; Engagement Elizabeth Halimah said in a statement accompanying <a href="https://ucla.app.box.com/v/IncomeGenerationOptionsToolkit" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">a toolkit</a> specifically advising illegal immigrant students on ways to generate income.&nbsp;&quot;We will work to ensure they have a path forward to fulfilling their aspirations during and after their time at UC,&rdquo; Halimah concluded.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14931" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: &lsquo;I&rsquo;m Stalin&rsquo;: UCLA &#39;libertarian Antichrist&#39; wants to ban homeschooling, charter schools]</a>UC-Merced Associate Director for Educational Equity and Access Alejandro S. Delgadillo <a href="https://undoc.ucmerced.edu/cares-act-undocumented-students" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">told UC students</a>, &ldquo;The University of California continues to stand with our undocumented communities throughout the UC system. Though undocumented students are excluded from the funds that the CARES Act provides to undergraduate and graduate students the UC will continue to ensure that our all students have secure housing, food security, and access to health services.&rdquo;Finally, UC-Santa Barbara <a href="https://t.e2ma.net/message/o2joif/ou5vsvg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pledged</a> to defend DACA students, no matter what the Supreme Court&rsquo;s ruling said.&ldquo;As a campus we are committed to the diversity of experience and scholarship interests that all students bring to our campus,&rdquo; the statement reads. &ldquo;It is vital to the excellence of our university. The &nbsp;journey and success of our undocumented student community will have important impacts on the communities and world in which we all live.&rdquo;&ldquo;As we navigate these unprecedented circumstances we do so as a university community,&rdquo; Santa Barbara officials said. &ldquo;We stand firm in our commitment to provide inclusive access, aid, services, and support, especially to those experiencing a higher level of uncertainty.&rdquo;&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/Arik_Schneider" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@Arik_Schneider</a>

The court recently ruled against the Trump administration in its attempt to reverse the Obama-era executive order.

UC stood ready to support DACA students, 'no matter the outcome' of SCOTUS decision

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of extending legal protections for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, commonly referred to as Dreamers, or individuals who came to the U.S. illegally, with their parents, as children. Describing the decision as &ldquo;arbitrary and capricious,&rdquo; the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-587_5ifl.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">ruled</a> that the Trump administration&rsquo;s reasoning in shutting down the DACA program was unsatisfactory.&nbsp;The court&rsquo;s ruling resulted from issues of presentation, rather than policy.&nbsp;Universities have awaited the decision because of its bearing on immigrant students; according to April 2020 findings from <a href="https://www.presidentsimmigrationalliance.org/pressrelease/new-report-more-than-450000-undocumented-students-enrolled-in-colleges-universities-in-united-states/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">New American Economy and Presidents&rsquo; Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration</a>, more than 450,000 -- approximately 2 percent of all students -- illegal immigrants are enrolled in American higher education institutions. Additionally, 216,000 of these students hold or are eligible for DACA.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14751" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: College bailout money could go to illegal immigrants (UPDATED)] </a>Ahead of the decision, the University of Virginia <a href="https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-announces-all-students-regardless-citizenship-status-are-eligible-enroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">announced Tuesday</a> that, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, all students will be eligible for admission and enrollment at the university.&nbsp;&ldquo;Regardless of the outcome of [the Supreme Court] case, we will continue to welcome and actively support our current DACA students,&rdquo; said Kevin McDonald, vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at UVA.Similarly, the University of California-Berkeley voiced support for its illegal immigrant students prior to Thursday&rsquo;s opinon, calling itself &ldquo;students&rsquo; steadfast ally&rdquo; and <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/06/16/supreme-court-ruling-on-daca-looms-berkeley-is-students-steadfast-ally/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">sharing</a> protocols the school would follow in order to maintain students&rsquo; work authorizations, as well as legal resources.&nbsp;The University of California System, led by Janet Napolitano, the former Department of Homeland Security Secretary under President Barack Obama, sued DHS under the Trump administration in 2017, alleging that the plan to scrap legal protections for Dreamers was unconstitutional.&nbsp;As Campus Reform previously <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13839" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a>, more than 160 universities across the country filed an amicus brief in support of UC&#39;s challenge.&nbsp;The University of California applauded the court&#39;s decision.&nbsp;&quot;UC was the first university in the nation to file a lawsuit challenging the federal government&rsquo;s proposed rescission of DACA. Over the past three years, we have worked together to advance our case through the courts and to advocate for DACA recipients on every front. And today, our collective efforts paid off,&quot; Napolitano said. &quot;We applaud the U.S. Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision to strike down the administration&rsquo;s arbitrary attempt to end a policy that has enabled some 650,000 immigrants &ndash; brought to the U.S. as children &ndash; to live and work in the only country they know as home.&quot;&quot;At the University of California, we will continue to vigorously defend the privacy and civil rights of undocumented students and all of our community members, and to provide free legal services through the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center and dedicated undocumented student centers on our campuses,&quot; Napolitano <a href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/university-of-california-celebrates-supreme-court-win-on-daca" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">added</a>.Following the ruling, Vanderbilt University also <a href="https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2020/06/18/statement-from-vanderbilt-university-regarding-supreme-court-ruling-on-daca/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">released a statement</a> agreeing with &ldquo;the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision that the Trump Administration did not follow the proper administrative process in attempting to rescind DACA.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It is unfathomable that we as a nation would deny these young people the ability to continue to reach their dreams in the only nation they&rsquo;ve ever called home,&rdquo; Vanderbilt said.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14895" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: California Community Colleges sue to give federal bailout money to illegal immigrants]</a>Washington Attorney General Robert Ferguson, who <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14895" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">sued the Department of Education</a> in May over the exclusion of illegal immigrants from federal student aid, released a <a href="https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-statement-us-supreme-court-protecting-daca-program" style="text-decoration:none;">statement</a> that denounced President Donald Trump&rsquo;s plan to end DACA as &ldquo;both cruel and unlawful.&nbsp;Today, our nation&rsquo;s highest court agreed. Thanks to today&rsquo;s decision, they can continue to live and work in what is for many of them the only home they&rsquo;ve ever known,&rdquo; Ferguson continued.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/mariatcopeland" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@mariatcopeland</a>

Both prior to and following the ruling, universities were vocal in their support for illegal immigrant students.

Supreme Court ruling to benefit 200,000+ DACA students

Stanford University law students, upset about a &ldquo;morally affronting&rdquo; discussion of the arguments for and against the legality of DACA, staged a walkout of the event in protest.On Feb. 10, Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins spoke at Stanford Law School, sponsored by Stanford&rsquo;s Federalist Society chapter. After Hawkins began his speech on the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, more than half of those in the room got up and left. The purpose of Hawkins&rsquo; speech was to discuss the issues of legalities of repealing DACA.&nbsp;Hawkins stated that he would be covering and arguing both sides for and against DACA.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14292" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: Michigan State: &#39;Our goal is to reduce apprehension&#39; of illegal immigrants]</a>In October 2018, Stanford and 18 other universities filed an <a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/10/07/stanford-files-amicus-brief-in-support-of-daca-program/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">amicus brief</a> to the Supreme Court in opposition of the Trump administration&rsquo;s attempt to repeal DACA. The brief lamented that the end of the program would force recipients to &ldquo;withdraw to the margins of our society and national economy or return to countries that they have never called home.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14369" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: &nbsp;Nevada schools band together to offer free legal services to illegal immigrants]</a>]The walk-out from Hawkins&rsquo; speech was arranged by the Stanford Latinx Law Students Association (SLLSA) along with various other student groups. SLLSA member Raquel Zepeda wrote in an email to law students that the lecture was an &ldquo;intellectually cheap and morally affronting topic.&rdquo; In protest, students held posters that read, &ldquo;No human being is illegal&rdquo;, and &ldquo;Everyone is welcome here.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13889" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: &nbsp;Calif. governor gives more aid to DACA students]</a>While Hawkins spoke about both sides on DACA he mentioned that Trump&rsquo;s motion to repeal &ldquo;did not say that DACA was unworkable...it just says that DACA is unlawful.&rdquo;&ldquo;DACA is unlawful for the same reason that DAPA was unlawful, according to the fifth circuit,&rdquo; Hawkins added.Hawkins also spoke about the Obama administration not having the authority to put DACA into place as it &ldquo;confers on someone a status Congress would otherwise deny.&rdquo;In a statement, SLLSA &nbsp;and other groups said that &ldquo;purely legalistic discussions of DACA ignore the human element, which must be front and center&hellip; we can not agree to disregard the presence and importance of DREAMers in all places, including here at SLS,&rdquo; being that those who walked out did not find legality to be of importance in this aspect.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13993" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: &nbsp;Berkeley backs illegal students as SCOTUS hears DACA arguments]</a>First-year law student Zoe Packman mentioned that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s incredibly unfair that my fellow students have to face these extra burdens and then be reminded of them in school. We shouldn&rsquo;t be discussing the legality of our student population. It&rsquo;s not a valid question, there is no question here.&rdquo;&ldquo;This is fairly common&hellip; There are a lot of walkouts and this happens a lot with speakers who come to campus,&rdquo; Student and Financial Officer to the Stanford College Republicans Philip Eykamp told Campus Reform.&ldquo;We find this to be anti-intellectual and disruptive and would hope that students at Stanford would be more intellectual and engaging the issues in conversation. This talk was clearly on the legality of DACA and the speaker presented both sides of the argument. This is embarrassing, but I am not surprised that they walked out,&rdquo; Eykamp added.Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/Jess_Custodio" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">@Jess_Custodio</a>

Students who staged a demonstration in protest of a lecture on the legality of DACA called it an  “intellectually cheap and morally affronting topic.”

Law students storm out of 'purely legalistic' DACA discussion

Various entities within the University of Utah came out in full force in support of illegal immigrant students as DACA came before the Supreme Court in November.Numerous offices at the University of Utah wrote responses to the United States Supreme Court arguments over President Donald Trump&rsquo;s decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2017.The <a href="https://asuu.utah.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU)</a> proclaimed its &ldquo;unwavering support for undocumented students (with or without DACA)&quot; in an Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4yE6y7hXPj/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">post</a>, and encouraged students to reach out to the University of Utah&rsquo;s <a href="https://dream.utah.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">Dream Center</a>, which provides support for &ldquo;undocumented students and mixed-status families from college access to graduation.&quot;&nbsp;The student leadership group also recommended that &ldquo;students who are in distress&rdquo; reach out to the counseling center.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13889" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Calif. Governor gives more aid to DACA students]</a>The Dream Center also issued a <a href="https://dream.utah.edu/community_updates.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">statement</a> along with the Office of Undergraduate Studies, Student Affairs, and the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion about the Supreme Court hearings.&nbsp;&ldquo;On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments regarding the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),&rdquo; read the statement. &ldquo;The Justices are expected to make a decision as early as January 2020. Until the ruling is announced, current DACA recipients are still eligible to submit applications for renewal.&rdquo;&ldquo;The Dream Center at the University of Utah is here to provide resources and support for students, faculty, and staff. Students experiencing increased distress because of the pending decision can visit the University Counseling Center.&quot;The statement also listed contact information for many campus and third-party DACA supporting organizations, including the <a href="https://www.acluutah.org/immigrants-rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">ACLU of Utah</a>, and <a href="https://notifica.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">United We Dream</a>.&nbsp;The Dream Center also advertised a safe space for students to come relax and eat donuts during the DACA hearing.<a href="https://campusreform.org/?ID=13993" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Berkeley backs illegal students as SCOTUS hears DACA Arguments]</a>&ldquo;If the Supreme Court decides that the DACA program was illegal to begin with then it will be the duty of all campus organizations to comply with the Court&rsquo;s ruling,&rdquo; University of Utah student Vincent Wetzel told Campus Reform. &ldquo;Eight in ten Americans support the DACA program, but ASUU has gone a step further by embracing illegal immigrants regardless of whether they made good-faith efforts to come out of the shadows and become legally documented through the DACA process or not,&rdquo; he explained, calling the statements &ldquo;a bridge too far.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;The University of Utah has 32,0000 students but only about 150 of these are DACA recipients. I wish that our student government cared as much about issues that affect all the students on our campus such as our parking crisis as they do about virtue signaling about this niche issue,&rdquo; said Wetzel.University of Utah Associate Director of Communications Annalisa Purser told Campus Reform that the university is &ldquo;committed to supporting Dreamers in their pursuit of education, and the U&rsquo;s Dream Center provides support and resources to undocumented students and their families.&rdquo;&ldquo;The removal of DACA could mean that many of our talented students will lose the opportunity to earn a degree and the campus will lose valuable members of its community,&rdquo; Purser added.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/francesanne123" style="text-decoration:none;">@francesanne123</a>

University invites students to DACA donut party safe space, releases pro-illegal statement

University of California Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ sent a university-wide email Tuesday expressing support for the public university&rsquo;s population of illegal immigrant students, and offering &ldquo;counseling services and community spaces on campus.&rdquo;The email was in anticipation of Tuesday&rsquo;s Supreme Court oral arguments for the case Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California. The subject matter of the case surrounds the Trump Administration&rsquo;s recension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.&nbsp;The University of California appeared before the court to argue that &ldquo;the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it decided to rescind&rdquo; the program created by executive order under former President Barack Obama.Even though oral arguments occurred this week, the court is not expected to deliver its final decision until the spring or summer 2020.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13889" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Calif. governor gives more aid to DACA students]</a>While the case is pending, Christ and the University of California-Berkeley administration is offering information on not only the case, but also the immigration process and different statuses, as well as &ldquo;support for undocumented students, academic and employment status, where to find counseling services and community spaces on campus, and more.&rdquo;Chancellor Christ also &ldquo;encourage[d] everyone, students, staff, faculty, alumni, and allies, to speak up and show support for our undocumented students and staff,&rdquo; saying that the Trump Administration marks, &ldquo;truly unprecedented times that should motivate us all to take collective action. We are open to feedback and guidance on the best ways to move this forward with compassion and growth. We invite you to join us in this effort to ensure humanity and justice are upheld for all.&rdquo;Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Dan Mogulof told Campus Reform that Chancellor Christ&rsquo;s statement &ldquo;aligned with policy stances and positions that have been adopted and supported by President [Janet] Napolitano and the entire UC system.&rdquo;The positions taken by the University of California system under Napolitano have been considered by many as a conflict of interest. Prior to becoming President of the UC system, Napolitano served in the Obama Administration as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She was a chief architect of the DACA program that was enacted in 2012 during her tenure at DHS.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10528" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: UC Berkeley allocating up to $800k for &#39;undocumented&#39; students]</a>&quot;Students&rsquo; largest complaint about the higher education system in the United States is rising tuition costs,&quot; &nbsp;President of Berkeley College Republicans Matt Ronnau, told Campus Reform. &quot;Yet, the University of California continues to make exorbitant commitments to illegal immigrants that go far beyond just the cost associated with the pending lawsuit against the Trump Administration and refuse to put American students first.&quot;&quot;If the UC system adopted Trump&rsquo;s &#39;America first&#39; focus when it came to their students, costs for both the school and the students would go down: a win-win situation. Unfortunately, the left-wing academics resort to virtue signaling, and students continue to pay exorbitant amounts of money in order to achieve their degree,&quot; Ronau added.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/bradleydevlin" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@bradleydevlin</a>

Berkeley backs illegal students as SCOTUS hears DACA arguments

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1645" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">bill</a> into law that will require California Community Colleges and the California State University system to create a &ldquo;Dreamer Resource Liaison&rdquo; for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students on each campus.&nbsp;The Dream Resource Liaisons will be tasked with &ldquo;streamlining access to all available financial aid, social services, state-funded immigration legal services, internships, externships, and academic opportunities.&rdquo; The new law also encourages California colleges and universities to create &ldquo;Dream Resource Centers&rdquo; to aid the liaisons and to &ldquo;create a safe and welcoming environment&rdquo; for DACA students.&nbsp;Citing President Donald Trump&rsquo;s threat to deport illegal immigrants, the bill states that providing these resources to DACA students is &ldquo;imperative.&rdquo; Under current California law, illegal immigrants already qualify for <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/undocumented-student-tuition-overview.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">in-state tuition</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13457" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: Columbia offers illegal immigrant students free legal help, &lsquo;stress management&rsquo;]</a>Laura Metune, the vice-chancellor of governmental relations for the California Community Colleges system, <a href="https://edsource.org/2019/california-community-colleges-need-money-to-meet-new-state-law-to-help-dreamers/618623" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">said</a> that while she supports the new law, California&rsquo;s colleges do not have adequate funding for the bill&rsquo;s new mandates. Metune estimates the liaisons and resources will cost $2.9 million.&nbsp;&ldquo;The reality is that colleges are being mandated to implement with no new resources,&rdquo; Metune said in a statement. &ldquo;We hope, and will continue to encourage, colleges to identify existing funds or leverage philanthropic dollars to accomplish this work.&rdquo;According to <a href="https://edsource.org/2019/california-community-colleges-need-money-to-meet-new-state-law-to-help-dreamers/618623" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">EdSource.org,</a> 19 community colleges in California currently meet the new staff requirement. With 115 total community colleges in the California system, 96 community colleges would need to hire or select a Dreamer Resource Liaison by the 2020-2021 academic year. <a href="https://foundationccc.org/Portals/0/Documents/WhatWeDo/Equity/DreamersProject/dreamers-report-final.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">Eighty-two</a> community colleges in California are also currently without Dreamer resource centers. Most California State University campuses already have liaisons and resource centers for illegal immigrant students. <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1645" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">Only four</a> of the CSU campuses lack resource centers.&nbsp;The University of California system is exempt from the law&rsquo;s requirements but is encouraged to comply. A spokeswoman for the UC president&rsquo;s office <a href="https://edsource.org/2019/california-community-colleges-need-money-to-meet-new-state-law-to-help-dreamers/618623" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">told EdSource.org</a> that all UC campuses have liaisons and resource centers.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13792" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: ASU offers support groups for illegal students, &lsquo;ally&rsquo; workshops for citizens]</a>In a statement to Campus Reform, the College Republicans at CSU-Chico slammed Newsom for prioritizing illegal immigrants.&quot;Gov. Newsom and the Democrats focus their time and efforts on useless feel-good programs for illegal aliens who do not pay their fair share of taxes,&quot; the CSU College Republicans said, noting the Golden State&#39;s homeless population, which is now <a href="https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/ca/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more than 120,000</a>, and the state&#39;s education system, which <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ranks 21st</a> in the country.David North, a resident scholar at the Center for Immigration Studies who studies the interaction between education and migration, told Campus Reform that illegal immigrant students were being granted &ldquo;special powers&rdquo; by this law.&nbsp;&ldquo;This is one of those situations in which illegal aliens are not only treated as if they were here legally, it gives them special powers,&rdquo; North said. &quot;To the best of my knowledge, there are no Citizen Resource Liaisons in these universities.&rdquo;North added that taxpayers will be responsible for new costs.&ldquo;It will be a double blow to such students, as well as to the state&rsquo;s taxpayers,&rdquo; North said. &nbsp;<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(29, 28, 29); font-family: Slack-Lato, appleLogo, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">&ldquo;The first injury is that if the Dream Resource Liaisons are to become funded, effective entities, they will divert money that might be used on campus for some other, totally legit purpose. The second blow, again assuming a strong operation, is that the illegal alien students will absorb other state resources that they had not known about prior to the creation of the Dream Resource Liaisons.&rdquo;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/eduneret" style="text-decoration:none;">@eduneret</a>

These liaisons are tasked with “streamlining access” to financial aid, social services, immigration legal services, internship, and academic opportunities to DACA students.

Calif. governor gives more aid to DACA students

Tufts University joined more than 160 colleges Tuesday in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), as part of an ongoing lawsuit first filed by the University of California against the Trump Administration.UC filed the suit in 2017 against the U.S Department of Homeland Security, according to <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/10/5/daca-amicus-brief/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">The Harvard Crimson</a>. Since then, Harvard University, Yale University, Tufts and more than 160 other colleges and universities have <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-587/118023/20191003172706687_1%20-%20DACA_-_SCOTUS_Coll_Univ.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">filed</a> an amicus brief supporting the initiative.&ldquo;Ending the DACA program,&rdquo; the brief states, &ldquo;would send a clear message to the more than one million undocumented children in the United States that the trails amici&rsquo;s students and alumni have blazed lead nowhere and are not worth following. That message is antithetical to the commitment to equal opportunity on which this country was founded.&rdquo;Since he took office, President Donald Trump has attempted to halt the Obama-era program, but courts have blocked this action.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13704" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Director of illegal alien &lsquo;university&rsquo; says nation states &lsquo;should not exist,&rsquo; citizenship is &lsquo;completely arbitrary&rsquo;]</a>Harvard has had a history of supporting DACA.&nbsp;In July 2019, Harvard President Lawrence Bacow <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/7/17/bacow-letter-immigration-pompeo/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wrote a letter</a> to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, expressing his concern over Trump&rsquo;s attempt to end DACA. Bacow worked to bring Harvard student Ismail Ajjawari from Pakistan to the U.S. after the student was denied entry by Customs and Border Protection.Yale soon <a href="https://news.yale.edu/2019/10/04/yale-and-other-universities-file-amicus-brief-support-daca" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">joined</a> the brief, referencing a 2017 <a href="https://news.yale.edu/2017/08/30/president-salovey-urges-president-trump-maintain-daca-program" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">letter</a> President Peter Salovey sent to U.S. President Donald Trump, in which Salovey said that the nation &ldquo;should affirm that they have a future in our great country. Doing so is consistent with our longstanding values as a nation of immigrants motivated by the search for a better life.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13792" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: ASU offers support groups for illegal students, &lsquo;ally&rsquo; workshops for citizens]</a>On Oct. 8, Tufts University <a href="https://now.tufts.edu/articles/tufts-joins-amicus-brief-support-daca-recipients" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">joined</a> the Ivy League schools on the amicus brief.&nbsp;&ldquo;Tufts stands firmly with our DACA and undocumented students, their families, and their communities, and we are committed to honoring our promises to our DACA and undocumented students,&rdquo; Tufts President Anthony P. Monaco said in a news release. &ldquo;We will continue to provide our DACA and undocumented students an education that they have rightfully earned and deserve.&rdquo;Other prestigious universities have also joined in the amicus brief, including Brown University, Columbia University, Stanford University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13457" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: Columbia offers illegal immigrant students free legal help, &lsquo;stress management&rsquo;]</a>The MIT College Republicans Chapter declined to comment when contacted by Campus Reform.&nbsp;The College Republican Chapters at Harvard, Yale, and Brown did not respond to requests for comment from Campus Reform in time for publication. &nbsp;Oral Arguments will be heard in the United States Supreme Court on Nov. 12.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/corkery_mrose" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">@corkery_mrose</a>

Tufts University joined 18 colleges in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of DACA.

Tufts, Harvard, Yale endorse DACA lawsuit, tying to 'commitment to equal opportunity'

The University of Arkansas offered a course on &ldquo;The Plight of Undocumented Youth in the Trump Era,&rdquo; arguing why the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program should not have been rescinded.The non-credit course made the case to enrolled students for why President Donald Trump should not have rescinded DACA and explained the benefits of &ldquo;inclusive&rdquo; immigration policies, as well as the &ldquo;protection of undocumented youths.&rdquo; The teacher for the class, William A. Schwab, is the author of the book, Right to DREAM, which focuses on the DREAM Act and ways it can be passed, according to its <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Right-DREAM-Immigration-Reform-Americas/dp/1557286388" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">Amazon description.</a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11397" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: University of Illinois defends new &#39;Trumpaganda&#39; course]</a>&ldquo;Taking as its focal point the Trump administration&rsquo;s decision to rescind Obama-era DACA protection, this class delves into the economic, political, and social factors that inform the public conversation about immigration,&rdquo; the course <a href="https://calendars.uark.edu/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=35995&information_id=83911&type=&rss=rss" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">description</a> states.&nbsp;However, it then suggests that participants will learn why Trump&rsquo;s decision to rescind DACA was wrong, and how America can benefit from &ldquo;inclusive&rdquo; immigration policies.&ldquo;It makes a clear case for the many benefits of inclusive policies and the protection of undocumented youths,&rdquo; the description continues. &ldquo;This class also takes a close look at the factors that carried Donald Trump to the White House, demonstrates how economic upheaval and the issue of immigration influenced the 2016 presidential election, analyzes current immigration laws, and suggests next steps for reform.&quot;The course is part of UA&rsquo;s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which provides &ldquo;northwest Arkansas&rsquo; seasoned adults with a vibrant learning community that encourages adults to live well and learn forever through the hundreds of stimulating non-credit classes, programs, cultural and social events produced annually by our member-driven organization.&rdquo;The fee to take the two-hour course was $21 for members and $36 for non-members of OLLI. UA students must pay $50 to join OLLI.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10569" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: SDSU offers course on removing Trump from office]</a>Clay Smith, chairman of the Arkansas Federation of College Republicans, told Campus Reform that he was surprised that the university would sponsor an event so blatantly against the president.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s out of character for the UofA,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;In my time here, I have not seen a strong left or right bias beyond the normal slightly left bias that institutions of higher education typically have.&rdquo;Campus Reform reached out to the University of Arkansas but did not receive a response in time for publication.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/asabes10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@asabes10</a>

Part of the course focused on why Trump's decision to rescind DACA was wrong.

UA charges students to learn why Trump rescinding DACA was wrong

Colleges and universities across the country have been singling out and rewarding illegal-status students with various programs and benefits, many of which discriminate against law-abiding citizens.Since 2015, Arizona DACA students have enjoyed cheaper Obama-era &ldquo;in-state&rdquo; tuition rates, but last week, the state&rsquo;s Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/arizona-supreme-court-no-state-tuition-daca-college-students-n864106" style="text-decoration:none;">ruled</a> that DACA recipients must pay out-of-state tuition rates, affecting at least&nbsp;<a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona-education/2018/04/09/arizona-supreme-court-dreamers-cant-receive-state-tuition-daca/500141002/?csp=chromepush" style="text-decoration:none;">2,000 currently enrolled DACA students</a>.&nbsp;As a student at a public university in Arizona, this issue hits close to home. While education funding is a nationwide issue, it is especially concerning in Arizona where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/04/05/tuition-increases-arizonas-universities-get-ok-board-regents/488139002/" style="text-decoration:none;">tuition continues to increase</a> every year.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9383" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: AZ Regents ignore court, affirm in-state tuition for illegals]</a>While I empathize with the sentiment that Dreamers should be entitled to public subsidized education based on the length of their residence in America, I find it difficult to prioritize it over other salient problems that arise from this policy.Providing dreamers with in-state tuition is not only fiscally irresponsible, but unfair to the various other students that seek an education in the state of Arizona. With public education funding diminishing, it&rsquo;s hard to justify subsidizing tuition for illegal students while raising it for others.&nbsp;Arizona&rsquo;s education system is notoriously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education" style="text-decoration:none;">below-average</a>, and funding will only decrease if that legacy continues. If Arizona allows dreamers in-state tuition, the money would be channeled away from legal students at the detriment to their education.&nbsp;This is not only unfair to Arizona students, but international students as well. Compared to other demographics, international students pay a substantially&nbsp;<a href="https://financialaid.arizona.edu/cost/freshmen" style="text-decoration:none;">higher college tuition</a> rate. These are students who went through the arduous process of entering the US legally, but they are faced with a disadvantage that undermines that legal process.&nbsp;International students should be angered that dreamers benefit from in-state tuition while they had to jump through many hoops to receive the same education. &nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9446" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Maine offers in-state tuition to illegal immigrants statewide]</a>Legal-status and international students are not the only ones who will benefit from the state supreme court decision. Arizona taxpayers will benefit from the money that will be freed up in the state education budget for resident students, ad the ruling will also incentivize the state legislature and the Board of Regents to maintain current in-state tuition rates for residents, since more money will be freed up to subsidize those students.While our immigration system needs reform, we cannot put those with illegal status on a pedestal at the expense of law-abiding citizens. Our institutions of higher education should be setting a better precedent. Kudos to the Arizona Supreme Court for paving the way.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/shannadnelson" style="text-decoration:none;">@shannadnelson</a>

AZ sides with citizens, ends in-state tuition for DACA students

Brown University officials have announced plans to offer illegal immigrant students a &ldquo;tuition-free&rdquo; Master&#39;s Degree should the federal government decide to repeal DACA.&nbsp;The new program would be available for any 2018 graduate as a one-year extension to their time at Brown, and would come with university-subsidized health insurance and a stipend, according to&nbsp;<a href="http://today.brown.edu/archive.php?id=104272" style="text-decoration:none;">a statement</a> by Provost Richard Locke.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10582" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: New scholarship to hand out $20 million to DACA students]&nbsp;</a>In the event that DACA is repealed, the university has also vowed to offer &ldquo;in-school and post-graduate opportunities for students unable to work legally to engage in stipend-supported research and education that is not citizenship-dependent.&rdquo;While the program remains in limbo, the elite school says it will continue to support DACA students through its existing initiatives, such as covering the cost of DACA renewal application fees, providing grant money to pay for legal representation, and creating extra institutional scholarships for students whose work authorization expires.&ldquo;It is our hope that through these efforts, the university will continue to support academic development and achievement while Congress works to address essential immigration reform,&rdquo; Locke concludes.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10461" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: University launches &lsquo;dream fund&rsquo; to help DACA students]&nbsp;</a>In September 2017, university officials issued a&nbsp;<a href="https://news.brown.edu/articles/2017/09/daca-0905" style="text-decoration:none;">press release</a> condemning efforts to repeal DACA and affirming their support for undocumented students.&nbsp;&ldquo;Ending the protections DACA has granted to so many high-achieving and promising individuals is wrong. It is shortsighted and in direct and flagrant conflict with this nation&rsquo;s commitment to education,&rdquo; the statement argued, vowing not to cooperate with law enforcement officials unless they have a subpoena.&nbsp;&ldquo;Brown will do everything legally possible to protect our students, faculty, and staff, and to ensure that all members of our community know they are highly valued for the richness they contribute to Brown,&rdquo; it concluded.&nbsp;Campus Reform reached out to university for information on how the new program will be funded, but Media Officer Brian Clark declined to comment.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Toni_Airaksinen" style="text-decoration:none;">@Toni_Airaksinen</a>

Brown promises ‘tuition-free’ Master's for DACA students

The University of California, Los Angeles hosted a forum Monday on empowering illegal immigrant students and pressuring lawmakers to make the DACA program permanent.The event titled &ldquo;Immigration Forum: Students Speak Out!&rdquo; took place Monday and featured several guest lecturers, including elected officials, who led the roughly 300 audience members in chants of &ldquo;This is what democracy looks like,&rdquo; &ldquo;Student power,&rdquo; and more, <a href="http://dailybruin.com/2018/03/06/labor-and-workplace-studies-class-hosts-forum-on-issues-immigrants-face/" style="text-decoration:none;">The Daily Bruin reported</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10582" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: New scholarship to hand out $20 million to DACA students]</a>According to the publication, the main organizers of the event were the students of the labor and workplace studies class that primarily focuses on examining issues related to the immigration rights movement, though <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1917012651946509/?active_tab=about" style="text-decoration:none;">a Facebook event page</a> indicates that the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) and three other departments also collaborated on the event.The UCLA Labor Center advertised the event in late February, <a href="https://twitter.com/UCLALabor/status/969015973238984704" style="text-decoration:none;">tweeting</a> a short promotional video for the forum on the &ldquo;current state of #DACA and the future of #UndocumentedImmigrants living in the United States.&rdquo;The Labor Center, as well as its project the &ldquo;Dream Resource Center,&rdquo; also tweeted updates throughout the event, posting videos of various activities and lectures that were presented during the forum.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campusreform/10606/UCLADACAEvent1.jpg" style="width: 500px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;Immigrants add value in so many ways to the communities where they live, work, and study,&rdquo; the IRLE <a href="https://twitter.com/uclairle/status/970830086185332736" style="text-decoration:none;">tweeted</a> Monday. &ldquo;Today, thousands of Dreamers and allies are calling on our leaders to defend DACA. #UndocumentedUnafraid.&rdquo;&ldquo;DACA recipients have contributed billions of dollars to the U.S. economy by bringing our skills and talents to the American workforce, helping to create jobs and raise wages for native-born workers along the way,&rdquo; the institute wrote in <a href="https://twitter.com/uclairle/status/970831341133729794" style="text-decoration:none;">another tweet.</a>&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campusreform/10606/UCLADACAEvent2.jpg" style="width: 500px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">According to the Bruin, Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Labor Center, praised the instructor who spearheaded the event, Maria Ignacia Rodriguez, noting that she was one of the first undocumented student graduates of the UCLA School of Law.&nbsp;Wong also explained that the timing of the forum is intended to coincide with the Trump administration&rsquo;s promise to end DACA by early March.&ldquo;This day&hellip;was the day Donald Trump hoped to kill DACA and crush the dreams of 700,000 DACA youth across the country,&rdquo; Wong told the newspaper. &ldquo;We are here today to tell him he will never crush those dreams.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10498" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: UCLA students pay $2M+ per year in &#39;social justice&#39; fees]</a>Also present for the event were several elected officials, including the author of the California Dream Act, Gilbert Cedillo, and former Obama administration Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, both of whom encouraged attendees to follow up their words with action by supporting Democratic candidates in local and national elections.&ldquo;We have to be strategic: Elections matter,&rdquo; Cedillo said, according to the Bruin. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m all for protests, but I&rsquo;m also for winning elections because those votes count the most.&rdquo;Solis, meanwhile, told the audience that &ldquo;what President Trump wanted to do was wipe us all off,&rdquo; saying &ldquo;the solution is going to be that we continue to advocate for having our voices heard and demonstrating the power we all have.&rdquo;Follow this author on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vladimirovnikitav" style="text-decoration:none;">Nikita Vladimirov</a> and Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nikvofficial" style="text-decoration:none;">@nikvofficial</a>

UCLA hosts ‘Undocumented Unafraid’ forum for DACA supporters

Southern New Hampshire University and two other organizations are spearheading a program that will provide $20 million in scholarships to illegal immigrant students.<a href="https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/news-and-events/2018/03/dreamers" style="text-decoration:none;">According to the university</a>, the school is partnering with <a href="https://theshapirofoundation.org/" style="text-decoration:none;">The Shapiro Foundation</a> and <a href="http://www.thedream.us/" style="text-decoration:none;">TheDream.US</a> in an effort to provide full-ride scholarships to 1,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students over the next five years.Paul LeBlanc, the president of the SNHU, said that the university is &ldquo;in the business of hope,&rdquo; voicing his support for the &ldquo;talent and drive&rdquo; exhibited by DACA students.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10436" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Cuomo plans to extend NY free tuition program to &#39;Dreamers&#39;]</a>&quot;As an institution of higher education, we are in the business of hope,&rdquo; LeBlanc said. &ldquo;We have hundreds of thousands of young people who have known no country but the US, but that are denied the financial support that gives them access to higher education.&quot;<a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/financial-aid-and-undocumented-students.pdf">According to the Department of Education</a>, &quot;undocumented students,&quot; including DACA recipients, are not eligible for federal financial aid, though they may qualify for assistance from their state or college.&ldquo;As a society, we can&#39;t afford to squander their talent and drive,&quot; LeBlanc continued. &quot;Among them might be the next brilliant scientist, general, community leader, inventor, or entrepreneur. We must give them the tools to realize their potential.&quot;<a href="http://go.collegeforamerica.org/dreamers" style="text-decoration:none;">The official website</a> of the initiative explains that applicants must be in the process of renewing or are currently applying for DACA or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) authorization in order to be eligible for the scholarships.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10461" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: University launches &lsquo;dream fund&rsquo; for DACA students]</a>According to the university, the project will provide illegal immigrant students an opportunity to &ldquo;develop valuable skills and knowledge by working on creative real-world projects,&rdquo; and earn an associate and bachelor&rsquo;s degree &ldquo;by mastering defined skills/competencies, setting your pace, and accelerating through material you already know.&rdquo;The university also announced that it will work with smaller community-based partners, including <a href="https://www.matchbeyond.org/" style="text-decoration:none;">Match Beyond</a> in Massachusetts and the Texas-based <a href="http://idea-u.org/" style="text-decoration:none;">IDEA-U</a>, to provide students with additional coaching and advising.&ldquo;NHU&#39;s competency-based program combined with the supports provided by the community partner is particularly well suited to DACA students,&rdquo; the school explained in its news report. &ldquo;Competency-based education provides flexibility for students who often work and support their families, while the wrap around services provided by an on-the-ground community partner provide much needed support.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10384" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Jeff Bezos donates $33 million for DACA scholarships]</a>The Shapiro Foundation and TheDream.US both welcomed the new initiative, arguing that their partnership with the university will ensure that the project succeeds.&ldquo;In my recently-launched philanthropic career, the ability to invest in Dreamers through the amazing program created by SNHU is the best investment I&#39;ve found to date,&rdquo; said Ed Shapiro, a Trustee of The Shapiro Foundation. &ldquo;I&#39;m confident these 1,000 young people will have an incredible impact on our nation.&quot;Don Graham, the Co-Founder of TheDream.US, also praised the project, saying that &quot;through this partnership with SNHU, we will be able to serve the many DREAMers who do not have the option of attending a traditional on-campus college.&ldquo;These DREAMers work, have families, and simply do not have the resources nor flexibility to adjust their lives to a traditional college calendar,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;And yet, they want nothing more than to get a college education so they can better support themselves, their families, and their communities.&quot;Follow this author on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vladimirovnikitav" style="text-decoration:none;">Nikita Vladimirov</a> and Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nikvofficial" style="text-decoration:none;">@nikvofficial</a>

New scholarship to hand out $20 million to DACA students

The University of Minnesota is now soliciting donations from students and staff to help support illegal immigrant students with &ldquo;at risk&rdquo; legal status.
The new scholarship fund, known as &ldquo;<a href="http://immigration.umn.edu/take-action/dream-fund">The Dream Fund</a>,&rdquo; is managed by the university&rsquo;s Immigration Response team, which launched the program &ldquo;to help students whose ability to pay for college may be affected by their legal status.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=10412">[RELATED: College Republicans&rsquo; DACA event threatened, vandalized]</a>
According to The Dream Fund&rsquo;s website, members of the university community are asked to &ldquo;please consider a contribution,&rdquo; noting that the funds will &ldquo;provide financial assistance for housing, groceries, books, medical or dental care or other extenuating emergencies.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The fund will be available to undocumented students, students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and students whose Temporary Protected Status has ended,&rdquo; the website notes.
The university told Campus Reform that the fund &ldquo;is in response to requests from private individuals wanting to help students in financial hardship due to circumstances out of their control.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=10384">[RELATED: Jeff Bezos donates $33 million for DACA scholarships]</a>
&ldquo;No university dollars are going to this fund, and it is modeled after other funds at public universities created for the same purpose such as the University of Utah, Western Michigan University and University of Nebraska Omaha,&rdquo; the university elaborated.
Applicants for the scholarship will be required to prove that they are undergoing financial hardship stemming from immigration related complications. &nbsp;
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/celinedryan">@celinedryan</a>

The University of Minnesota is soliciting donations for its new "Dream Fund," which will help illegal immigrant students in "extenuating emergencies."

University launches 'dream fund' to help DACA students

Some individuals resorted to threats and vandalism when the University of Washington College Republicans hosted an event discussing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Members of UWCR hosted a &ldquo;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CollegeRepublicansUW/posts/1516050288501949">DACA booth</a>&rdquo; on January 12, sitting behind a table on campus with a sign reading, &ldquo;I Oppose DACA, Change My Mind,&rdquo; along with a banner advertising the College Republicans.
Chevy Swanson, the President of UWCR, told Campus Reform that the event was designed to generate a discussion and advertise the club.
&ldquo;The point is to advertise the club by saying, &lsquo;hey, we are the College Republicans and this is something we believe, come ask us why,&rsquo; but it&rsquo;s also there so that we can actually talk with students who don't know the issues well, or don't know both sides of the issues well,&rdquo; Swanson told Campus Reform. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like a very lighthearted public debate meant to get our name and our ideas out there in a respectable way that doesn't get in anyone's face.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=10384">[RELATED: Jeff Bezos donates $33 million for DACA scholarships]</a>
For some, however, the event represented far more than a thoughtful discussion.
&ldquo;The UW College Republicans are on their fascist bulls**t again,&rdquo; UW student Antonio Alvarado, who <a href="https://twitter.com/Antonio_IA7">describes himself</a>&nbsp;as a 21 year-old disabled Mexican communist, <a href="https://twitter.com/Antonio_IA7/status/951904213172285440">tweeted</a>, alongside pictures of the DACA booth.
&ldquo;Banner in front of the HUB reads: I OPPOSE DACA CHANGE MY MIND If any white, documented, abled, or other privileged folks are available rn, shut these motherf***ers down!!!&rdquo; Alvarado&rsquo;s tweet concludes.
Minutes after Alvarado&rsquo;s tweet, UWCR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CollegeRepublicansUW/photos/a.186085534831771.41254.171403456299979/1516156511824660/?type=3">posted a photo</a> of their College Republicans poster slashed to shreds, writing, &ldquo;Sorry UW Liberals, but this doesn't count as &lsquo;thoughtful discussion.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Alvarado later&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Antonio_IA7/status/951947080876023809">responded to his first tweet</a>, writing, &ldquo;Oh they've been gone for a minute by now but next time they try some s**t...&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=10216">[RELATED: &lsquo;Victims of Socialism&rsquo; event triggers Bernie-loving students]</a>
&ldquo;Someone came up and cut one of our signs with a boxcutter according to one of our members who was there,&rdquo; Swanson confirmed to Campus Reform. &ldquo;We also noticed that one of the officers of the UW MEChA club posted on Twitter a call for someone to come &lsquo;shut us down&rsquo;, which was obviously done by whoever destroyed our decoration.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Unfortunately, our event was violently interrupted by two leftist agitators,&rdquo; confirmed Armen Tooloee, a UWCR member helping to run the event at the time. &ldquo;One of the two distracted us while the other ran up and slashed our banner with a boxcutter.&rdquo;
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztl&aacute;n at the University of Washington (MEChA de UW), describes itself on its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/mechadeuwseattle/about/?ref=page_internal">Facebook page</a> as &ldquo;a student organization that promotes higher education, cultura, &amp; historia,&rdquo; and <a href="http://students.washington.edu/mecha/leadership.html">the group&rsquo;s website</a> lists Alvarado as one of its officers.
In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CollegeRepublicansUW/photos/a.186085534831771.41254.171403456299979/1516165015157143/?type=3&amp;theater">a photo</a> posted by UWCR on its Facebook page, MEChA de UW is shown retweeting Alvarado&rsquo;s tweet calling the DACA booth &ldquo;fascist bulls**t.&rdquo;
<img src="../img/CROBlog/10412/UW%20DACA%20Tweet.png" alt="" width="599" height="327" />
Swanson proceeded to report the vandalism and threats to the UW administration, and received a response from Denzil Suite, UW Vice President for Student Life.
&ldquo;Hello Mr. Swanson, Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I am glad that no one was physically injured,&rdquo; Suite wrote in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CollegeRepublicansUW/posts/1519527841487527">an email</a>, adding, &ldquo;The call to action you mention, while provocative, would constitute protected speech, in the same manner as your events.
&ldquo;That said, I do find the willful destruction of your property to be unacceptable,&rdquo; Suite continued, encouraging Swanson to file a police report and clarifying that &ldquo;If the perpetrator of this act is found to be a student, that individual will be subject to action under the Code of Student Conduct.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=10211">[RELATED: VIDEO: Campus cops defend vandalism, destruction of property]</a>
However, Swanson asserted that the school didn&rsquo;t respond forcefully enough.
&ldquo;I think this response is very weak,&rdquo; Swanson told Campus Reform, complaining that &ldquo;the school acted like it was some sort of joke.&rdquo;
Campus Reform reached out to Alvarado and MEChA de UW, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/rMitchellGunter">@rMitchellGunter</a>

College Republicans' DACA event threatened, vandalized at UW

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently donated millions of dollars to TheDream.US, a national scholarship fund for illegal immigrant students.
The billionaire owner of The Washington Post and his wife donated $33 million to the group, which supports DACA recipients, marking the largest donation in the organization's history.
&ldquo;MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help today&rsquo;s Dreamers by funding these scholarships,&rdquo; Bezos remarked in a <a href="http://www.thedream.us/news/bezosgrant/">press release</a>, which noted that his donation will &ldquo;fund 1,000 college scholarships for Dreamers.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=9763">[RELATED: California to provide $30 million to DACA recipients]</a>
&ldquo;He landed in this country alone and unable to speak English,&rdquo; Bezos continued, speaking of his father who immigrated to the U.S. when he was 16. &ldquo;With a lot of grit and determination&mdash;and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware&mdash;my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country that he feels blessed him in so many ways.&rdquo;
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/12/jeff-bezos-and-8-other-ceos-are-speaking-up-for-dreamers.html">According to CNBC</a>, Bezos joined 100 other business leaders in sending a letter in support of DACA to congressional leaders, with Tim Cook of Apple, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook also signing their names to letter.
&ldquo;We write to urge Congress to act immediately and pass a permanent bipartisan legislative solution to enable Dreamers who are currently living, working, and contributing to our communities to continue doing so,&rdquo; the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/368868708/Letter-from-corporate-leaders-to-Congress-act-immediately-and-pass-a-permanent-bipartisan-legislative-solution-for-DACA#from_embed">letter</a> states. &ldquo;The imminent termination of the DACA program is creating an impending crisis for workforces across the country.&rdquo;
TheDream.US offers two <a href="http://www.thedream.us/scholarships/">scholarships</a>&mdash;one that provides up to $80,000 for a bachelor&rsquo;s degree and another that awards between $14,500 and $29,000 for those who have already completed an associates degree program.
The organization&rsquo;s National Scholarship is offered to individuals with DACA or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) who have graduated high school or community college, while its Opportunity Scholarship is specifically for individuals who &ldquo;live in targeted, locked-out states that do not offer in-state tuition to DREAMers.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=10121">[RELATED: DACA lawsuits show universities fear loss of tuition revenue]</a>
In addition to its scholarships, TheDream.US <a href="http://www.thedream.us/about-us/partner-colleges/">partners</a> with colleges and universities &ldquo;that are committed to serving and graduating DREAMers,&rdquo; with partner institutions providing DACA recipients with a &ldquo;designated Scholar Advisor&rdquo; for &ldquo;support and assistance to address all of the emotional, lifestyle, and financial challenges that may prevent our Scholars from completing college.&rdquo;
Some of the <a href="http://www.thedream.us/about-us/partner-colleges/">partner institutions</a> include Arizona State University, California State University, Colorado State University, the University of Central Florida, Rutgers University, Texas A&amp;M University, and George Mason University.
A recent <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/09/20/jeff-bezos-ranks-last-in-charitable-giving-among-top-10-billionaires-in-us.html">report</a> from The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Bezos tenth for charitable giving among billionaires in the United States, <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/search?q=Bezos&amp;page=1">listing</a> well over $200 million in donations to higher education that Bezos has made in recent years.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/eduneret">@Eduneret</a>

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, recently donated $33 million to a scholarship fund for illegal immigrant students.

Jeff Bezos donates $33 million for DACA scholarships

Detained University of California, Berkeley student Luis Mora&rsquo;s lawyer is waging a social media crusade in defense of her client while he awaits a hearing on immigration charges.
As Campus Reform previously reported, Mora was apprehended by immigration enforcement agents on December 30 because he did not meet the criteria for President Obama&rsquo;s DACA program.
<a href="../?ID=10334">[RELATED: Immigration officials take UC-Berkeley student into custody]</a>
Mora was reportedly taken to Otay Mesa Detention Center, where he is awaiting a January 17 bond hearing and has been connected with pro-bono immigration lawyer Prerna Lal, who also happens to work at UC Berkeley as a lecturer and <a href="https://undocu.berkeley.edu/haas-dreamers-resource-center/meet-our-staff/">provides</a> legal assistance to its immigrant population.
An expert in creating social media campaigns to derail the deportation of young illegal immigrants, Lal has successfully lobbied UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ to issue a statement in support of her client.
The&nbsp;<a href="http://news.berkeley.edu/2018/01/08/a-statement-from-chancellor-christ-on-student-detained-by-immigration-authorities/">statement</a> noted that the school is ensuring Mora has &ldquo;access to legal advice, attorney services, and other resources,&rdquo; while informing students of &nbsp;&ldquo;the opportunity they have to donate to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youcaring.com/luismora-1059340">bail fund</a>&rdquo; for Mora.
<a href="../?ID=7230">[RELATED: UC system allots $5M in aid to illegals, legal immigrants not eligible]</a>
The school&rsquo;s lawyer did, however, refuse to allow the university to pay Mora&rsquo;s bail over fear of legal action, prompting Lal to <a href="https://twitter.com/prernaplal/status/950369754828517376">tweet</a>, &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s okay to pay $600K for security of white supremacists who come to our campus to incite hate and violence.&rdquo;
The previous day, notably, she had tweeted that Mora &ldquo;doesn&rsquo;t have #DACA because he came here in 2009, a little after the cut-off date for DACA.&rdquo;
<img src="../img/CROBlog/10356/MoraAttorneyTweet2.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="297" />
&ldquo;I have asked our government relations staff to work with our friends and allies in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., some of whom have issued statements advocating for our student&rsquo;s release,&rdquo; Christ&rsquo;s statement added, and, according to Lal, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and Representative Barbara Lee have offered their support.
Apart from Christ&rsquo;s statement, Lal claims that she has received little support from the university, complaining that <a href="https://twitter.com/prernaplal/status/949815829985546240">her salary is too low</a> and that staff who work with illegal immigrant students <a href="https://twitter.com/prernaplal/status/949543819116072961">lack sufficient office space</a>.
In one tweet, she&nbsp;<a>claimed</a> that she is a &ldquo;survivor of human trafficking&rdquo; because her pay for part-time lecturing is so low, later expressing fear that the university will&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/prernaplal/status/949818104883822592">fire her</a> for her critical tweets.
<img src="../img/CROBlog/10356/MoraAttorneyTweet1.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="362" />
In <a href="https://twitter.com/prernaplal/status/950383696086904833">another recent&nbsp;tweet</a>, Lal wished a &ldquo;good morning&rdquo; to &ldquo;everyone except ICE aka the gestapo, and the Nazis serving in the current Administration.&rdquo;
Campus Reform reached out to Lal for comment on the matter, and is currently awaiting a response.
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Attorney for detained student admits he 'doesn't have DACA'

The University of Connecticut&rsquo;s president recently admitted in a legal affidavit that her school will &ldquo;lose tuition revenue&rdquo; in the event that DACA is cancelled.
<a href="http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-uconn-cscu-daca-lawsuit-20171106-story.html">According to The Hartford Courant</a>, UConn recently joined other state universities in a lawsuit against President Trump over his decision to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), with UConn President Susan Herbst writing in an affidavit that &ldquo;UConn will lose the tuition revenue&rdquo; from DACA students who are forced to withdraw, leave the university, or face deportation.
<a href="../?ID=9763">[RELATED: California to provide $30 million to DACA students]</a>
&ldquo;If DACA students are deported, forced to withdraw, or leave the university, UConn will lose the tuition revenue that these students contribute,&rdquo; she wrote, saying, &ldquo;this is a significant impact on the university.&rdquo;
<a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/All%20Form%20Types/DACA/daca_performancedata_fy2017_qtr2.pdf">According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services</a>, Connecticut has nearly 11,000 DACA enrollees, while the nation has nearly 788,000, though it&rsquo;s unknown precisely how many are currently enrolled in institutions of higher education.
Washington, North Carolina, and Oregon, however, all expressed similar concerns about lost tuition revenue in statements <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/358203364/New-York-Et-Al-v-Trump-Et-Al-17cv5228#from_embed">included in the lawsuit</a>, saying that repealing DACA would &ldquo;damage the educational mission of [Washington&rsquo;s, North Carolina&rsquo;s, and Oregon&rsquo;s] institutions of higher education and affect their tuition revenues.&rdquo;
Such comments echo the concerns expressed by university presidents in other contexts, as well, such as the University of California System&rsquo;s Janet Napolitano, who <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-uc-daca-lawsuit-20170908-story.html">sued</a> the Trump administration for similar reasons.
<a href="../?ID=9804">[RELATED: 'Dreamers' sue Trump over DACA, allege 'bias against Mexicans']</a>
Her <a href="http://universityofcalifornia.edu/sites/default/files/UC-DACA-Complaint.pdf">lawsuit</a> likewise expressed apprehensions about losing &ldquo;the benefits it derives from their (DACA students) contributions.&rdquo;
&ldquo;If these students leave the University before completing their education, UC will lose the benefits it derives from their contributions, as well as the value of the time and money it invested in these students with the expectation that they would be allowed to graduate and apply their talents in the United States job market,&rdquo; the UC lawsuit states.
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University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst recently explained that the school fears losing tuition revenue if President Trump follows through on repealing DACA.

DACA lawsuits show universities fear loss of tuition revenue

Six &ldquo;Dreamers&rdquo; have filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump&rsquo;s move to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
<a href="../?ID=9735">[RELATED: Obama's DHS Secretary thinks Trump can't rescind DACA]</a>
&ldquo;This lawsuit gives Dreamers&mdash;the people most affected by the unconstitutional decision to end DACA&mdash;an opportunity to tell their own story and demand fairness from their government,&rdquo; Public Counsel, a law firm representing the plaintiffs, <a>wrote on its website</a>.
&ldquo;Public Counsel is honored to represent these fierce and resilient young people in their pursuit of justice!&rdquo; the firm added.
According the <a href="http://www.publiccounsel.org/tools/assets/files/0923.pdf">firm&rsquo;s press release</a>, the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and claims that the federal government &ldquo;perpetrated a cruel bait and switch&rdquo; by asking illegal immigrants &ldquo;to identify themselves in exchange for the protection to live and work in the United States.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=9731">[RELATED: UGA prof calls Trump, Sessions 'racists' for repealing DACA]</a>
&ldquo;The decision to end the DACA program is a broken promise and an unprecedented violation of the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs and other young people who relied on the federal government to honor that promise,&rdquo; <a href="http://www.publiccounsel.org/tools/assets/files/0922.pdf">the lawsuit</a> argues.
&ldquo;This cruel bait and switch, which was motivated by unconstitutional bias against Mexicans and Latinos, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment, the due process rights of Plaintiffs and other DACA recipients, and federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act,&rdquo; it adds provocatively.
According to Public Counsel, the &ldquo;Dreamers case&rdquo; is &ldquo;the first lawsuit from DACA beneficiaries, each of whom would face potentially devastating consequences from the termination of DACA.&rdquo;
The lawsuit also takes a jab at Trump&rsquo;s political communication strategies, arguing that the president has &ldquo;a history of tweets, campaign speeches, debate responses, and other statements alleging that Mexican and Latino immigrants are rapists, criminals, and otherwise bad people.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=9763">[RELATED: California to provide $30 million to DACA students]</a>
&ldquo;Moreover, shortly before terminating DACA, President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for a criminal contempt of court conviction related to Sheriff Arpaio&rsquo;s discriminatory practices against Latinos, asserting that the Sheriff had been convicted of contempt merely for &lsquo;doing his job,&rsquo;&rdquo; the lawyers noted.
Additionally, the document maintains that Trump&rsquo;s statements, &ldquo;including the termination of the DACA program, appealed to voters who harbor hostility toward Mexican and Latino immigrants.&rdquo;
The lawsuit is one of the latest legal challenges to the White House policy on DACA that has been widely condemned by numerous universities and student groups around the county. Earlier in September, the University of California also <a href="../?ID=9735">filed a lawsuit</a> against Trump, calling his decision &ldquo;capricious&rdquo; and unconstitutional. &nbsp;
Follow this author on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vladimirovnikitav">Nikita Vladimirov</a>

'Dreamers' sue Trump over DACA, allege 'bias against Mexicans'

California lawmakers recently announced an agreement to provide $30 million for DACA recipients, including $10 million in financial aid for college.
According to a Tuesday <a href="https://speaker.asmdc.org/press-releases/california-legislative-leaders-governor-agree-30-million-funding-assist-daca">press release</a>, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced the funding in response to President Donald Trump&rsquo;s recent decision to rescind the Obama-era program.
<a href="../?ID=9714">[RELATED: Student gov approves $10K &lsquo;emergency fund&rsquo; for DACA students] </a>
&ldquo;We will not let one man with xenophobic tendencies undercut years of progress we have made in California to integrate these young adults into our society and economy,&rdquo; &nbsp;remarked Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Le&oacute;n, who is also a Democrat. &ldquo;California is their home and they are our future.&rdquo;
The release notes that of the $30 million, two-thirds will go towards providing DACA recipients with legal assistance, while the remainder will fund additional financial aid, including $7 million for California community college students, $2 million for California State University students, and another $1 million for University of California students.
The University of California, whose system president Janet Napolitano recently <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-napolitano-daca-lawsuit-20170908-story.html">announced</a> plans to sue the Trump administration over its DACA decision, thanked Brown for his support.
<a href="../?ID=8814">[RELATED: CA budget guts middle class aid, keeps scholarships for illegals]</a>
&ldquo;They embody the American Dream and represent the best of our country,&rdquo; Napolitano&rsquo;s office stated in <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-supports-agreement-between-state-legislature-and-governor-assist-daca-recipients">a press release</a>. &ldquo;The University is thankful and confident that this additional state funding will help our Dreamers achieve their ambitious educational goals.&rdquo;
Democratic Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon chimed in on the $30 million, as well, saying it &ldquo;will provide answers and help young Californians stay in the only country they&rsquo;ve ever known.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Donald Trump may love chaos,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;These kids don&rsquo;t deserve it.&rdquo;
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/asabes10">@asabes10</a>

One state senator remarked in a press release that he and his colleagues "will not let one man with xenophobic tendencies undercut years of progress," referring to President Trump.