Conservative and Liberal Student Organizations:Conservative Organizations:&nbsp;College Republicans and Young Americans for FreedomLiberal Organizations:&nbsp;College Democrats, Students Demand Action, Davidson Young Democratic Socialists of America, Planned Parenthood Generational Action, Platform Women, Queers &amp; Allies, Queer Mentorship Program, You Are Not A Stranger HereOpenSecrets Data on Davidson College Employee Political Donations:99.52% of Davidson employee donations during the 2020 election cycle have been towards Democratic campaigns, while only 0.48% of employee donations have been to Republican candidates, according to data from <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/davidson-college/recipients?id=D000069184" style=" text-align: start;">OpenSecrets</a>.Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Rating:Davidson College has a <a href="https://www.thefire.org/schools/davidson-college/">red light</a> rating. According to FIRE, &quot;A red light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech.&quot;<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campus.reform//17676hldpvDemocrat.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Stories by Campus Reform about Davidson College:<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16157">Davidson College spends $1 million telling White churches how not to be racist</a>Davidson received a $1 million endowment grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to promote racial justice in white dominated churches.Stories about professors at Davidson College:<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=11209">Davidson prof to let students pick their grades</a>A Davidson professor announced a policy that would let students pick their grade at the beginning of the semester and receive a workload based upon that selection.

CAMPUS PROFILE: Davidson College

Dr. Elliot Stern, president of Saddleback College, a public community college in California, issued an open letter <a href="https://www.saddleback.edu/Message-President-Stern-Commemorating-Juneteenth">commemorating</a> Juneteenth that also voiced support for Critical Race Theory. &nbsp;Amid thoughtful comments on the historical significance of Juneteenth and the importance of commemorating Emancipation, Stern equated the ongoing backlash against Critical Race Theory to the &quot;Red Scare&quot; of the 1950s:&nbsp;<blockquote>&quot;Politicians create bogeymen of scholars of race study and are passing laws to prevent schools from teaching widely acclaimed scholarship,&quot; he wrote. &quot;Critical Race Theory is the new Communism.&quot;</blockquote><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17660">[RELATED: New York college diversity director admits to using Critical Race Theory on campus]</a>If Critical Race Theory is &quot;widely acclaimed scholarship,&quot; as the letter argues, it is also widely criticized scholarship. The New York Times&#39; 1619 Project, a text often used to teach Critical Race Theory, has been <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=15720">criticized</a> by academics for including apparent historical falsehoods.&nbsp;Additionally, Campus Reform&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17673">reported</a> yesterday that &quot;a survivor of Mao Zedong&#39;s Communist regime told her school board that the tactics behind Critical Race Theory seem &#39;very familiar.&#39;&rdquo;&nbsp;Campus Reform&nbsp;is <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17653">tracking&nbsp;</a>state bills and laws that block Critical Race Theory, and not a single one bans the teaching of history of race in the United States. Few bills mention Critical Race Theory by name, but instead stipulate that no student may be made to feel superior or inferior to another on the basis of race or sex.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17619">[RELATED: Critical Race Theory motivates summer reading list, &#39;cluster hire&#39; at ASU]</a>The reaction to President Biden proclaiming Juneteenth a national holiday has been almost exclusively positive from the American right. The Republican National Committee <a href="https://gop.com/rnc-celebrates-juneteenth-2021?">announced</a> that it &quot;enthusiastically welcome[s] its adoption as our newest national holiday after President Trump called for it last year.&quot; Out of 211 Republicans in the House, only 14 voted against making Juneteenth a holiday.&nbsp;Campus Reform&nbsp;reached out to Saddleback College for comment; this piece will be updated to reflect any response.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/AngelaLMorabito" style=" text-align: start;">@AngelaLMorabito</a>

Critical Race Theory has received widespread opposition while Juneteenth enjoys bipartisan support as a federal holiday. 

College President: 'Critical Race Theory is the new Communism'

SMITH: Yes, there should be a negative stigma around sex work, it's undignified and empty

As parents across the United States denounce Critical Race Theory in their school districts, Ibram X. Kendi declared that opponents of the framework are merely opposed to activists identifying their racism.This spring, Critical Race Theory has faced opposition from parents of diverse backgrounds not wanting CRT curriculum in schools.&nbsp;In one viral video, a Black mother told the Florida Board of Education that Critical Race Theory is inherently prejudiced against her children.<blockquote>Fla. mom, Keisha King, to the State Board of Education: Critical Race Theory &quot;does not teach the truth, unless you believe that whites are better than blacks ... Telling my child, or any child, that they are in a permanently oppressed status because they are black is racist&quot; <a href="https://t.co/DHJFONDXxx">pic.twitter.com/DHJFONDXxx</a>&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1403297459992944642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>&ldquo;CRT and its outworking today is a teaching that there is a hierarchy in society where white male heterosexual able-bodied people are deemed the oppressor and anyone else outside of that status is oppressed,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know about you, but telling my child or any child that they are in a permanent oppressed status in America because they are black is racist, and saying that white people are automatically above me, my children or any child is racist as well.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17608">[RELATED: Albion College makes Kendi&#39;s &lsquo;How to Be an Antiracist&rsquo; required reading for first-year students]</a>A White mother in Colorado <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcCPNPvsfS0&t=2s">denounced</a> her school board for failing to consult parents over the worldviews taught to their children.&ldquo;We are the ones that have the moral authority over their education,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We will not be marginalized. The board&rsquo;s job is to represent the stakeholders&hellip; The stakeholders who were consulted before this policy was implemented does not list parents. Neither does the advisory committee. We are the stakeholders and we need to be included in this.&rdquo;&ldquo;I do think there&rsquo;s a concerted backlash from people who recognize that this time last year a growing number of Americans were either speaking out against racism or growing an awareness of the problem of racism,&rdquo; Kendi, a Boston University professor, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/12/ibram-x-kendi-antiracism-backlash-interview">The Guardian</a> via Zoom.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17613">[RELATED: Warren and Pressley make charges of &#39;policy violence,&#39; &#39;public health impact of racism&#39; at Kendi&#39;s CRT forum]</a>But critiques of Critical Race Theory tend to focus on the framework&#39;s application as curriculum and education policy, not a recognition of the existence of racism.&nbsp;For example, a survivor of Mao Zedong&#39;s Communist regime told her school board that the tactics behind Critical Race Theory seem &ldquo;very familiar.&rdquo;<blockquote>What a chilling warning for parents from someone who came to this country from China. <a href="https://t.co/GOLmvntqgn">pic.twitter.com/GOLmvntqgn</a>&mdash; fightforschools (@fightforschools) <a href="https://twitter.com/fightforschools/status/1402647901738881027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2021</a></blockquote>&ldquo;You are now training our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Growing up in Mao&rsquo;s China, all of this seems very familiar. The Communist regime used the same critical theory to divide people; the only difference is they used class instead of race.&rdquo;&ldquo;During the Cultural Revolution, I witnessed students and teachers turn against each other,&rdquo; she recalled. &ldquo;We changed school names to be politically correct. We were taught to denounce our heritage. The Red Guards destroyed anything that is not Communist: old statues, books, and anything else.&rdquo;Campus Reform reached out to Kendi for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft">@BenZeisloft</a>

'You are now training our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history,' one parent said of CRT, likening its effect to her experience living in Communist China. 

As Asian, Black, White parents stand up to CRT, Ibram X. Kendi dismisses opponents' arguments 

Conservative and Liberal Student Organizations:Conservative Organizations:&nbsp;Turning Point USA and University of Oregon College Republicans&nbsp;Liberal Organizations:&nbsp;Climate Justice League, Coalition Against Environmental Racism, Gun Control in the United States, LGBTQ+ Alliance, LGBTESSP, Mecha, No Lost Generation UO, Our Revolution, Out in STEM, Queer Ally Coalition, Queer Media Association, Queer, Trans &amp; Intersex Students of Color, Radical Organizing and Activism Research Center (ROAR), Student Insurgent, Students for Choice, Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights, University of Oregon College Democrats, Womxn of Color Coalition, Young Democratic SocialistsOpenSecrets Data on University of Oregon Employee Political Donations:&nbsp;In the 2020 election cycle, 98.75% of donations went to Democrats, while 1.25% went to Republicans, according to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/university-of-oregon/recipients?id=D000030683">OpenSecrets.</a>Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Rating:The University of Oregon has a <a href="https://www.thefire.org/schools/university-of-oregon/">yellow light</a> rating. According to FIRE, &quot;Yellow light colleges and universities are those institutions with at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application.&quot;<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campus.reform//176750fhx4Democrat.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Stories by Campus Reform about the University of Oregon:<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=10361">University of Oregon symposium asks &#39;What&#39;s Up With Whiteness?&#39;</a>The University of Oregon held a symposium to discuss &ldquo;what&rsquo;s up with whiteness&rdquo;, and help participants find their place in discussions about &ldquo;race and systemic injustice&rdquo; and become better &ldquo;allies.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=9942">Clueless protesters shout down University of Oregon prez</a>A group of student protestors prevented University of Oregon President Michael Schill from giving a speech regarding how the school would utilize a recent $50 million donation, forcing him to give a video address.Stories about questionable policies at the University of Oregon:<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16674">University of Oregon begins disarming police</a>The University of Oregon has begun disarming twenty-six percent of University of Oregon Police Department officers and increasing the number of unarmed officers in response to &ldquo;recent incidents of police violence against people of color.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16254">University of Oregon promises to ignore Trump&#39;s critical race theory executive order</a>University of Oregon President Michael Schill announced the University&rsquo;s intention to openly defy President Trump&rsquo;s executive order prohibiting the promotion of critical race theory by federal employees and contractors.&nbsp;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16049">EXCLUSIVE: University of Oregon&rsquo;s anti-racism plan considers defunding police, endorsing BLM, using diversity as employment factor</a>Internal documents obtained by Campus Reform reveal the University of Oregon&rsquo;s consideration of endorsing the Black Lives Matter movement, defunding the school police department, and the use of diversity and identity within the process of hiring new employees&nbsp;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=14719">University of Oregon takes drastic action to shore up coronavirus revenue losses</a>In response to lost revenue caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, the University of Oregon announced plans to lay-off 282 school employees while extending their healthcare benefits, with the intention of rehiring the laid-off employees after work once again becomes available.&nbsp;

CAMPUS PROFILE: University of Oregon

A Christian university&#39;s Student Government Association is recommending students take &quot;helpful classes&quot; related to &quot;anti-racism.&quot;The Northwest Nazarene University Student Government Association sent out an email referring students to an anti-racism guide that promoted several social justice courses. This document, sent out in an October 19, 2020, email obtain by Campus Reform,&nbsp;was authored by SGA Campus Ministries.This anti-racism <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VIs2KkfVls9B1_SN0SbThu9ckSbMXUCf7tKUnYv2cCU/edit">guide</a> contains a long list of poems, books, videos, and articles on the topic of racism. Many of these resources originate from widely-known proponents of critical race theory, such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin Di&rsquo;Angelo.&nbsp;Among these resources is a list of anti-racist classes to take at NNU. The classes advertised by Student Ministries are Human Diversity, Social Justice and Modern Society, Social Justice and the Christian Tradition, Race, Class, and Gender, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, and Issues of the Global Church.&nbsp;The first class on the list, Human Diversity, is a psychology course. It is <a href="https://catalog.nnu.edu/cas/course-descriptions/psyc">described</a> as follows:&ldquo;This course examines the multifaceted levels of diversity in humanity and will review ways to approach diversity in a sensitive and appropriate manner. Topics to be covered include a history of human diversity, cultural diversity, age differences, gender issues, spirituality, sexuality, religious diversity, physical impairments, and how to be sensitive to issues of diversity as they pertain to working with people. Key human rights and understandings will be explored.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17626">[RELATED: Texas A&amp;M&#39;s massive glossary of social justice terms: &lsquo;Christian Privilege,&rsquo; &lsquo;Critical Race Feminism,&rsquo; &#39;Critical Race Theory&#39;]</a>The second class listed, called Social Justice and Modern Society, is a social work class. It <a href="https://catalog.nnu.edu/cas/course-descriptions/sowk">covers</a> the following material:&ldquo;This course is an introduction to the recurrent needs of citizens and how society is organized to respond to these needs with an emphasis on small towns and rural communities. The course is organized around the major themes of poverty, socioeconomic class differences, and other major differences among people that interact with poverty and classism. The course includes a review of the history and current nature of social welfare services.&rdquo;The next class on the list, Social Justice and the Christian Tradition, is a theology class. This class is summarized in its <a href="https://catalog.nnu.edu/cas/course-descriptions/theo">course description</a>:&ldquo;The virtue of justice has deep roots in Christian Scripture, philosophy, and the Christian theological tradition as an essential feature of a society ordered toward the common good. What does justice look like in the tradition of Christian thought? What makes a just society? How might Christians actively contribute to a society that is more just? This course encourages students to explore such questions through Scripture, the church&rsquo;s theological heritage, and engagement with the work of active practitioners today.&rdquo;Race, Class, and Gender is a cultural anthropology course. It is <a href="https://catalog.nnu.edu/cas/course-descriptions/clta">outlined</a> as covering the following material:&ldquo;A study of the contemporary diversity of society with a focus on inter-group relations (e.g., assimilation, conflict, and pluralism). Emphasis is placed on gaining an understanding of the multi-cultural nature of American society in comparison with other societies and on formulating a viable response.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17584">[RELATED: Texas Christian University to nix the word &#39;freshmen&#39; in push for &#39;inclusive excellence&#39;]</a>The fifth class listed is an Introduction to Cultural Anthropology.&nbsp;According to its <a href="https://catalog.nnu.edu/cas/course-descriptions/clta">course description</a>, &ldquo;This course focuses on basic perspectives and concepts for understanding and productively relating to groups and individuals in other cultures. It includes an introduction to the discipline, history of the discipline and its development, and methods of cultural anthropology.&rdquo;Campus Reform&nbsp;reached out to the NNU SGA for comment, but has not heard back in time for publication. This article will be updated accordingly.

A Christian university's Student Government Association is recommending students take 'helpful classes' related to 'anti-racism.'

EXCLUSIVE: NNU Campus Ministry students encouraged to take anti-racist classes

Younger Americans are less inclined to support free speech when it comes from the other side of the political divide.Adults between 18-34 years old are &quot;less supportive of free speech than older generations, except when it comes to insulting the Stars and Stripes,&quot; Foreign Policy&nbsp;<a href="http://are less supportive of free speech than older generations, except when it comes to insulting the Stars and Stripes.">reported</a> last week.&nbsp;Campus Reform has reported time and time again on stories of one-sided liberal bias on the issue of free speech. Here are just a few. <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9380"></a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9380">1. University of California, Berkeley</a>UC Berkeley has had a <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9380">long</a> history of committing actions that limit freedom of speech. This includes once when the <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11592">university</a> attempted to silence a conservative group by preventing their speaker from going on campus.&nbsp;It should be of no surprise to no one that they would host a speaker who believed that the first amendment should be further <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13958">limited</a>. <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10043"></a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10043">2. University of Oregon</a>Back in 2017, University President Schill attempted to protect freedom of speech on Campus. The students on his campus did not agree.&nbsp;The students on his campus would go on to shout him down. The students would shout &ldquo;Nothing about us without us!&rdquo; and repeatedly referring to Schill as &ldquo;CEO Schill.&rdquo; They would additionally complain about &ldquo;fascist&rdquo; propaganda.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9953">3. University of Michigan</a>The University of Michigan has shown a unique level of hypocrisy. Years ago students aggressively chanted against Charles Murray&rsquo;s appearance at an event. Protestors screamed &ldquo;Charles Murray go away; sexist, racist, KKK! Charles Murray go away; sexist, racist KKK!,&rdquo;&nbsp;The school however is <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14194">home</a> to a professor who has referred to former President Donald Trump as a &ldquo;mad bomber.&rdquo; He was not met anywhere near as much backlash.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10826">4. Columbia University</a>When college Republicans attempted to host Anthony Scaramucci, they were met with backlash. Students would yell &ldquo;Dear students, what is anti-Black racism?&rdquo; Other students would demand that they &ldquo;Decolonize Columbia,&rdquo;Columbia University now <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=15370">hosts</a> a &#39;deconstructing whiteness&#39; workshop for &#39;white-identified students.&#39; This tells you everything about the school.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14407">5. Duke University</a>Duke University is home to students who in the past have attempted to shut down Campus Reform from interviewing students on campus. On student stated, &ldquo;We are not going to talk to you because you are part of Campus Reform, now leave.&rdquo;At Duke University however social justice advocates such as the singer John Legend are invited to speak at commencement ceremonies. Legend would <a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17644">state</a> &ldquo;America&rsquo;s story has always been marred by efforts to exclude, to dominate, to subjugate&hellip; to keep certain groups of people with no voice, no power, and no opportunity,&rdquo;&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ajmunguia23">@ajmunguia23</a>

Trends show that tolerance of free speech diminishes when it comes from conservatives.

Free speech for all? National trends show a one-sided story

The National Institutes of Health unveiled a plan to address &ldquo;structural racism&rdquo; by increasing the diversity of grant recipients.The NIH is spending <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00631-0?utm_source=EA">$60 million</a> to &ldquo;support innovative investigator-initiated projects aimed at reducing health disparities and inequalities&rdquo; &mdash; a process in which &ldquo;institutions that serve minority populations will be prioritized for select awards.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17345">[RELATED: Echoing campus leftists, CDC director says racism is a &#39;public health&#39; crisis]</a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17345"></a> Charlene Le Fauve &mdash; Senior Advisor to the Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity at the NIH &mdash; referred Campus Reform to a <a href="https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/about/strategic-plan/nih-strategic-plan-definitions-and-parameters.html">resource</a> clarifying that the agency defines &ldquo;minority health populations&rdquo; as &ldquo;American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander,&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;Latino or Hispanic.&rdquo;The agency has also created a framework entitled &ldquo;UNITE&rdquo; &mdash; &ldquo;understanding stakeholder experiences through listening and learning,&rdquo; &ldquo;new research on health disparities, minority health, and health equity,&rdquo; &ldquo;improving the NIH culture and structure for equity, inclusion, and excellence,&rdquo; &ldquo;transparency, communication, and accountability with our internal and external stakeholders,&rdquo; and &ldquo;extramural research ecosystem: changing policy, culture, and structure to promote workforce diversity.&rdquo; Each portion of the framework is managed by a designated committee.Campus Reform has frequently reported on federal agencies adopting diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as other left-leaning sociological tools.For instance, the Department of Health and Human Services&rsquo; Head Start program hosted a group of professors to discuss &ldquo;anti-racism&rdquo; in early childhood education.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17609"></a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17609">[RELATED: Federal government hosted professors&#39; talks on anti-racist education for young children]</a>Le Fauve pointed Campus Reform toward the agency&rsquo;s 2019 &ldquo;diversity statement,&rdquo; which asserts that &ldquo;diverse teams working together and capitalizing on innovative ideas and distinct perspectives outperform homogenous teams.&rdquo;&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft">@BenZeisloft</a>

The National Institutes of Health is allocating $60 million in push to fund 'institutions that serve minority populations.'

NIH releases plan to ‘prioritize’ minority grant applicants

In a video address to the class of 2021, President Biden likened the political effort to achieve woke policies to the Vietnam War.&nbsp;President Biden stated in the short, pre-recorded address that college students are graduating at an &ldquo;inflection point&rdquo; in American history defined by climate change and &quot;systemic racism.&quot;<blockquote>Congratulations to the Class of 2021. You&rsquo;re graduating at an inflection point in our nation&rsquo;s history &ndash; and you have a genuine opportunity to change the trajectory of our country. Seize this moment. I can&rsquo;t wait to see what you accomplish. <a href="https://t.co/pl3Or74lxg">pic.twitter.com/pl3Or74lxg</a>&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1401265787776770048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote>Biden also called the events of his adolescence &mdash; the assassination Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the Vietnam War, and the civil rights movement &mdash; an &ldquo;inflection point.&rdquo;&nbsp;He said the same of college students graduating in the present era: &ldquo;And now, you face another inflection point. As we put this pandemic behind us, rebuild our economy, root out systemic racism, and tackle climate change, we&rsquo;re addressing the great crises of our time with a greater sense of purpose than ever before.&rdquo;The comments represent a marked shift in rhetoric from the president.&nbsp;Seven years ago, then-Vice President Biden told a crowd of Harvard University students that there is &ldquo;nothing special about being an American.&rdquo;The full quote from the 2014 speech read &quot;there&rsquo;s nothing special about being American -- none of you can define for me what an American is.&quot;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16000"></a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16000">[RELATED: Joe Biden to Harvard in 2014: &#39;There&#39;s nothing special about being American,&#39; her &#39;strength ultimately lies in its people&#39;]</a>In contrast, the 2021 speech made reference to &quot;our nation.&quot;&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be up to you to translate that unprecedented change into a greater measure of happiness and prosperity for not only you and our nation, but for the world around you,&rdquo; concluded the President. &ldquo;And I know you will.&rdquo;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft">@BenZeisloft</a>

In 2014, he told a crowd of Harvard students that there is 'nothing special about being an American.'

Biden tells college students the left's political agenda is comparable to Vietnam War 

Conservative and Liberal Student Organizations:Conservative Organizations:&nbsp;UA College Republicans, UA Young Americans for Freedom, Young Americans for Liberty, Today is Bama, Students for Trump, The Free-Thinker Project, Turning Point USA, Young Women for America, Bama Students for Life &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Liberal Organizations:&nbsp;UA College Democrats, UA Young Democratic Socialists of America, Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, Our Time, Planned Parenthood Generation America, Students for Fair Labor, SpectrumOpenSecrets Data on University of Alabama Political Donations:&nbsp;88.41% of donations went to Democrat candidates in federal elections, while 11.59% of donations went to Republican candidates in federal elections, according to data from <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/university-of-alabama/recipients?id=D000030644">OpenSecrets.</a>Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Rating: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<div>The University of Alabama has been giving a <a href="https://www.thefire.org/schools/university-of-alabama/">yellow light</a> speech code rating due to at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application (namely, its Harassment policy). UA has also adopted the Chicago Statement for Free Speech.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campus.reform//17669htiyx8Democrat.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Stories by Campus Reform about the University of Alabama&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17048">Full stadiums, full classrooms: University of Alabama plans return to pre-pandemic normalcy in fall 2021&nbsp;</a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The University of Alabama announced it will fully return to pre-pandemic normalcy by Fall 2021. The UA System chancellor announced plans for full capacity stadiums and a complete return to in-person learning.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=10191">University of Alabama only hosted two conservatives last year</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;A Campus Reform survey of official events at the University of Alabama (UA) shows that the public institution hosted only two conservative speakers during the 2016-2017 academic year, while hosting 16 other speakers who either addressed controversial topics or were known for their political involvement.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=5434">VIDEO: University of Alabama censors pro-life students, secretly removes display&nbsp;</a></div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Administrators at the University of Alabama removed a pro-life display from the Ferguson Student Center which they said contained &ldquo;offensive&rdquo; material.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=4858">University of Alabama issued 55k parking tickets in 2012-13 school year</a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;According to new data, the University of Alabama issued nearly 55,000 parking tickets last year. That averages out to over one ticket per student.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

CAMPUS PROFILE: University of Alabama

Medaille College Director of Diversity &amp; Inclusion Kenya Hobbs wrote an <a href="https://www.medaille.edu/my-medaille/news/can-we-talk-about-critical-race-theory">article</a> in June challenging &ldquo;controversial laws&rdquo; that seek to ban CRT in education, defending its utility on campus.&nbsp;&ldquo;CRT sounds, to me, like the work the Medaille community has been engaged in through various avenues throughout this past academic year,&rdquo; Hobbs said in the article. His statement comes as a wave of bills banning CRT enter dozens of state legislators across the nation.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17318">[RELATED: Louisiana introduces bill to ban teaching of Critical Race Theory topics like &#39;institutional racism&rsquo;]</a>At Medaille, efforts have included <a href="https://www.medaille.edu/my-medaille/news/change-though-difficult-good">faculty discussions</a> of White Fragility.Back in November, Hobbs also criticized Trump&#39;s executive order on &ldquo;Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping&rdquo; for its limits on discussing topics like white privilege and white guilt.&ldquo;If we are to learn anything from this country&rsquo;s past failures and missteps, and work together to find ways to truly live out the principles upon which this country was founded, we must discuss certain matters in workshops and training,&rdquo; he wrote in a <a href="https://www.medaille.edu/my-medaille/news/our-vision-needs-correcting">November post.&nbsp;</a>In the same post, he noted that the 1619 project&mdash;which as Campus Reform reported has been consistently <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14822">debunked</a>&mdash;can &ldquo;help correct the vision of Americans.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17456">[RELATED: New Hampshire universities defend their ability to teach Critical Race Theory]</a>Other universities have also pushed back against attempts to ban Critical Race Theory. Campus Reform recently <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17456">reported&nbsp;</a>on a letter signed by leading New Hampshire universities warning about House Bill 544, which &ldquo;prohibits the dissemination of certain divisive concepts related to sex and race.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17653">[RELATED: Critical Race Theory 101 with Angela Morabito]</a>Currently, lawmakers in New York are not considering a similar ban. But Hobbs still wants students to avoid becoming &ldquo;misinformed&rdquo; by the controversies.&nbsp;&ldquo;To avoid making the same mistakes that led to inequities in the past, we must be able to do the work and show our work. That means talking about Critical Race Theory, continuously engaging in uncomfortable conversations, and doing the work,&rdquo; Hobbs writes.&nbsp;Campus Reform reached out to Kenya Hobbs and Medaille College for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.

The college official opposes bans on CRT and is on the record touting the '1619 Project.'

New York college diversity director admits to using Critical Race Theory on campus 

Georgia college students are organizing to make sure that Sonny Perdue, the state&#39;s former governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under Donald Trump, does not get appointed to serve as the chancellor of the University System of Georgia.The Atlanta Journal Constitution <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/sonny-perdue-under-consideration-to-lead-georgias-higher-ed-system/2I6E6D4EKBGUNFA5BTBYJBBJJE/">reported</a> in March that Perdue is being considered for the high-level position, which <a href="https://www.usg.edu/chancellor/">oversees</a> the state&#39;s public universities. That decision drove liberal students to <a href="https://georgiastatesignal.com/students-and-staff-oppose-sonny-perdue-as-potential-usg-chancellor/">protest</a> against the former governor.&nbsp;The largest student group opposing Perdue&rsquo;s selection, boasting 336 Instagram followers, dubbed itself &ldquo;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/studentsagainstsonny/">Students Against Sonny</a>&rdquo; and was founded roughly a month after news of Perdue&rsquo;s possible appointment broke.Students Against Sonny <a href="https://www.change.org/p/sonny-perdue-students-against-sonny-protecting-the-future-of-georgia-higher-ed?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_28388033_en-US%3A4&recruited_by_id=e1efc330-9f0d-11eb-ac5b-45886dd8b9d1&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_camp">charges&nbsp;</a>the former governor with, among other things, being unqualified for the position, threatening HBCUs and planning to abolish the HOPE scholarship, a scholarship offered to Georgia students who demonstrate financial need and meet a short list of requirements. The third claim comes despite Perdue having <a href="https://sonnyperdue.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0%2C2668%2C78006749_92321069_92350066%2C00.html">renewed</a> the HOPE scholarship during his tenure as governor.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7445"></a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7445">[RELATED: PSU protesters shut down trustees meeting, demand members pay for tuition]</a>The group created an online <a href="https://www.change.org/p/sonny-perdue-students-against-sonny-protecting-the-future-of-georgia-higher-ed?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_28388033_en-US%3A4&recruited_by_id=e1efc330-9f0d-11eb-ac5b-45886dd8b9d1&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_camp">petition</a> in opposition to Perdue&rsquo;s appointment, which has since garnered just over 1500 signatures.Two organizers of the protest movement <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3UYoRBjInbsaikVwbiCtPR">appeared</a> on a 46 minute long podcast hosted by humanities lecturers at Georgia Tech. &nbsp;During the podcast interview, the student activists argued that Perdue is unfit to fill the role and implied that he is only being considered for the job due to his political connections. One of the organizers also described themselves as an &ldquo;anarchist.&rdquo;Students Against Sonny did not respond to Campus Reform&rsquo;s request for comment.The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the accreditation agency responsible for Georgia&rsquo;s public higher education institutions, <a href="https://www.ajc.com/education/agency-warns-georgia-regents-against-politicizing-chancellor-search/NDBHGL3YGFB5FMPUVH6S5OHRSM/">warned</a> officials of the potential consequences of selecting a candidate without &ldquo;appropriate experience and qualifications&rdquo; following the reports of Perdue&rsquo;s consideration,&quot; according to the AJC.Matt Boedy, a professor at the University of North Georgia and president of Georgia&rsquo;s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, told Campus Reform that he believes &ldquo;Perdue is not remotely qualified for the job&rdquo; and &ldquo;the Regents should choose someone with higher education experience and who wants to be an advocate for the faculty, staff, and students of the USG.&rdquo;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16150"></a><a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16150">[RELATED: UMN students demand Dem governor &#39;drop the charges&#39; against arrested protesters]</a>Boedy also referred Campus Reform to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20691799-sacs">letter</a>&nbsp;composed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.The letter, released April 26 in response to the AJC&rsquo;s reporting, asserts that the accreditation of Georgia&rsquo;s public universities could be threatened if an individual not inline with their &ldquo;Principles of Accreditation&rdquo; is appointed. USG Board of Regents Chairman Sachin Shailendra is reminded in the letter that his board must be independent of &ldquo;undue influence by external persons or bodies&rdquo; and that anyone selected for the Chancellorship must be appropriately credentialed.&nbsp;Much of the letter deals with the requirement of the board to remain politically neutral, suggesting that the SACS believes they may not have been when considering Perdue.The Board of Regents&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/04/22/georgia-board-of-regents-search-chancellor.html">suspended</a>&nbsp;their search for a new chancellor six days after the letter was sent, though&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ajc.com/education/georgia-board-of-regents-to-restart-chancellor-search-process/U5SVGER7CJEPVD2M4G23M4WBM4/">resumed</a>&nbsp;the process on May 11 with the search firm previously heading the effort deciding not to continue.

Backlash put a temporary pause on the search new chancellor of the University of Georgia System this spring, with the ongoing search resuming last month.    

Georgia students protest Sonny Perdue's candidacy for statewide higher-ed leadership role

The Northwestern University Associated Student government is calling for one conservative Board of Trustee member to be removed from the school&#39;s presidential search committee.On June 2, student government members approved a resolution to remove J. Landis Martin, Chairman for the Northwestern University&rsquo;s Board of Trustees, from the Presidential Search Committee, which&nbsp;is <a href="https://dailynorthwestern.com/2021/04/12/campus/board-of-trustees-announces-36-member-search-committee-for-next-university-president/">reported</a> to be choosing the next Northwestern University President within the next year, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://dailynorthwestern.com/2021/06/04/campus/asg-passes-resolution-calling-for-recusal-of-board-of-trustees-chair-from-the-presidential-search-committee-other-bills/">Daily Northwestern</a>.Outlined in the &ldquo;Resolution for the Recusal of J. Landis Martin from the Presidential Search Committee&rdquo; are the reasons the student government voted 17-1 to dismiss Martin on June 2nd.&nbsp;The resolution lists that that &ldquo;Northwestern University students are a diverse population that identify with many of the groups that Donald Trump harmed during his campaign and presidency,&rdquo; and also &ldquo;the conservative political ideology of Donald Trump, including those that support him, do not align with the views of the average Northwestern undergraduate.&rdquo;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=16789">[RELATED: Baylor students want to remove statue of...Baylor?]</a>Jo Scaletty, a member of the ASG senate and a member of the Justice and Inclusion committee, told Campus Reform the reasoning behind the resolution.Once asked what was the motivation behind co-authoring the resolution, Scaletty stated, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my hope that this encourages future consideration for how people in positions of power have affected NU students, directly or not.&rdquo;&nbsp;Scaletty continued, &ldquo;by contributing to Trump&rsquo;s campaign, Martin helped cause a lot of pain for communities at NU, as Trump went on to implement policies that were dangerous for marginalized people. I&rsquo;m hoping that this legislation pushes these issues to the front and centers marginalized voices.&rdquo;The Deep End is a left-leaning student organization dedicated to reporting issues relevant to Northwestern University&rsquo;s campus.&nbsp;While recording an episode for&nbsp;The Deep End&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thedeepend.nu/posts/1399367010440253">episode&nbsp;</a>on the ASG, Deep End reporters discovered Martin&rsquo;s donations to the Trump Victory political action committee, totaling up to $30,000 in 2016. These funds are cited in ASG&rsquo;s call to remove the committee member.&ldquo;During the time that The Deep End [wrote] its most recent piece, the journalism team learned of his involvement with Haliburton and Trump, and we wanted to fight against his presence in a board of people meant to choose the next Northwestern President.&rdquo; Scaletty said.Visible on<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thedeepend.nu/">&nbsp;The Deep End&rsquo;s Facebook page</a> are pushes to raise funds for <a href="http://www.bravespacealliance.org/blog/blacktranslivesmatter?fbclid=IwAR1wv59e736_8f-wI9sgxCFwzNuCdTlW6PS05A5SbODrnPxftERxizCMp-4">The Brave Space Alliance</a>, a &ldquo;Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center&rdquo; which donates specifically to transgender peoples as well as for the Black Lives Matter organization.<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17644"></a><a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17644">[RELATED: Climate change, trans rights, dismantling White supremacy: Leading leftists deliver graduation speeches]</a>Although resolutions passed in ASG are claimed to be representative of the student body, David Grow, Student Senator for Nortwestern&rsquo;s College Republicans told<a href="https://dailynorthwestern.com/2021/06/04/campus/asg-passes-resolution-calling-for-recusal-of-board-of-trustees-chair-from-the-presidential-search-committee-other-bills/">&nbsp;The Daily Northwestern</a> that this legislation is not indicative of Republicans on campus.&nbsp;&ldquo;A lot of people in the Northwestern administration are left-leaning,&rdquo; Grow said. &ldquo;I felt as if what it really boiled down to was they don&rsquo;t want somebody that could possibly be against what they stand for.&rdquo;Despite this resolution passing almost unanimously in ASG, it is noted by Executive Officer of Accountability Margot Bartol that this resolution going into effect and removing Martin from his position is unlikely, as stated in&nbsp;The Daily Northwestern.Campus Reform reached out to Northwestern University Media Relations, but did not receive a reply in time for publication.

A co-author of the resolution claimed this action was necessary due to Trump’s policies affecting marginalized people.

Northwestern U student government pushes university to remove conservative from presidential search committee

Critical Race Theory on college campuses has led to students and faculty members being punished for questioning segregated events and mandatory social justice trainings.

Critical Race Theory 101 with Angela Morabito 

The University of Illinois&rsquo; law school has launched a Racial Justice Practicum this summer to teach about &ldquo;racial justice as it relates to the legal profession.&rdquo;&nbsp;The <a href="https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/7000/380970510">program</a> is inspired by the death of George Floyd.Students will receive &ldquo;externship placements with legal aid agencies or non-profit organizations that represent populations affected by racism in Illinois and elsewhere.&rdquo; Among these organizations are the ACLU, the Equal Justice Initiative, and Equip for Equality.Depending on the number of credits completed, students will receive a stipend of up to $6,000.University of Illinois College of Law Assistant Dean for Administration Carolyn Turner told Campus Reform that there are seventeen students enrolled in the practicum. &ldquo;A number of Chicago&rsquo;s top law firms and some generous alumni&rdquo; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-xmjEAc4Fc">funded</a> the program.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17599">[RELATED: University of Illinois Chicago law school cancels former Chief Justice John Marshall]</a>The course <a href="https://law.illinois.edu/academics/courses/racial-justice-practicum/">description</a> for the Racial Justice Practicum <a href="https://law.illinois.edu/academics/courses/course-type/upper-level/">classes</a> states that each module &ldquo;will be taught as a module by a guest lecturer who is an expert in the field.&quot; Student grades will also be weighed equally between attendance and &quot;written Racial Justice Journals.&quot;As Campus Reform recently reported, the University of Illinois&rsquo; Urbana-Champaign campus recently committed $2 million annually for research into systemic racism.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17439"></a><a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17439">[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: U of Illinois commits $2 million EVERY YEAR for &#39;systemic racism&#39; research]</a>Campus Reform&nbsp;reached out to the University of Illinois for comment; this article will be updated accordingly. Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft">@BenZeisloft</a>

Students will receive a stipend of up to $6,000 for completing a course and a subsequent externship.

University of Illinois law school launches 'racial justice practicum'

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that its official stance that Title IX also applies to gender identity, signaling that keeping biological men out of women&#39;s sports could legally be considered discrimination.&nbsp;The Department of Education released an official statement, called a <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/202106-titleix-noi.pdf">notice of interpretation</a>, stating its belief that ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County&nbsp;also applies to schools. Bostock&nbsp;was an employment law case in which the Supreme Court decided that employers could not discriminate based on an employee or applicant&#39;s transgender status or sexual orientation.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16919">[RELATED: Biden admin drops support of female athletes after transgender executive order]</a>According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/16/us/politics/title-ix-transgender-students.html">New York Times</a>,<blockquote>&quot;[Cardona] likened the announcement to setting down a marker for schools nationwide, alerting them that the Biden Education Department would not tolerate discrimination in schools receiving federal funds.&quot;&nbsp;</blockquote>Though the announcement &quot;will guide the Department in processing complaints and conducting investigations,&quot; says the notice of interpretation, &quot;it does not itself determine the outcome in any particular case or set of facts.&quot;Following President Biden&#39;s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-preventing-and-combating-discrimination-on-basis-of-gender-identity-or-sexual-orientation/">day-one Executive Order</a> on gender discrimination, the <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16919">Department of Education and Department of Justice dropped their support</a> of three female athletes who were suing their school&#39;s athletic conference for allowing biological men to compete.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16701">[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Students concerned about Biden&#39;s transgender athlete order]</a>Today&#39;s announcement comes during the Department of Education&#39;s review of existing policies relating to Title IX, including public hearings held last week. At those hearings, <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17596">several female athletes told the Department</a> that they lost out on athletic and educational opportunities because they were out-competed in their own sports by biological men.&nbsp;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/AngelaLMorabito" style=" text-align: start;">@AngelaLMorabito</a>

Earlier this year, Biden's executive order led the Department of Education and Department of Justice to cease their support of female athletes' suit against a statewide policy permitting men on women's teams.

Allowing men in women's sports just became the Biden administration's official policy

A former Barnard College mathematics professor recently proposed that college admissions should &quot;use random selection instead&quot; of the traditional application process.&nbsp;O&rsquo;Neil believes that randomized admissions at certain colleges could test the theory that &ldquo;diversity adds value.&rdquo;&ldquo;There could be a weak notion of who is &lsquo;qualified&rsquo; &mdash; say, a high school degree and a minimum grade point average,&rdquo; wrote <a href="https://www.apam.columbia.edu/data-algorithms-consequences-society">Cathy O&rsquo;Neil</a> &mdash; who also launched the Lede Program in Data Journalism at Columbia University &mdash; in <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-06-03/college-admissions-shouldn-t-be-trusted-to-humans-">Bloomberg Opinion</a>. &ldquo;Beyond that, selection would be publicly and provably random. Never mind optional standardized tests. If you show interest, your name goes in a big hat.&rdquo;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17180" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Harvard uses &#39;arbitrary and illogical&#39; race criteria in admissions, attorney says]</a>Although &ldquo;kids who struggled to get perfect grades,&rdquo; &ldquo;who spent their high school years getting really good at obscure yet in-demand sports,&rdquo; and &ldquo;the legacies and the offspring of big donors&rdquo; would lose their advantages, O&rsquo;Neil believes that the benefits outweigh the costs.&ldquo;Colleges wouldn&rsquo;t have to worry about fighting claims of racial discrimination in the Supreme Court, because by construction the admissions process would be non-discriminatory,&rdquo; she argued. &ldquo;No more &lsquo;soft&rsquo; criteria. No more biased tests. Just blind chance.&rdquo;Campus Reform reached out to O&rsquo;Neil for comment; this article will be updated accordingly. Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/BenZeisloft">@BenZeisloft</a>

She also created a data journalism program at Columbia University. 

Former Columbia U Prof: Make college admissions random, leave it to 'just blind chance'

The University of Oklahoma rejected an appeal from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit, to revise its mandatory diversity training. Recently, the FIRE&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thefire.org/university-of-oklahoma-refuses-to-end-compelled-speech-in-diversity-training-program/">discovered</a> that the University of Oklahoma is forcing students to attend a virtual program that &ldquo;required trainees to acknowledge their agreements with the university&rsquo;s approved political viewpoints in order to complete the requirement.&rdquo;<a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17314"></a> <a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17314"></a> <a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17314">[RELATED: Stanford newspaper tweeted movie reference deemed racist; will now subject ENTIRE STAFF to &#39;anti-bias training&#39;]</a> According to FIRE&rsquo;s November 16 <a href="https://d28htnjz2elwuj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/30165546/FIRE-Letter-to-University-of-Oklahoma-November-16-2020.pdf">letter</a> to administrators, the program &ldquo;begins with a set of questions titled &lsquo;Insights&rsquo; that are said to &lsquo;encourage reflection and introspection.&rsquo;&rdquo; Though the section states that there are &ldquo;no right answers to these questions and your selections will be completely anonymous,&rdquo; graduate student Elizabeth Owen &mdash; who alerted FIRE to the program &mdash; was forced to repeat questions until she selected the answer that the university deemed correct. &ldquo;One of the questions in the training asked Owen to &lsquo;try to help your frustrated coworker, Michael, realize that understanding difference is not a prerequisite for respecting it,&rsquo;&rdquo; explains FIRE&rsquo;s letter. &ldquo;It then showed a video of the coworker &mdash; Michael &mdash; saying &lsquo;I&rsquo;m so tired of all this transgender stuff.&rsquo;&rdquo; Owen was prompted to select a response. When Owen chose the response that aligned with her thoughts about the situation &mdash; that &ldquo;political correctness can be tiring&rdquo; &mdash; the module informed Owen that her opinion was not the &ldquo;best choice.&rdquo; The module then repeated itself until Owen was forced to select the university&rsquo;s preferred answer to Michael: &ldquo;You seem upset. What&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo; FIRE&rsquo;s letter asserted that the program &ldquo;requires its participants to affirm to the university what response to questions of social and political concerns are correct according to the university&rsquo;s administration.&rdquo; <a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17318"></a> <a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17318"></a> <a href="https://campusreform.org/article?id=17318">[RELATED: Louisiana introduces bill to ban teaching of Critical Race Theory topics like &#39;institutional racism&#39;]</a> On April 26, the University of Oklahoma <a href="https://www.thefire.org/university-of-oklahoma-email-to-fire-april-26-2021/">rejected</a> FIRE&rsquo;s request to make the course optional, claiming that the training &ldquo;does not impose specific ways of thinking, but instead, presents situational examples of how to engage with the broader world in a way that is understanding of all people and perspectives.&rdquo; FIRE submitted a public records <a href="https://www.thefire.org/fire-oklahoma-open-records-act-request-to-university-of-oklahoma-may-4-2021/">request</a> on May 4 to obtain the school&rsquo;s contract with EVERFI &mdash; the software vendor that produced the program &mdash; to see whether the university followed through with its promise to discuss FIRE&rsquo;s concerns with the company. University of Oklahoma Director of Media Relations Kesha Keith told&nbsp;Campus Reform that its diversity training &ldquo;does not impose specific ways of thinking, but instead, presents situational examples of how to engage with the broader world in a way that is understanding of all people and perspectives.&rdquo; University officials &ldquo;will continue to monitor its training efforts while continuing to advance the university&rsquo;s work of engaging community members in a meaningful learning experience with the goal of fostering a more inclusive campus community.&rdquo; Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ajmunguia23">@ajmunguia23</a>

The University of Oklahoma rejected FIRE's request to make its mandatory diversity training optional.

U of Oklahoma refuses to revise mandatory training that makes students agree with transgender ideology

The University of Michigan will not be removing conservative Regent Ron Weiser&rsquo;s name after backlash and condemnation over his comments directed at Democratic state leadership.Announcing on June 3 in a <a href="https://publicaffairs.vpcomm.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2021/06/Response-on-Weiser-Hall.pdf">statement</a>, President Mark Schissel joined in &ldquo;condemnation of Regent Weiser&rsquo;s misogynistic and violent comments against elected state officials,&rdquo; but will not petition the Board of Regents to &ldquo;change the name of Weiser Hall.&rdquo;&nbsp;Weiser currently chairs the Michigan Republican Party, serves as a UM Regent, and is a longtime donor of the university.&nbsp;Campus Reform&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17466">reported</a>&nbsp;on May 27 that Weiser called Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Attorney General Dana Nessel &ldquo;witches,&rdquo; and suggested that they be burned at the stake.&ldquo;I made the decision to continue to serve, to make sure we have an opportunity to take out those three witches in two years from now,&rdquo; Weiser said at a North Oakland Republican Club meeting on March 26. &ldquo;Our job now is to soften up those three witches and make sure that when we have good candidates to run against them, that they are ready for the burning at the stake.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17466">[RELATED:&nbsp;&lsquo;I will not be canceled&rsquo;: Conservative regent fights back after censure vote from UMich]</a>Wesier apologized for his comments and was <a href="https://record.umich.edu/articles/board-votes-to-censure-regent-ron-weiser/">censured</a> by the board on April 2.&nbsp;Schlissel pointed to the importance of free speech and the reality of the gift agreement made between the Weiser family and the university as an inability to rename Weiser Hall.&nbsp;&ldquo;One bedrock principle is free speech, which we must uphold even when we find&nbsp;speech offensive,&rdquo; Schlissel said. &ldquo;While Regent Weiser&rsquo;s recent comments in no way reflect our values, he has done much good upholding democratic values as our nation&rsquo;s Ambassador to Slovakia and as a philanthropist.&rdquo;Additionally, the President shared, &ldquo;were we to decide to violate the contract and remove his name from a building, we would be obligated to return the associated gift.&rdquo;&nbsp;Michigan Attorney General <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/ag">Dana Nessel</a> and UM German studies professor <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/german/people/faculty/smwei.html">Silke-Maria Weineck</a> blasted Schissel&rsquo;s decision.&ldquo;Its ok for my alma mater to adorn the name of the man who encouraged the execution &amp; assassination of numerous elected officials of both parties on @umich buildings since being a billionaire means anything you say or do is fine,&rdquo; Nessel <a href="https://twitter.com/dananessel/status/1401094479478722560?s=20">tweeted</a> June 5.&nbsp;<blockquote>In other words, its ok for my alma mater to adorn the name of the man who encouraged the execution &amp; assassination of numerous elected officials of both parties on <a href="https://twitter.com/UMich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@umich</a> buildings since being a billionaire means anything you say or do is fine. <a href="https://t.co/yDtSe34InW">https://t.co/yDtSe34InW</a>&mdash; Dana Nessel (@dananessel) <a href="https://twitter.com/dananessel/status/1401094479478722560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote>&ldquo;So we could get out of the gift agreement but we won&rsquo;t because we don&rsquo;t think misogyny, political violence and voter suppression are in sufficient conflict with our mission,&rdquo; professor Weineck <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/06/04/ron-weiser-university-of-michigan-weiser-hall-building-name-gift/7551701002/">told</a> The Detroit News. &ldquo;Just an old boy culture asserting its dominance in the face of any threat.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16940">[RELATED: UMich &lsquo;Liberation Front&rsquo; demands removal of Sabra hummus and end to Israel trips</a>]A <a href="https://www.change.org/p/u-m-regent-ron-weiser-resign-for-unacceptable-violent-rhetoric?fbclid=IwAR1Xohi79pwkYQ9AsjMbPETWCUKsIiXBKdi5KYm0uTUcBX2uiJcgK8CR0SY">petition</a> calling on the conservative Regent to resign over his March 26 comments has amassed over 7,000 signatures. &ldquo;We loudly reaffirm our demand that he resign, and we expect President Schlissel to condemn this threat to all students of color on campus,&rdquo; states the petition.&nbsp;The UM College Republicans shared their support of Regent Weiser to Campus Reform.&nbsp;&ldquo;He has been the victim of a long-winded, unfounded smear campaign spearheaded by partisan operatives. He&rsquo;s a great Regent and even better man, totally undeserving of such hostility.&rdquo;University policy on naming buildings after donors states: &ldquo;The university is committed to retaining the name of each facility, space, and street (collectively referred to in this paragraph as a &ldquo;facility&rdquo;) bearing a donor-designated name or honorific name. The name is intended to remain for the life of the facility.&rdquo;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SergeiKelley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">@SergeiKelley</a>

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel blasted the decision to preserve the name on Twitter.

U of Michigan will not rename conservative donor’s name from building, faces backlash

University of Ottawa adjunct professor and Canadian Lawyer Naomi Sayers took to Twitter recently to endorse sex work for &ldquo;young people,&quot; calling it &ldquo;the best thing&rdquo; they can do early in their careers.<blockquote>unpopular opinion: the best thing young people can do early in their careers is do <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SexWork?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SexWork</a> on the side because your early career prospects will be unstable, unpredictable, low pay, likely contract work and very much exploitative. <a href="https://t.co/HRAmZFPDNX">https://t.co/HRAmZFPDNX</a>&mdash; Naomi Sayers, Lawyer (@kwetoday) <a href="https://twitter.com/kwetoday/status/1403925202245935104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2021</a></blockquote>&ldquo;unpopular opinion: the best thing young people can do early in their careers is do #SexWork on the side because your early career prospects will be unstable, unpredictable, low pay, likely contract work and very much exploitative,&quot; Sayers wrote on Twitter Sunday. She then addressed the idea of sex work being exploitative by comparing it to capitalism.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s how capitalism works&hellip; People out here saying young people can be exploited in sex work. Literally, that&rsquo;s capitalism. Lol. And quite literally, that&rsquo;s any kind of work.&rdquo;Sayers then said capitalism, along with prisons, needed to be abolished, advocating for free education, and a living wage.&ldquo;Also, if you really want young people to not be exploited, provide them with livable wages, access to safe housing, clean water, free education. Literally. Abolish capitalism&hellip; Actually abolish prison but whatever.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17248">[RELATED: Profs argue that LGBTQ-inclusive sex education should begin early, before &lsquo;cisnormative values&#39; become &#39;more deeply ingrained&rsquo;]</a>Alex Krause, Sayers&rsquo; publicist, responded to&nbsp;Campus Reform&rsquo;s inquiry on Sayers&rsquo; behalf, insisting that she is &ldquo;IN NO WAY&rdquo; promoting sex work, but rather, was attempting to draw a correlation between it and the supposedly exploitative &ldquo;capitalist society&rdquo;.&ldquo;Naomi is IN NO WAY promoting or suggesting that anyone should pursue sex work, her point was to facetiously criticize capitalist society, to quote her initial tweet &#39;...early career prospects will be unstable, unpredictable, low pay, likely contract work and very much exploitative,&rsquo;&rdquo; Krause told&nbsp;Campus Reform.&nbsp;When asked what Sayers meant by her tweet, Krause told&nbsp;Campus Reform&nbsp;that her &ldquo;intent&rdquo; was to called out &ldquo;systemic racism&rdquo; and &ldquo;stigmatization.&quot;&ldquo;What Naomi meant is stated plainly. Yes, it is nuanced; but NO,&nbsp;she is not directly advocating for sex work. Her intent remains to call out systemic racism / stigmatization wherever it exists, and it is rampant within for-profit Canadian higher education institutions AND the prison system.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16965">[RELATED: &#39;Sex Week&#39; at Tulane University features &#39;Black Sex&#39; talk for &#39;Black students only&#39;]&nbsp;</a>&ldquo;Capitalism, for-profit education, and prison are inherently stigmatizing towards certain marginalized groups. As we noted in the previous email, Naomi&rsquo;s lived experience of stigmatization in the legal realm is telling, considering the massive investment that she made personally&nbsp;and financially to pursue a legal education.&rdquo;Krause then told&nbsp;Campus Reform&nbsp;that the interpretation of Sayers&rsquo; tweet was &ldquo;indicative&rdquo; of the problem Sayers is trying to address.&ldquo;Your interpretation of her coy, and nuanced take on exploitation of capitalism vs exploitation of sex work may be indicative of the exact issue she is trying to highlight - the quickness to stigmatize&nbsp;and/or &ldquo;slut shame&rdquo; sex work.&rdquo;Krause also explained Sayers&rsquo; critique of capitalism, insisting that it produces &ldquo;exploitative career paths.&quot;&ldquo;Capitalism has created an economy that many people leave university indebted for decades, and in turn feel pressured to work in exploitative career paths&hellip; Sex work can be exploitative, just like any other kind of work, and in fact it predates capitalist societies. Capitalism only further incentives &ldquo;have nots&rdquo;/marginalized communities to pursue whatever means they must to survive.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16832">[EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Students support college &#39;Sex Week&#39; events...but they&#39;re not so sure about their parents]</a>Campus Reform&nbsp;reached out to&nbsp;<a href="https://exoduscry.com/">Exodus Cry</a>, a non-profit organization committed to fighting back against sex work and human trafficking. Director of Intervention Helen Taylor replied calling Sayers&rsquo; comments &ldquo;deeply irresponsible.&quot;&ldquo;For Professor Sayers to flippantly encourage young vulnerable students to engage in such a harmful industry is deeply irresponsible and extremely offensive to survivors who are working hard to heal and recover from the damage prostitution inflicted on their lives,&quot; Taylor wrote.&ldquo;The sex industry is a system of violence and gender inequality. It is not a &#39;job like any other.&#39; It puts girls at higher risk daily of rape, theft and murder. It causes long-term PTSD comparable to torture victims&hellip; We believe education leaders ought to be protecting young women, and empowering them to aim high, not echoing pimp&rsquo;s advertisements for the sex trade.&rdquo;&nbsp;UPDATE:&nbsp;Sayers&rsquo; publicist contacted&nbsp;Campus Reform after publication&nbsp;and insisted Sayers has no relation with the University of Ottawa as a professor.&nbsp;When&nbsp;Campus Reform&nbsp;reached out to Sayers for an interview, she replied, &ldquo;my policy is not to answer questions from media in which the answer can be found on google&nbsp;[sic], which tweets are searchable on google now (aka do their research)&rdquo;.&nbsp;Research conducted by&nbsp;Campus Reform&nbsp;found that in Sayers <a href="https://ca.linkedin.com/in/naomisayers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> profile, she currently touts herself as &ldquo;adjunct professor&rdquo; at the university.&nbsp;&ldquo;I teach the Colonialism, Territory &amp; Treaties at UOttawa&rsquo;s Institute of Indigenous Research and Studies&rdquo;, states her profile.&nbsp;Sayers is also designated as an adjunct professor on the&nbsp;<a href="https://opau.ca/events/advocacy-panel/">Ontario Paralegal Association</a>&nbsp;website and the website&nbsp;<a href="https://theorg.com/org/ywca-toronto/org-chart/naomi-sayers">theorg.com</a>, which lists its&nbsp;<a href="https://theorg.com/org/theorg">mission</a>&nbsp;as &quot;to make organizations more transparent.&quot;<iframe src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/512044703/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-WEjikAchiH8VcIrIbHTv"></iframe> <img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campus.reform//17658vfxvvhImagefromiOS.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Campus Reform&nbsp;contacted the University of Ottawa for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/_addisonsmith1?lang=en">@_addisonsmith1</a>

One organization committed to stopping human trafficking said that the tweet is "deeply irresponsible."

U of Ottawa professor: ‘Sex work’ is ‘the best thing young people can do early in their careers’

Black Student Union representatives at DePaul University in Chicago are <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ1_PTfgsKq/?utm_source=ig_embed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">demanding&nbsp;</a>new programs and spaces reserved solely for Black students and faculty.&nbsp;The BSU&rsquo;s demands include &ldquo;healing &amp; safe spaces for Black students on and off-campus,&rdquo; despite that DePaul University previously <a href="https://offices.depaul.edu/student-affairs/diversity-and-culture/identity-specific-student-centers/Pages/default.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">opened</a> cultural centers for Black, Latino, Asian American, and LGBT students. The programs would potentially violate <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/fcs/TitleVI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Title VI</a> of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits any college receiving federal funds from enacting programs that discriminate on the basis of race.&nbsp;The BSU also called on DePaul to limit administrative positions in its healing and safe spaces to &ldquo;Black faculty and staff.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15648" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: UMich hosts space for &#39;students that do not identify as persons of color&#39;]</a>&ldquo;The letter was inspired by the quick response from DePaul to the coup attempt in comparison to their slow and lackluster responses to the protests of the summer in 2020,&rdquo; two BSU representatives <a href="https://depauliaonline.com/52017/news/depauls-black-student-union-call-for-better-accommodations-for-black-students/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> DePaul&rsquo;s students newspaper, The DePaulia, in a joint statement. When it came to the George Floyd protests &ldquo;the statements they released took several days and they were filled with unfulfilled promises, careless typos, and an overall lack of urgency.&rdquo;&nbsp;As an example of &ldquo;careless typos,&rdquo; the students cited DePaul University President Gabriel Esteban&rsquo;s <a href="https://depauliaonline.com/48833/news/victim-of-police-brutality-misnamed-in-message-from-depaul-president-about-remembering-black-lives-lost/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://depauliaonline.com/48833/news/victim-of-police-brutality-misnamed-in-message-from-depaul-president-about-remembering-black-lives-lost/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://depauliaonline.com/48833/news/victim-of-police-brutality-misnamed-in-message-from-depaul-president-about-remembering-black-lives-lost/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">misnaming</a><a href="https://depauliaonline.com/48833/news/victim-of-police-brutality-misnamed-in-message-from-depaul-president-about-remembering-black-lives-lost/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://depauliaonline.com/48833/news/victim-of-police-brutality-misnamed-in-message-from-depaul-president-about-remembering-black-lives-lost/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a>&nbsp;of Eric Garner as Eric &lsquo;Ferguson&rsquo; in a May 29 letter he wrote to declare DePaul&rsquo;s stance on police reform.&nbsp;The Black Student Union also demanded &quot;more health professionals that we as Black students can count on and feel comfortable with&quot; and re-educating faculty on &ldquo;topics relating to slavery&rdquo; in new diversity, equity, and inclusion courses taught exclusively by &ldquo;Black &amp; Brown&rdquo; people. The group further called for &ldquo;reliable and active points of access from the student body (especially Black students) to faculty &amp; admin.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;Admin &amp; faculty tend to ignore our messages and statements when we are asking for help in tasking and troubling situations,&rdquo; the letter said, &quot;We ask for timely and direct responses to our concerns and requests.&rdquo;&nbsp;DePaul&rsquo;s Executive Director of News told The DePaulia&nbsp;on January 18 that college officials became aware of the BSU&#39;s letter and is &quot;looking to coordinate a meeting with BSU leadership to discuss their concerns further.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=15854" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: UNLV introduces &#39;Black Students Matter Healing Space&#39;]</a>In a statement provided to Campus Reform,&nbsp;National Association of Scholars Director of Communications&nbsp;said, &quot;these kinds of demands are becoming more and more outrageous,&quot; adding that &quot;these students must know, or at least ought to know, that hiring someone on the basis of race alone is illegal because it is an act of racial discrimination.&quot;The Black Student Union&#39;s issuing of demands to its college continues a long history of undergraduate &quot;affinity&quot; groups demanding race-segregated&nbsp;accommodations as compensation for what &nbsp;they describe as &quot;systemic racism.&quot;&nbsp;Similar episodes in the history of higher education were detailed in <a href="https://www.nas.org/storage/app/media/Reports/NeoSeg%20at%20Yale/NeoSegregation_at_Yale.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Neo-Segregation at Yale</a>, a 2019 report by the National Association of Scholars, which <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/segregation-by-design-on-campus-11556564318" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">described&nbsp;</a>how the early history of racial preferences created the conditions for rationalizing racial segregation&nbsp;in the post-Brown v. Board of Education era.&nbsp;For BSU representatives at DePaul University, pressuring college officials to accede to their demands is a matter of getting what they insist is owed to them.&nbsp;&ldquo;If DePaul administrators wish to have, and more importantly, use Black students for their image and diversity statistics, they need to comply with these demands,&rdquo; they declared to The DePaulia,&nbsp;&quot;Having Black students at your institution is the bare minimum, and it should not be the finish of your attempts at diversity and inclusion.&rdquo;Follow the author of this article:<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/profile?pid=6097024" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Dion Pierre</a>

But as one scholar told Campus Reform, such demands, if enacted, would constitute racial discrimination. 

Black Student Union demands segregated safe spaces 'on and off campus'

A University of Michigan engineering writer, Kate McAlpine, argues the idea that safe spaces are unnecessary is a &ldquo;myth&quot; in an opinion editorial promoted on the university&#39;s official website. In the <a href="https://news.engin.umich.edu/2020/10/myth-3-women-and-minorities-dont-need-safe-spaces-because-theres-nothing-unsafe-about-engineering/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">third part</a> of her six-piece series titled &ldquo;<a href="https://news.engin.umich.edu/features/six-diversity-myths/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Six Diversity Myths</a>,&rdquo; McAlpine set out to prove that safe spaces are more than just a place where minority communities can run away from their problems.&nbsp; Rather, they are places where people from these communities can &ldquo;thrive.&rdquo; The University of Michigan featured her explainer on this &ldquo;myth&rdquo; on its official engineering department website. &ldquo;But safe spaces aren&rsquo;t just havens in which to escape stereotyping and speak openly about oppressive behaviors without being told, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re being too sensitive.&rsquo; They are places in which the cultures most comfortable to many students and faculty thrive,&rdquo; McAlpine wrote. <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=15102" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Students demand segregated &#39;Black House&#39; so they can &#39;feel included&#39;]</a> McAlpine explained that microaggressions, while not meant to be harmful, add up and can feel like mountains to minority communities. She likened this to times when minorities generalize White people. &ldquo;By now, most White people have had a dose of what this feels like: It&rsquo;s the flare of annoyance at the way white men are dismissed as &lsquo;another white guy,&rsquo; for instance, or the way &lsquo;white feminism&rsquo; essentially means &lsquo;racist feminism,&rsquo;&rdquo; McAlpine explained. <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=15102" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Student gov warns peers about &lsquo;very prevalent&rsquo; &lsquo;microaggressions&rsquo; like mispronouncing names]</a> McAlpine went on to assert that many women and minorities feel uncomfortable in the field of engineering, due to the alleged discrimination they face. Because of this, McAlpine argues, women tend to leave the field more often than men. &ldquo;Engineering is among the fields that tend to devalue femininity,&rdquo; McAlpine said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s well known that women leave the field more often than men, with feminine attributes regularly bandied about as insults.&quot; McAlpine says that &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; are an essential place for marginalized students and professors to get together and bond over their shared oppression. By doing this, they can fight the feeling of isolation. When reached for comment by Campus Reform, McAlpine declined. Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/Dean_Barker" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@Dean_Barker</a><a href="http://twitter.com/Dean_Barker" style="text-decoration:none;"></a>

The writer argues that these are places where students can "thrive."

UMich helps  dispute 'myth' that 'safe spaces' aren't necessary

The University of Utah&rsquo;s student government is <a href="https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2020/08/30/impeachment-process-begins-for-asuu-senator/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">attempting to impeach</a> conservative student Seodam Kwak from his position in the senate for comments made during a meeting on July 16. The Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) held a meeting to discuss a resolution regarding the school&rsquo;s Black Student Union.&nbsp;The resolution outlined demands such as hosting mandatory anti-Black racism sessions at new student orientation, implementing a Black Community Advisory Committee, and paying hourly rates for participating in diversity initiative photoshoots.&nbsp;It passed with Kwak being the one senator who opposed the measure.&nbsp;Kwak told Campus Reform&nbsp;that although there were parts of the bill he liked, he saw a lot of concerns, including selectively incorporating the free speech code and creating scholarships/grants specific for Black students.<a href="https://campusreform.org/?ID=14793" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: U. Utah promotes capitalism-bashing event labeling Trump &#39;awful, racist, disgusting&#39;]</a>Kwak also told Campus Reform he was concerned that the creation of scholarships and grants specific to Black students did not specify if they would be public or private.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=15233" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: Utah college &lsquo;monitoring&rsquo; calls to drop &lsquo;Dixie&rsquo; from its name]</a>His questioning was quickly met with &ldquo;this is racism,&rdquo; claimed Kwak. However, he asserted that his challenges had nothing to do with race but rather common sense.Two other student senators, Tiffany Chan and Jessica Wojciechowski, told the <a href="https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2020/08/30/impeachment-process-begins-for-asuu-senator/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">Daily Utah Chronicle</a> they were contacted by students complaining about Kwak&rsquo;s behavior in the four-hour-long meeting. The senators drafted articles of impeachment, which will be voted on Thursday.If Kwak is found guilty, he is immediately removed from office and can no longer hold a position in student government for the remainder of the academic year.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14471" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: Utah health prof who advocates abortion fails to disclose Planned Parenthood ties]</a>&ldquo;I like to support amplifying black students&rsquo; voices and struggles, but I think to bring change, we need to change parts of these bills,&rdquo; said Kwak. &ldquo;It looks like we didn&rsquo;t do our homework.&rdquo;The current grounds for Kwak&rsquo;s impeachment are cutting off a senator twice and making the senate an &ldquo;unsafe space.&rdquo;&nbsp;However, Kwak argued that common sense debate should happen with every bill.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re impeaching people for cutting people off, we wouldn&rsquo;t have half of our senate or house of representatives,&rdquo; said Kwak. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a greater undertone here as to why they&rsquo;re trying to impeach me.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14478" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: Socialist students claim &#39;safety will deteriorate&#39; with new police station]</a>The bill was sent to the senate two weeks before the in-person discussion, and Kwak brought his concerns to the attention of school faculty and local community leaders early. Kwak said his worries were confirmed, as some college departments said they would not even consider parts of the bill.&nbsp;One of the community leaders Kwak had discussions with was Utah House of Representatives Republican Kim Coleman, who has been a sponsor of campus free speech and due process legislation for the past six years.&quot;This is the same group that testified in opposition to a bill to protect student speech rights on our public college campuses,&quot; Coleman told Campus Reform. &quot;While it is the First Amendment right of the student senate to express themselves through this resolution, I&rsquo;m concerned that the impeachment of a student expressing disagreement with the resolution has the effect of chilling &nbsp; diverse voices on campus.&ldquo;Campus Reform reached out to the University of Utah for a statement but did not hear back in time for publication.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/jezzaminewolk?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">@JezzamineWolk</a>

The student government is now drafting his articles of impeachment which will be voted on Thursday.

Utah student gov moves to impeach conservative member for creating 'unsafe space'

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

&quot;No Safe Spaces,&quot; set to be released in theaters Friday, highlights the free speech crisis on the American college campus. The documentary, starring comedian Adam Carolla and conservative commentator Dennis Prager, portrays how hostile the environment toward free speech has become, especially with young people on American colleges and universities.The documentary starts with flashes of protests and violence from far-left groups and other well-known instances of free speech rights being infringed. This leads into a discussion between Prager, a conservative, and Carolla, a liberal. Despite their differing political beliefs and vastly different backgrounds, they unite over what Carolla describes as &ldquo;common sense and values.&rdquo;WATCH THE TRAILER:&nbsp;<center><iframe width="950" height="666" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TTOQGvXbZY8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>&quot;No Safe Spaces&quot; offers a bipartisan take on the leftist movement to abolish differing views. Multiple different scenarios of the far-left restricting the rights of those with whom they disagree are featured. Some of these included California State University-Northridge prohibiting Carolla and Prager from filming for the documentary on campus, <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10391" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">major riots</a> at the University of California, Berkeley for right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, and conservative author Ben Shapiro being protested at several campuses, including <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11834" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grand Canyon University</a>, <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11572" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gonzaga University</a>, <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11518" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ohio State University</a>, <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11357" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Southern California</a>, and others.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11068" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: University offers &lsquo;safe space&rsquo; for &lsquo;fixing&rsquo; masculinity]</a>The documentary features various instances of liberals and conservatives agreeing and having civil discussion.For instance, Dave Rubin, a self-identified liberal, is interviewed by Dennis Prager in the documentary. Rubin describes the difference between modern liberalism and leftism, and he sees the far-left as &ldquo;ideological fascism&rdquo; that is a threat to freedom of speech.&nbsp;The same argument manifests as a major theme throughout the film, displaying personal stories and first-hand video of riots and bias.&nbsp;&quot;No Safe Spaces&quot; includes interviews of individuals, both liberal and conservative, who have experienced their free speech rights being infringed upon first-hand. Not only does &quot;No Safe Spaces&quot; present the facts, but it also leaves the audience with the realization of how dire the situation is already and will be in the years to come.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13674" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: Wesleyan pres defends &lsquo;safe spaces,&rsquo; claims they can &lsquo;promote intellectual diversity&rsquo;]</a>&ldquo;This country has cancer,&rdquo; Prager told Campus Reform at the Conservative Political Action Conference. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s called leftism.&rdquo;WATCH:<iframe width="950" height="666" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ZW9KtE7MnU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>The author said that, in safe spaces erected when conservative speakers come to campus, students get &ldquo;stuffed animals, you get hot chocolate, play dough, and you watch films of frolicking puppies. Now, that is the left&rsquo;s way of keeping you an infant.&rdquo;Prager noted that actor Tim Allen will also be in the film.To get the word out about the upcoming film, &ldquo;Dennis and Adam are doing a lot of media in conservative and mainstream media,&rdquo; according to a &quot;No Safe Spaces&quot; producer, who preferred to remain unnamed. They also have &ldquo;lots of screenings for influencers and leaders.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10679" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: University turns frat into &lsquo;safe space for black students&rsquo;]</a>The producer said the film opens in late October in Phoenix, Ariz. and adds San Diego, Denver, and Tampa the first weekend of November.&nbsp;<a href="https://nosafespaces.com/theaters/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">To find a showing near you, click here.</a>Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/LibbyKrieger6" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">@LibbyKrieger6</a>

SNOWFLAKES BEWARE: 'No Safe Spaces' film exposes free speech 'cancer'

A Connecticut university president is championing an effort to begin &ldquo;destigmatizing&rdquo; &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; on college campuses, claiming that the concept is necessary for &ldquo;intellectual diversity,&rdquo; despite growing evidence that, in practice, the concept does just the opposite.Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth defended the notion of &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; on college campuses in a recent New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/opinion/safe-spaces-campus.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">op-ed</a> titled &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Dismiss &lsquo;Safe Spaces&rsquo;,&rdquo; characterizing critics of the practice as people who &ldquo;claim to worry&rdquo; about preserving free expression at colleges and universities.&nbsp;According to Roth, a &ldquo;safe space&rdquo; is &ldquo;the attempt to make sure all students are made to feel welcome in or outside the classroom.&rdquo; He concedes that the &ldquo;coddling of students who feel fragile&rdquo; is &ldquo;counterproductive,&rdquo; but later argues that &ldquo;for different people at different times, safety can mean different things.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9500" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: UMN safe space only for &#39;same-gender-loving people of color&#39;]</a>Despite acknowledging the risks of &ldquo;infantilizing students by overprotecting them,&rdquo; Roth insists that the practice of creating &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; is still an important and necessary one, arguing that &ldquo;the outright dismissal of safe spaces can amount to a harmful disregard for the well-being of students.&rdquo;&nbsp;Doing away with the concept altogether &ldquo;can perpetuate environments where the entitled continue to dominate those around them&rdquo; and may cause students to &ldquo;never learn how to build a more equitable, inclusive community,&rdquo; says Roth, referencing suicide and mental health crises on some college campuses.Roth calls upon the higher education community to begin &ldquo;destigmatizing the notion of safe spaces&rdquo; and to stop treating them &ldquo;as if they were part of a zero-sum ideological war.&rdquo; He suggests creating spaces that are &ldquo;safe enough&rdquo; in that they &ldquo;promote a basic sense of inclusion and respect&rdquo; that enables students &ldquo;to be open to ideas and perspectives.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9577" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: College provides safe space for &#39;fat-identified&#39; LGBT students]</a>Roth argues that safe spaces should be used to &ldquo;promote intellectual diversity in a context in which people can feel safe enough to challenge one another,&rdquo; but recent history indicates that the concept of &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; is consistently having the exact opposite effect on campus.In 2017, a &ldquo;safe space policy&rdquo; was cited when members of the Fordham University College Republicans were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10251" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">kicked out</a> of an on-campus coffee shop for wearing MAGA hats.The same year, students at Clemson University&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9766" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">spoke out</a> against a &ldquo;safe space&rdquo; portion of a mandatory diversity training. The students called the exercise &ldquo;divisive&rdquo; and &ldquo;misguided,&rdquo; with one claiming that it &ldquo;was actually creating an environment whereby people were being asked to speak about things that segregate themselves from others.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9299" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">[RELATED: &#39;Safe Space Committee&#39; works to challenge &#39;heterosexism&#39;]</a>In 2018, the University of Maryland at College Park was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11309" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">forced to rename</a> a discussion group that was described as a &ldquo;safe space for White students&rdquo; who may &ldquo;sometimes feel uncomfortable and confused before, during, or after interactions with racial and ethnic minorities.&rdquo;&nbsp;After backlash, the university changed the name of the group from &ldquo;White Awake&rdquo; to &quot;Anti-Racism and Ally Building Group&quot; and issued a statement acknowledging that the institution &ldquo;did not choose the right words&rdquo; and created a perception &ldquo;counter to the values of inclusiveness and diversity.&rdquo;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/celinedryan" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">@celinedryan</a>

The university official claims that the practice is necessary for students to feel “safe enough” to engage in intellectual dialogue.

Wesleyan pres defends ‘safe spaces’, claims they can ‘promote intellectual diversity’

Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that safe spaces and free speech zones on America&#39;s college campuses are &ldquo;antithetical to the process of learning&rdquo; and that he is proud of young people for challenging various speech codes on their campuses.Pence made these <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-vice-president-pence-fireside-chat-mike-farris-alliance-defending-freedom/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">comments</a> during an event hosted by Christian conservative nonprofit the Alliance Defending Freedom and made clear that campus free speech is an issue that President Donald Trump takes seriously. Earlier in 2019, Trump signed an executive order tying federal research dollars to free speech on campus, as Campus Reform reported at the time.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=12007" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Trump officially signs free speech exec. order: If schools censor, &#39;we will not give them money&#39;]</a>WATCH (relevant portion begins around the 14:10 mark):<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAllianceDefendingFreedom%2Fvideos%2F2062410130734212%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve sent a very strong message to campuses, universities, and colleges around the country that the freedom of speech is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution, and we expect our institutions of learning to respect that and respect diverse views on our campuses, and create an environment that is conducive to learning,&rdquo; Pence said.The Vice President continued by expressing that he is &ldquo;encouraged&rdquo; by young students on college campuses who are standing up to restrictive speech codes.&ldquo;And this is &mdash; I must tell you: I feel somewhat encouraged not just because of the strong stand the President has taken, but because of the courageous stand that we&rsquo;ve seen young people taking on campuses around the country, challenging these &mdash; what do they call them? &mdash; &#39;safe zones&#39; that emerged; you know, challenging speech codes that have emerged on campus,&rdquo; Pence said. &ldquo;All of those things are antithetical to the process of learning.&rdquo;He noted that more and more students are starting to challenge speech codes, and that it&rsquo;s no longer just conservatives battling them anymore.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=12008" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: Trump&#39;s free speech executive order will &#39;bring accountability&#39; to colleges, Phillips says (VIDEO)]</a>&ldquo;The encouraging thing...is I see it&rsquo;s not just conservatives that are speaking out against this now,&rdquo; Pence said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s actually very encouraging that many liberals are recognizing the political correctness, the reality of speech codes and censorship on our campuses.&rdquo;Pence said that it is critical that free speech and discourse are kept safe on college campuses, and told the audience what he does whenever he sees protests.&ldquo;You know, I&rsquo;m reminded, my kids &mdash; my kids often quote me. &nbsp;Whenever I was governor or Vice President, or we see &mdash; I see somebody waving an unflattering sign or &mdash; you know, some people shouting something out &mdash; I always look at my kids and I say, &#39;That&rsquo;s what freedom looks like. That&rsquo;s what freedom sounds like.&#39; Right? &nbsp;And the ability to disagree,&rdquo; Pence said, &ldquo;the ability to be critical of people that are in public life &mdash; that&rsquo;s at the very center of what the people who founded this country had in mind and has been preserved through the generations. &nbsp;And we have to make sure it&rsquo;s preserved on the campuses of America.&quot;Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/asabes10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@asabes10</a>

Pence also touted President Donald Trump's actions on campus free speech.

Pence SLAMS colleges over free speech zones, safe spaces (VIDEO)

Liberal comedian Bill Maher blasted &quot;fragile&quot; Millennials who want trigger warnings and safe spaces on his HBO show on Friday, and also took on students at Harvard University for protesting the fact that one of the school&#39;s professors agreed to legally represent Harvey Weinstein.Maher made the comments during an interview with South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg who is running for the Democrat nomination for president in 2020. Buttigieg, who is 37, is himself part of the millennial generation.&nbsp;&quot;They&#39;re not all fragile,&quot; Maher said, referring to Millennials, &quot;but in general they&#39;re fragile.&quot; The HBO host went on to say that he was &quot;talking about people who need cry rooms and trigger warnings and safe spaces.&quot; It&#39;s not the first time Maher has sounded off on topics familiar to college students. In March, Maher railed against cultural appropriation as &quot;just made up.&quot;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11961" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[RELATED: SHOCK: Even liberal Bill Maher says cultural appropriation &#39;was just made up&#39;]</a>On his show Friday, Maher also took aim at Harvard University students, who recently protested Harvard Professor Ronald Sullivan Jr., who is representing Harvey Weinstein, who faces charges of rape, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/nyregion/harvey-weinstein-arrested.html?module=inline" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to the New York Times</a>.&nbsp;&quot;These are Harvard students who don&#39;t understand that everybody gets a lawyer in this country,&quot; Maher said.&nbsp;Buttigieg then suggested that students were protesting because they see it as the &quot;toleration of sexual harassment.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;Isn&#39;t the principle that everyone gets a lawyer in America more important?&quot; Maher replied.&nbsp;WATCH:<center><iframe width="650" height="366" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rJCwUwziRvY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>Follow the author of this article on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://facebook.com/JonStreetDC" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@JonStreetDC</a>&nbsp;and Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/JonStreet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@JonStreet</a>

Liberal comedian Bill Maher over the weekend sounded off on "fragile" Millennials who need "trigger warnings and safe spaces."

Bill Maher blasts 'fragile' Millennials who need 'trigger warnings and safe spaces'

Update:&nbsp;After publication of this article, University of Maryland-College Park changed the name of the group to &quot;Anti-Racism and Ally Building Group,&quot; along with a shorter description, which reads, &nbsp;&quot;Do you want to improve your ability to relate to and connect with people different from yourself? Do you want to become a better ally? Members will support and share feedback with each other as they learn more about themselves and how they can fit into a diverse world.&quot;In a statement provided to Campus Reform&nbsp;on Friday, the university explained the name change: &quot;Our Counseling Center acknowledges that we did not choose the right words in raising awareness about this research-based initiative, and how this group has been perceived is counter to the values of inclusiveness and diversity that we embody. Therefore, we are renaming the group to better reflect our intention and values.&quot; <center>&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campusreform/11309/image001(1).jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&nbsp;</center> Original story:&nbsp;The University of Maryland at College Park announced a new diversity support group this week to create a &ldquo;safe space&rdquo; for white students to discuss their feelings about &ldquo;interactions with racial and ethnic minorities.&rdquo;The support group, called &ldquo;<a href="https://www.counseling.umd.edu/cs/clinical/group/" style="text-decoration:none;">White Awake</a>,&rdquo; will help white students who may &ldquo;sometimes feel uncomfortable and confused before, during, or after interactions with racial and ethnic minorities.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10649" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: University offers guide on &#39;talking to kids about whiteness&#39;]</a>&ldquo;This group offers a safe space for White students to explore their experiences, questions, reactions, and feelings,&rdquo; the description explains. &ldquo;Members will support and share feedback with each other as they learn more about themselves and how they can fit into a diverse world.&rdquo;The description asks students if they want to &ldquo;improve [their] ability to relate to and connect with people different from [themselves]&rdquo; or if they want to become a better &ldquo;ally.&rdquo; The new group is now one of four in the university&rsquo;s &ldquo;Diversity Issues&rdquo; program series.&nbsp;The group is being led by Noah Collins, who works for the UMD Counseling Center, and will be held once a week. Collins specializes in group therapy and is interested &ldquo;especially in the areas of racial and cultural awareness,&rdquo; <a href="http://www.counselingpsychology.umd.edu/faculty.html" style="text-decoration:none;">according to his faculty bio</a>.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9498" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Hiring process for new UMD diversity chief raises &#39;red flags&#39;]</a>The safe space has been met with harsh criticism from students on social media.&ldquo;I am ashamed over the execution of white awake nor do I fully understand its clause. &lsquo;How they can fit into a diverse world&rsquo;? Why do they need to attend therapy sessions on how to be a decent human being in society?&rdquo; a UMD student <a href="https://twitter.com/LoveConweezy27/status/1040265311117750272" style="text-decoration:none;">wrote on Twitter</a>. &ldquo;Why do they need to have these sessions to learn how to coexist?&rdquo;&ldquo;Just like classes. You can&rsquo;t take one class and feel like you have all understanding over a certain subject,&rdquo; the student <a href="https://twitter.com/LoveConweezy27/status/1040281191889465349" style="text-decoration:none;">added</a>. &ldquo;It takes practice, it takes problems, it takes more than one course, so &lsquo;White Awake&rsquo; has good intention but I am skeptical over the fairytale result.&rdquo; <center><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campusreform/11309/UMD1.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></center> <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10580" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Texas students launch &#39;No Whites Allowed&#39; magazine]</a>Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Grace_Gotcha" style="text-decoration:none;">@Grace_Gotcha</a>

University announces “White Awake” safe space for white students

The University of Redlands, in Southern California, is now offering a class that gives male students a &ldquo;safe space&rdquo; to discuss the problems they experience due to masculinity.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.redlands.edu/student-affairs/campus-diversity-and-inclusion/programs/gender-programs/d.u.d.e.s/" style="text-decoration:none;">The DUDES Course</a> aims to &ldquo;take a historical look at a societal norms of masculinity in America&rdquo; by reviewing topics such as &ldquo;healthy relationships,&rdquo; &ldquo;gender roles,&rdquo; and &ldquo;competition,&rdquo; according the course description.&nbsp;Students will also explore the theory of the &ldquo;Man Mask.&rdquo; Popularized by social justice educator <a href="http://www.keithedwards.com/about/bio/" style="text-decoration:none;">Keith E. Edwards</a>, the theory argues that all men suffer from the &ldquo;mask&rdquo; of masculinity, due to the pressure it puts on them to conform to gender norms.&nbsp;&ldquo;Wearing the mask [has] consequences for the women in their lives, their relationships with other men, and themselves as they were also denying or masking their true selves,&rdquo; Edwards claims in his <a href="https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/6862" style="text-decoration:none;">seminal research</a> paper on the issue.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10940" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: College course explores &lsquo;feminist critique of masculinity&rsquo;]</a>The course is hosted by the school&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.redlands.edu/student-affairs/campus-diversity-and-inclusion/programs/gender-programs/d.u.d.e.s/" style="text-decoration:none;">Dudes Understanding Diversity and Ending Stereotypes</a> (D.U.D.E.S) Resource Center, providing a &ldquo;safe space&rdquo; for men to talk about issues including gender roles, media, and masculinity.&nbsp;&ldquo;As an organization, we discuss possible ways to reform current stereotypes around men and masculinity,&rdquo; the website states, noting that members are also dispatched across the campus to host discussions on &ldquo;fixing these problems.&rdquo;&nbsp;The &ldquo;Rangi Ya Giza&rdquo; program, for instance, &ldquo;is designed for male students interested in advancing social justice for all on the Redlands campus and beyond,&rdquo; and is described as &ldquo;a brotherhood that focuses on brotherhood, diversity, leadership, and service.&rdquo;Reached by Campus Reform, the University of Redlands would not say why it believes masculinity and gender roles are &ldquo;problems&rdquo; to be fixed, nor would school officials indicate whether any of the center&rsquo;s programming is mandatory for male students.&nbsp;While the DUDES Center was initially launched in 2016&mdash;as Campus Reform previously <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7778" style="text-decoration:none;">reported</a>&mdash;the program has since expanded to include the DUDES Course, an annual &ldquo;DUDES WEEK&rdquo; featuring prizes and educational brochures, and even an annual Men&rsquo;s Retreat for students to discuss the &ldquo;socialization process of masculinity.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10982" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Course claims &lsquo;masculinity is problematic&rsquo; for everyone]</a>In addition to the D.U.D.E.S. program, the university also hosts a &ldquo;<a href="http://www.redlands.edu/student-affairs/campus-diversity-and-inclusion/programs/gender-programs/masculinity-discussions/" style="text-decoration:none;">Masculinity Discussion Series</a>,&rdquo; arguing that &ldquo;it is crucial to deconstruct our societal understanding of masculinity and establish more inclusive definitions of manhood as part of the effort to reduce violence in our communities.&rdquo;&nbsp;Conversely, while the school does offer a parallel safe space for women called &ldquo;<a href="http://www.redlands.edu/student-affairs/campus-diversity-and-inclusion/programs/gender-programs/sisters-standing-together/" style="text-decoration:none;">Sisters Standing Together</a>,&rdquo; the programming is comparatively bare, and is primarily intended to help women &ldquo;talk about sex, sexuality, body image, and the promotion of loving yourself.&rdquo;&nbsp;The website only indicates that the group has devised four presentations on issues like sexual assault and consent, some of which are &ldquo;presented to both male and female students in classroom settings&rdquo; while others are &ldquo;designed specifically for women.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-redlands-1322" style="text-decoration:none;">According to U.S. News and World Report</a>, women outnumber men by several hundred students at the University of Redlands, amounting to an overall 12 percent gender gap in favor of women. &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>

University offers 'safe space' for 'fixing' masculinity

Two academics cautiously defended the concept of college &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; in a public debate last week, stopping well short of backing radical opposition to conservative speakers on campus.&nbsp;University of California, Davis law professor Ashutosh Bhagwat and Wesleyan University President Michael Roth took an unconventional approach to defending campus safe spaces during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/trigger-warning-safe-spaces-are-dangerous" style="text-decoration:none;">Intelligence Squared debate</a> on June 23, acknowledging that some radical activists go &ldquo;too far&rdquo; in opposing controversial speakers.&nbsp;&ldquo;I think part of what&#39;s going on is, the safe spaces debate has become conflated with the debate over controversial speakers on campus, usually conservative speakers, triggering protests,&rdquo; Bhagwat said during the debate. &ldquo;Those are separate questions.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10679" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: University turns frat into &#39;safe space for black students&#39;]</a>&ldquo;I do not think&mdash;sometimes people have said that the entire campus should be a safe space, and therefore it&#39;s the same issue,&rdquo; the professor continued. &ldquo;That goes too far. &nbsp;And they&#39;re driven by completely different concerns.&rdquo; &nbsp;According to Bhagwat, the debate over campus speakers revolves around &ldquo;anger over ideas that students believe&mdash;sometimes legitimately, sometimes not&mdash;to be out of bounds.&rdquo; &nbsp;&ldquo;I think we really need to separate those two questions, because the controversial speaker stuff is complicated,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cQ0pcCV4MeY" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Notably, Bhagwat&rsquo;s debate partner also expressed concerns about bias in higher education and revealed that Wesleyan University is attempting to bring more conservative speakers and professors to campus.&nbsp;&ldquo;[A]t colleges and universities today, it is very much the case that there is a strong bias&mdash;sometimes on the faculty, often on the faculty, often on the students&mdash;towards the left,&rdquo; Roth declared. &ldquo;This is not new. This is perhaps something to do with the age of students, but something to do with the politics of our country right now.&ldquo;I have started a program at Wesleyan University to bring more conservative thinkers to campus, more conservative professors,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Army generals or colonels who are retiring from the armed forces to teach courses in international relations and political science, because I think our conservative students need to feel they too can express their views.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9305" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: University serves up soaring &#39;safe space&#39; pledge]</a>Roth and Bhagwat&rsquo;s opponents in the debate, however, remained critical of the concept of &ldquo;safe spaces,&rdquo; and warned that insulating students from controversial speech could lead to dangerous outcomes.&nbsp;&ldquo;Our society is deeply polarized,&rdquo; said PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel. &ldquo;By sealing off large parts of the campus to guard against certain ideas and viewpoints we&#39;re going to make that problem worse.&rdquo;Quoting from the Oxford Dictionary, Nossel also noted that the definition of &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; involves protecting individuals from &ldquo;emotional&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;physical&rdquo; harm, saying that the crux of the debate is really about how broadly universities should protect against emotional harm.Acknowledging that freedom of association gives individual groups the right to hold events at which &ldquo;freedom from emotional harm might be virtually assured,&rdquo; she said the calculus is different when it comes to &ldquo;places where students have no choice but to be,&rdquo; especially when people argue that &ldquo;administrators or institutions should be charged with policing or governing what speech is permissible and what is out of bounds.&rdquo;While she made clear that there is &ldquo;no room for argument&rdquo; when it comes to outright harassment or discrimination, Nossel pointed out that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s those other elements of the definition&mdash;exposure to criticism or any other emotional harm&mdash;those distinguish enforcement of a safe space from simply upholding legal protections.&rdquo;Likewise, David Hudson, Jr., a professor of law at Vanderbilt University, said that while some speech &ldquo;can cause harm,&rdquo; censorship of potentially harmful speech &ldquo;[runs] the risk of engulfing anything that&#39;s considered controversial, anything that&#39;s considered unorthodox, anything that...stridently disagrees with somebody else&#39;s point of view.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10251" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Campus coffee shop evicts College Republicans from &lsquo;safe space&rsquo;]</a>Despite their moderate position on campus speakers, however, Bhagwat and Roth both defended the idea of &ldquo;safe spaces&rdquo; on college campuses, arguing that the notion is not new or unusual.&nbsp;During his opening statement, Bhagwat maintained that safe spaces should serve much like households, and make college students feel accepted on campuses.&nbsp;&ldquo;Most obviously, all of us are going to go home, in my case tomorrow,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&#39;m going to hang out with friends and family. That&#39;s a safe space. I expect it to be a safe space. Everyone, my opponents in this debate, feel the same way about their homes.&ldquo;Now think about students at a residential campus,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Sure, part of the reason they&#39;re there is to learn, to debate, to be exposed to new ideas, to learn how to refute ideas they disagree with, but that campus is their home and indeed it is their home in a more full way than even my home.&rdquo;Similarly, Roth argued that safe spaces have more to do with &ldquo;building community where people who have been marginalized over time can find places where they can find comfort in one another&#39;s company, find inspiration in their varied experiences, but not to define the college experience as a whole as being one where you are cut off from antagonistic ideas.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9674" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Students told to report &#39;negative reactions&#39; to &#39;Safe Place&#39;]</a>&ldquo;Safe spaces were vitally important for gay rights,&rdquo; Roth asserted. &ldquo;They were vitally important for feminism and I think they&#39;re coming up today on college campuses because college campuses have more students from under-represented groups who are trying to define their own places on theses campuses. They&#39;re not trying to censor other people, they are trying to find a way they can belong to historically white and middle-class institutions.&rdquo;Interestingly, Roth also asserted that students who decide to attend a university are &ldquo;not signing up for a marketplace [of ideas],&rdquo; but are rather seeking to be members of &ldquo;a community.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;And I think providing some students the ability to say, &lsquo;I will not be harassed in this space, I will not be attacked in this space. I will be seen as a member of the community in this space&rsquo;&mdash;that&#39;s a safe space, and it&#39;s not dangerous,&rdquo; he argued. &ldquo;What&#39;s dangerous is to make believe that everybody who comes to a university&mdash;like everybody who comes to a marketplace&mdash;is an equal participant in transactions.&rdquo;Throughout the debate, Hudson and Nossel repeatedly disputed the points made by their adversaries, arguing that their definition of safe spaces lacked specifics.&ldquo;You know, they&#39;re defining safe spaces in this incredibly broad&mdash;I would contend, overbroad&mdash;fashion,&rdquo; Hudson said. &ldquo;What we&#39;re talking about is safe spaces in which students are shielded from challenging, difficult, offensive speech.&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>

Profs offer milquetoast defense of 'safe spaces' during debate

Santa Monica College has indefinitely shelved plans to turn a computer lab into a &ldquo;safe space&rdquo; for minority students, Campus Reform has learned.As Campus Reform <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10204" style="text-decoration:none;">reported</a> in November, SMC at the time was moving forward with a $60,000 plan to renovate one of the school&rsquo;s few computer labs into a &ldquo;safe space for Undocumented Students, DACA students, LGBTQ+ community students,&rdquo; and others.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10204" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: College spending $60k to turn computer lab into &lsquo;safe space&rsquo;]</a>While the plan was initially approved by student government in November, student <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/Author/?AuthorID=4343581" style="text-decoration:none;">Ben Kolodny</a>, who is also a Campus Reform correspondent, led the resistance effort on campus, penning a petition against the safe space that racked up more than 350 signatures.&ldquo;The Santa Monica College Associated Students [is attempting] to replace the Cayton Center Computer lab with a Social Justice Center and Safe Space on Monday the 24th,&rdquo; Kolodny <a href="https://www.change.org/p/ben-kolodny-save-the-cayton-center?recruiter=837310921&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_content=ex35%3Acontrol" style="text-decoration:none;">warned</a> last November. &ldquo;This will be a huge waste of student resources.&rdquo;<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campusreform/10907/SMCLab1.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/campusreform/10907/SMCLab2.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;If a safe space is necessary, then other accommodation should be found. It is morally wrong to take a program as valuable as the Computer Lab from all of us while at the same time using the student fees that we all paid to do so,&rdquo; the petition added.&nbsp;Kolodny also <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/Author/?AuthorID=4343581" style="text-decoration:none;">appeared on Fox News</a>, pointing out that it is &ldquo;absolutely ridiculous that we&#39;re spending $500,000 of people&#39;s money...on something they [LGBTQ students] themselves don&#39;t want.&quot;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10679" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: University turns frat into &lsquo;safe space for black students&rsquo;]</a>Though a school spokeswoman told Campus Reform last November that SMC was moving forward with the plan, the renovations were put on hold some time shortly thereafter.Campus Reform followed up with SMC in February, and school spokeswoman Grace Smith said the plan had been tabled to a committee of administrations, but that no work had been done. Smith confirmed last Thursday to Campus Reform that plans are still on hold.&nbsp;&ldquo;The college has no updates at the moment,&rdquo; Smith added.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10781" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Scripps College pool party desegregated, then postponed]</a>Kolodny told Campus Reform that he is relieved the school is not moving forward with the $60,000 plan to create a &ldquo;safe space,&rdquo; which was part of a <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10204" style="text-decoration:none;">larger $500,000 plan</a> to create a Gender Equity Center for students on campus, both of which are now on hold.&ldquo;I think that Santa Monica College saving the [computer lab] as well as $500,000 of students&rsquo; money is a tacit admission of what I and other members of the opposition to the plan have been saying all along,&rdquo; Kolodny said. &ldquo;This plan was poorly thought out, pushed for the wrong reasons by the wrong people, was largely unpopular with the student body and should never have been passed in the first place.&rdquo;&nbsp;Campus Reform reached out to the SMC student government, which initially proposed the renovation plan to administrators, but did not receive a response in time for publication. This article will be updated if and when a response is received.&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>

SMC shelves plan to turn computer lab into LGBT 'safe space'

Students at Colorado State University (CSU) are calling for the removal of their Turning Point USA chapter, saying its actions &ldquo;directly encourage White Supremacy on campus.&rdquo;The <a href="https://www.change.org/p/colorado-state-university-community-remove-turning-point-usa-from-colorado-state-university?recruiter=868760397&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=Copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition" style="text-decoration:none;">petition</a>, created by Students Against White Supremacy (SAWS) at CSU, claims that [t]he actions and words of Turning Point USA directly encourage White Supremacy on campus,&rdquo; and accuses the school of fostering &ldquo;an unsafe space for marginalized students&rdquo; by failing to take action against the conservative group.As of press time, 145 people had signed the petition, which concludes by demanding that TPUSA &ldquo;be dismantled or removed from campus.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8748" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: TPUSA deemed &lsquo;direct threat,&rsquo; denied recognition at Santa Clara]</a><a href="https://collegian.com/2018/04/students-against-white-supremacy-call-for-the-removal-of-turning-point-usa-from-campus/" style="text-decoration:none;">According to The Rocky Mountain Collegian</a>, SAWS was created in response to white supremacist posters being found around campus over the past year, and has been especially active since February, when a group of white supremacists <a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2018/02/02/violence-erupts-csu-protest-conservative-speaker-led/301496002/" style="text-decoration:none;">started a scuffle</a> outside the venue where TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk was delivering a speech.The petition, however, makes no allusion to the violent altercation, instead making generalized accusations that TPUSA is a white supremacist group.&ldquo;Bias-related incidents are acts of White Supremacy. The University has made the choice to do nothing, despite its power to make real change,&rdquo; the petition declares. &ldquo;As a result of this contradiction, White Supremacy has been allowed to thrive at CSU. This creates an unsafe space for marginalized students on campus and also puts the burden of healing from trauma onto those students.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10767" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Students demand Penn State defund conservative &#39;hate groups&#39;]</a><a href="https://collegian.com/2018/03/thousands-take-to-csu-campus-in-demonstration-against-hate-bias-motivated-incidents/" style="text-decoration:none;">The Collegian&nbsp;notes</a> that SAWS previously disrupted a March 29 event intended to give students and administrators the opportunity to discuss the rise in hate and bias incidents, storming the stage to denounce TPUSA and complain that CSU does not equate &ldquo;bias-motivated incidents&rdquo; to white supremacy.&ldquo;Bias-related incidents are acts of white supremacy and they need to be labeled as so,&rdquo; insisted&nbsp;SAWS member Erica LeFehr, who later added that &ldquo;there will be no false flags of unity with students who perpetuate white supremacy and we demand for the removal of the Turning Point USA chapter from CSU&rsquo;s campus if the administration is truly committed to an inclusive and safe environment from all students.&rdquo;Additionally, the protesters held a sign which reads &ldquo;No Nazis, No KKK, No TPUSA,&rdquo; as seen in video footage provided to Campus Reform.<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XpGe1wph4BE" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>SAWS member Alex Scott told the Collegian&nbsp;that the group isn&rsquo;t targeting conservatives in general, but rather is focusing specifically on TPUSA out of concern that the group will use members who also serve on student government to reduce funding for liberal student groups.&ldquo;We aren&rsquo;t targeting the College Republicans, we aren&rsquo;t targeting Young Americans for Liberty, and that&rsquo;s for a very specific reason,&rdquo; Scott said. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t have a track record of recordings of their leaders saying that &lsquo;the reason we exist is to target campus elections.&rsquo;&rdquo;in an &ldquo;automated response&rdquo; to a media inquiry from Campus Reform,&nbsp;however, SAWS asserted that it could not respond because its &ldquo;crack team of paid protesters are too busy dressing provocatively as a means of luring campus conservatives onto a stylistically painted &#39;x&#39; and dropping anvils on their heads.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10500" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Activists target conservative students ahead of Kirk event]</a>Chris Mann, a member of TPUSA at CSU, told Campus Reform that the effort to shut down TPUSA is representative of a deteriorating political climate at CSU.&ldquo;The political climate on our campus used to be much more accepting of viewpoint diversity, but this semester it has become increasingly hostile towards conservative viewpoints,&rdquo; said Mann. &ldquo;We are sad that the dialogue on campus has reached the point where principles such as less government and free markets are labeled as perpetuating the repulsive and abhorrent agenda of those who believe they are better than other people based upon the color of their skin.&rdquo;Mike Hooker, the director of public affairs at CSU, told the Collegian&nbsp;that the university cannot unilaterally remove TPUSA from campus, but did indicate that the school would be able to pursue disciplinary action if the group were to violate any university policies.&ldquo;CSU has an established process for recognizing student organizations, part of a system of student governance that has been developed through generations of students steadfastly fighting for the right to organize without undue influence from the administration or outside organizations,&rdquo; Hooker explained. &ldquo;All student clubs and organizations enjoy rights and privileges associated with official recognition by the University.&rdquo;&quot;Turning Point USA at CSU has issued dozens of statements denouncing hateful and white supremacist groups on our campus and in the community,&quot; said chapter President Isabel Brown. &quot;We&rsquo;ve made it abundantly clear that our organization stands for three things&mdash;free markets, limited government, and fiscal responsibility&mdash;no more, no less. Despite the false accusations issued against our chapter, we are all excited about continuing to fight for conservative students to have a home at our University.&quot;Campus Reform reached out to CSU, but has not received a response.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/asabes10" style="text-decoration:none;">@asabes10</a>

CSU, however, has made clear that the administration has neither the power nor the inclination to remove TPUSA, saying such decisions must be left to student government.

Petition accuses TPUSA of creating 'unsafe space' at CSU

Following the permanent suspension of a Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) fraternity, the school is converting the newly-vacant fraternity house into a &ldquo;safe space for black students.&rdquo;In February, an AR-15 rifle and a handgun were found in the WUSTL Phi Delta Theta fraternity house and a nearby vehicle respectively, prompting the<a href="http://www.studlife.com/news/greek-life-news/2018/02/20/wupd-discovers-firearms-in-phi-delt-house-fraternity-permanently-suspended-for-violations-of-temporary-suspension/" style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;permanent suspension</a> of the organization from campus, and opening up a vacancy in fraternity House 5.Shortly thereafter, Matthew Wallace, a staff writer for the online student publication Student Life, penned<a href="http://www.studlife.com/forum/2018/02/25/turn-fraternity-housing-over-to-minorities-and-women/" style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;an op-ed</a> titled, &ldquo;Turn fraternity housing over to minorities and women.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10128" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Prof exempts &lsquo;black fraternities&rsquo; from call to abolish frats]</a>&ldquo;These &lsquo;brotherhoods&rsquo; have done nothing but occupy valuable space and make the University feel unsafe for many,&rdquo; Wallace asserted, arguing that &ldquo;In order to remediate the damage they have caused, Washington University should convert fraternity housing into living spaces for minorities and women.&rdquo;Naming several prominent universities with &ldquo;spaces for students of color,&rdquo; Wallace advocated that WUSTL take the &ldquo;bold and necessary step in standing up to the white, male supremacy that is fraternities and giving space to minorities and women.&rdquo;&ldquo;The past was only white and male, the future is diverse. Wash. U.: don&rsquo;t be on the wrong side of history again,&rdquo; Wallace concluded.Following the letter&rsquo;s publication, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori White and Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Rob Wild reached out to Wallace to discuss a Residential Life option for black students.<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7243" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: Civil rights group challenges UConn over black-only dorm plans]</a><a href="http://www.studlife.com/news/2018/03/05/wpa-black-students-petition-for-former-phi-delta-theta-house/" style="text-decoration:none;">According to Student Life</a>, other student leaders have been working towards re-assigning fraternity House 5 to black students for the 2018-2019 school year, including student Ahmani Simpson, who began the &ldquo;Black House Movement&rdquo; in 2016.On March 20, Chancellors White and Wild <a href="http://www.studlife.com/news/2018/03/22/black-students-receive-house-5-bid/" style="text-decoration:none;">officially redesignated</a> fraternity House 5 for black students only, though Simpson and other students had already been gloating on social media the day before that their efforts to establish a Black House were successful.&ldquo;So all of the organizing we spent my years here doing ended up having one tangible goal: safe space for black students on campus. It happened y&rsquo;all. I literally put activism over my studies and damn near failed out of this bitch LOL they weren&rsquo;t even trying to hear us tho,&rdquo; Simpson<a href="https://twitter.com/mahnie_/status/975807359950950401" style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;tweeted</a> alongside a<a href="https://twitter.com/mahnie_/status/779733081750114304" style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;video</a> of Black Lives Matter activists chanting, &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t stop the revolution!&rdquo;<a href="https://www.campusreform.org/index.cfm?ID=9224" style="text-decoration:none;">[RELATED: UF dorm to serve as &lsquo;counterspace grounded in the Black experience&rsquo;]</a>&ldquo;I was let down by administration, peers, professors all that and I let the dream go. But we a family and my other peers took the burden and wrote and talked and yelled,&rdquo; Simpson<a href="https://twitter.com/mahnie_/status/975807831965405184" style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;continued</a>,<a href="https://twitter.com/mahnie_/status/975807997170606080" style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;adding</a>, &ldquo;And BOOMBITCH WE GOT A BLACK HOUSE! Lol I&rsquo;m happy,&rdquo; and &ldquo;We been working since the black manifesto my n***a!&rdquo; in other tweets respectively.&ldquo;WashU is turning the Phi Delt house into a Black House... I just... wow,&rdquo; WUSTL student Cheyenne Love wrote in a<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cheyenne.s.love.5/posts/1457389021039532" style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;Facebook status</a>. &ldquo;Reaparations,&rdquo; another student wrote in the comments, to which Love responded, &ldquo;say it!&rdquo;Campus Reform reached out to Simpson and WUSTL Residential Life, but did not receive a response from either.Follow the author of this article on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/rMitchellGunter" style="text-decoration:none;">@rMitchellGunter</a>

University turns frat into 'safe space for black students'

Members of the Fordham University College Republicans were asked to leave an on-campus coffee shop because their MAGA hats apparently violated the shop&rsquo;s &ldquo;safe space policy.&rdquo;
In <a href="https://youtu.be/xdeu6meGRnU">a video obtained by Campus Reform</a>, the self-identified president of Rodrigue&rsquo;s Coffee House, a coffee shop run by a student club, is seen telling the College Republicans they have five minutes to get out of the coffee shop.
<a href="../?ID=9868">[RELATED: Angry student steals MAGA hat, demands victim be punished]</a>
&ldquo;I am protecting my customers,&rdquo; the president said.
&ldquo;We are your customers, we bought something,&rdquo; a CR member replied.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want people like you supporting this club&hellip; no one here wants people like you supporting our club,&rdquo; the president retorted. &ldquo;I am giving you five minutes.&rdquo;
A student then asked for a refund, to which the president responded, &ldquo;[y]ou had some coffee&hellip; do not try to outsmart me.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=9951">[RELATED: Rutgers students &lsquo;don&rsquo;t need no facts&rsquo; to heckle speaker]</a>
&ldquo;You are threatening the integrity of our club. This is a community standard&mdash;you are wearing hats that completely violate safe space policy,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You have to take it off or you have to go.&rdquo;
One of the students then asked the president to explain what she thinks the MAGA hat stands for, to which she replied, shouting: &ldquo;Fascism, Nazis! You have three minutes.&rdquo;
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xdeu6meGRnU" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
During the confrontation, the president presented the College Republicans with a flyer outlining the shop&rsquo;s &ldquo;Safer Space Policy.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Rodrigue&rsquo;s strives to be a safer space on Fordham&rsquo;s campus. For these reasons, consider the following:
Do not make assumptions about someone&rsquo;s gender, sexuality, race, class, or experiences. Be aware of your own identity, while being considerate of the personhood of your peers. Be mindful of the ways in which your words and actions impact others. Be aware of the boundaries of other&rsquo;s space, physical or otherwise, and respect their consent. No racism - No sexism - No homophobia. If you feel that someone has transgressed this policy, we want you to feel comfortable confronting them or approaching a member behind the counter, who is available as a resource to assist you.&rdquo;
<img src="../img/CROBlog/10251/FordhamCoffeeShopSafeSpacePolicy.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="933" />
According to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/rodriguescoffee/about/?ref=page_internal">the Rodrigue&rsquo;s Coffee House Facebook page</a>, Rodrigue&rsquo;s is &ldquo;the student-run coffee house on Fordham's campus,&rdquo; which claims it is &ldquo;a relaxing atmosphere for the Fordham community,&rdquo; adding &ldquo;Rodrigue&rsquo;s is also an event space.&rdquo;
A glowing 2013 <a href="https://fordhamram.com/2013/09/rodrigues-coffeehouse-the-happily-misunderstood-cafe/">profile in The Fordham Ram</a> begins by declaring that Rodrigue&rsquo;s is &ldquo;open to all,&rdquo; even reiterating that the shop &ldquo;is the only on-campus club that provides a daily, tangible service to all members of the Fordham community through low-priced, organic and Fair-Trade coffee drinks as well as an open community space.&rdquo;
The article does note, however, that the student volunteers who work at the shop were aware at the time that some students perceived them as &ldquo;unfriendly hipsters.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=10204">[RELATED: College spending $60k to turn computer lab into &lsquo;safe space&rsquo;]</a>
&ldquo;We went there because we wanted to test the unwritten rule that conservatives were banned from that coffee shop,&rdquo; one CR member told Campus Reform. &ldquo;We went there and just started doing some homework and studying. Then we were asked to leave.
&ldquo;We are tuition paying students, therefore we should be able to use any building on campus that we want,&rdquo; he argued. &ldquo;This school is over $70,000 a year in tuition, therefore I feel that I have the right to go into all of the buildings that other students are allowed to go into. I also have the right to wear what I want to wear and express my own political views.&rdquo;
Campus Reform reached out to Fordham for comment on the matter, and is currently awaiting a reply. This article will be updated if and when the university provides comment.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/kassydillon">@kassydillon</a>

Campus coffee shop evicts College Republicans from 'safe space'

Santa Monica College will move forward with a plan to transform a popular computer lab into a social justice center despite a petition signed by hundreds of students.
<a href="https://thestringer.news/proposal-to-reduce-size-of-cayton-center-sparks-outrage-3184b8157179">According to The Stringer</a>, the proposal to construct the Social Justice and Gender Equity Center was spearheaded by Dr. Nancy Grass, Dean of Student Life, and would cost a total of $500,000, including $60,000 for a &ldquo;computer lab update.&rdquo;
While a university representative told Campus Reform that students proposed to &ldquo;update the outdated computer and technology&rdquo; and repurpose unused space, Lee Peterson, the supervisor of the Cayton Lab, previously expressed his concerns about the proposal.
&ldquo;The administration is basically demanding that the student government spend more money on anything that it has in the entire history of SMC, all at once, without any significant discussion,&rdquo; he told the publication.
A letter from the Associated Students President <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=130565070965134&amp;set=pcb.10159599330555207&amp;type=3&amp;theater&amp;ifg=1">shared on social media</a>&nbsp;also explains that the proposal will &ldquo;add a Safe Space for Undocumented Students, DACA Students, LGBTQ+ Community, Religious Practice, and many more.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=9650">[RELATED: School crams social justice into fashion, data design courses]</a>
As of press time, however, more than 330 people had signed a <a href="https://www.change.org/p/ben-kolodny-save-the-cayton-center/nftexp/ex35/control/837310921?recruiter=837310921&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_medium=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&amp;utm_content=ex35%3Acontrol">Change.org petition</a> labeling the potential move &ldquo;a huge waste of student resources&rdquo; that will be &ldquo;destructive to the community as a whole.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The computer lab offers free printing and internet access as well as computers to all students, and should not be removed. This petition seeks to ensure the preservation of the Cayton Center Computer Lab only,&rdquo; the document states.
&ldquo;If a safe space is necessary, then other accommodation should be found,&rdquo; the petition continues. &ldquo;It is morally wrong to take a program as valuable as the Computer Lab from all of us while at the same time using the student fees that we all paid to do so.&rdquo;
Ben Kolodny, vice president of the school&rsquo;s Small Gov Club and the author of the petition, told Campus Reform that despite student pressure, the Associated Students Board of Directors passed the measure unanimously on Monday.
&ldquo;I and the former Associated students president were kicked out of the meeting illegally by a demand made by the sitting AS President,&rdquo; Kolodny claimed, adding that &ldquo;When I tried to come back in, police tried to bar my way.&rdquo;
Kolodny also alleged that &ldquo;public comment was not allowed&rdquo; after the board introduced new information to the proposal, arguing that the action violated the Brown Act, a California law that is <a href="https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/open-meetings-3/facs-brown-act-primer/">intended to protect</a> public access to meetings of local government agencies.
<a href="../?ID=9590">[RELATED: Prof shares tricks for sneaking social justice into classroom]</a>
&ldquo;We will be filling a &lsquo;Cure and Correct&rsquo; order and attempting to get this overturned,&rdquo; he vowed.
A university spokesperson, however, insisted that &ldquo;no one was removed from the Associated Students Board meeting and no students who left were denied entry to return.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Several students were disruptive, and were asked to be quiet,&rdquo; the official maintained. &ldquo;Some of these students left the meeting on their own, and later several of these students returned on their own to the meeting.&rdquo;
On Sunday, Kolodny also <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Santamonicacollegeunofficial/permalink/10159599330555207/">noted</a> that the <a href="http://www.smc.edu/StudentServices/StudentLife/Gender-Equity-Social-Justice-Center/Pages/default.aspx">website</a> for the new social justice center had already been created prior to the Monday vote, and that a &ldquo;plan to establish a gender equity center to serve all students&rdquo; was listed as &ldquo;Objective 3&rdquo; of the school&rsquo;s broad <a href="http://smc.edu/ACG/DistrictPlanningPolicies/Documents/District_Planning_and_Advisory_Council/2016-2017/MPE%20Update%202016-2017Final.pdf">&ldquo;Master Plan for Education.&rdquo;</a>
In a statement to Campus Reform, a college representative further explained that the initial concept for a gender equity center &ldquo;came from students and faculty three years ago&rdquo; and that the students later decided that a &ldquo;Social Justice Center would best encompass the desired range of student needs.&rdquo;
Follow this author on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vladimirovnikitav">Nikita Vladimirov</a>

College spending $60k to turn computer lab into 'safe space'

Two female law professors argue that colleges should promote a culture of &ldquo;true grit&rdquo; to help fight against &ldquo;thin-skulled&rdquo; students who demand&nbsp;safe spaces and trigger warnings.
<a href="https://www.barry.edu/law/future-students/faculty/staff/tday.html">Terry Day</a>, a law professor at Barry University, and <a href="https://law.uark.edu/directory/directory-faculty/uid/dweath/name/Danielle-Weatherby/">Danielle Weatherby</a>, who teaches at the University of Arkansas, recently published an article in the Florida Law Review titled <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3055903">Speech Narcissism</a>&nbsp;in which they contend that the spirit of the First Amendment is falling out of vogue on many college campuses.
&ldquo;The new normal in speech rights has abandoned the central meaning of the First Amendment,&rdquo; Day and Weatherby argue, adding that the &ldquo;my way or the highway&rdquo; approach favored by politically correct students conflicts with &ldquo;liberty and democracy.&rdquo;
<a href="../?ID=9979">[RELATED: STUDY: Free speech, inclusivity are &lsquo;conflicting interests&rsquo;]</a>
Although some legislators have passed statutes to protect free speech at public universities, Day and Weatherby argue that this isn&rsquo;t a complete solution, especially since these statutes don&rsquo;t apply to private universities.
&ldquo;As students more frequently demand trigger warnings and safe spaces in response to speech that they deem personally offensive, the use of political correctness measures on college campuses has had the unintended consequence of chilling speech,&rdquo; they point out. &ldquo;Contrary to longstanding First Amendment principles, college campuses are becoming environments in which the most vulnerable among the student population can exercise a &lsquo;heckler&rsquo;s veto,&rsquo; silencing speech that is subjectively offensive to the most sensitive students.&rdquo;
Asserting that &ldquo;speech offensiveness is a matter of ethics and education that cannot be remedied solely by law,&rdquo; they propose that emphasizing traits like grit and compassion is one possible way to improve campus discourse without imposing restrictions on speech.
<a href="../?ID=9964">[RELATED: Princeton op-ed: Conservatives have no right to free speech]</a>
In an interview with Campus Reform, Day explained that students should be taught to be &ldquo;tolerant listeners&rdquo; and learn to &ldquo;respect [opposing] views without vilifying the person.&rdquo; Grit, in her view, isn&rsquo;t just about academic struggle, but ideological struggle as well.
&ldquo;This notion of teaching &lsquo;true grit&rsquo; is about teaching students to be a little tougher and search for answers&hellip;focusing on what they don&rsquo;t know, struggling with materials and listening to other people&rsquo;s views,&rdquo; Day told Campus Reform by phone.
Grit, she suggests, could students grapple with difficult ideological battles much in the same way that it helps propel many towards academic perseverance.
Grit is especially important in the age of social media, since many students only read news that reaffirms their viewpoints, according to Day, who noted that &ldquo;students are saying &lsquo;This is right, because I believe it,&rsquo;&rdquo; rather than finding out the truth by grappling with alternative perspectives.
<a href="../?ID=9169">[RELATED: Prof: &lsquo;College campuses are not free speech areas&rsquo;]</a>
In their article, Day and Weatherby also point out that the lack of grit in handling ideological conflict is a growing trend among millennials.
&ldquo;Current research suggests that the millennial generation is less hearty [sic] than previous generations,&rdquo; they say, adding that &ldquo;the feebler the listener, the more likely it is that she will demand the implementation of political correctness measures.&rdquo;
Day and Weatherby conclude by stressing the importance of returning to core American values. &ldquo;By teaching students to first listen with an open mind and then to practice perseverance and grit in withstanding offense, they will become heartier, more tolerant listeners,&rdquo; they write.
&ldquo;Their tolerance, in turn, will lessen the demand for trigger warnings, safe spaces, and disinvitations and rekindle the bedrock principles of the First Amendment on college campuses.&rdquo;
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Toni_Airaksinen">@Toni_Airaksinen</a>

Profs blast ‘thin-skulled’ students who demand safe spaces

SUNY Albany recently offered safe spaces and counseling for those offended by a &ldquo;Sin Awareness Day&rdquo; demonstration on campus.
The event, put on by a small group of fundamentalist Christians, proclaimed that &ldquo;God does not love everyone," and &ldquo;without Jesus Christ you are storing up wrath for the day of wrath.&rdquo;
The fundamentalists were set up on a space prearranged by the university outside in front of the campus center.
A crowd of students surrounding the demonstration yelled at them to leave, occasionally saying &ldquo;f*** you&rdquo; and <a href="https://twitter.com/Elise_Coombs/status/918163329092288512">chanting</a> &ldquo;God is gay&rdquo; on several occasions. Several students came with rainbow apparel and gear to show their support for LGBT rights.
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The Multicultural Resource Center and Gender and Sexuality Resource Center printed fliers and distributed them in the campus center near the protest. The fliers read: &ldquo;The free speech zone may have some language or content that is upsetting. If you&rsquo;re looking for a safe space to talk- stop by.&rdquo;
There were signs around the event and a different set of fliers put out by university faculty that informed students they could &ldquo;avail themselves of the services provided by Counseling and Psychological Services[.]&rdquo;
<img src="../img/CROBlog/10013/quarter_size_flyers_DPF_2017.jpg" width="400" height="523" /><img src="../img/CROBlog/10013/WM2.jpg" width="400" height="533" />
&nbsp;<img src="../img/CROBlog/10013/WM3.jpg" width="400" height="533" /><img src="../img/CROBlog/10013/WM5.jpg" width="400" height="300" />
A lone counter-protester, student Alesha Bonner, could be seen between the demonstrators and student protesters, holding a sign that read &ldquo;Jesus Loves Everyone&rdquo; and &ldquo;Come as you are."
&ldquo;I have a lot of gay friends and friends that are Christian," Bonner told Campus Reform, and she said she disagreed with how most students responded. &ldquo;Yelling and cussing doesn&rsquo;t help&hellip;The problem isn&rsquo;t the protesters, it&rsquo;s the responses.&rdquo;
Bonner explained that she is &ldquo;not personally religious&rdquo; but she is &ldquo;fed up about people putting conditions on being religious."
SUNY Albany is a public university; the fliers and posters explained that the university is required to allow free speech on campus.
Nancy Lauricella, the executive director of Community Standards, told Campus Reform that the posters and fliers &ldquo;were created two years ago by the Division of Student Affairs&rdquo; for use at &ldquo;all designated public forum events.&rdquo;
They were created to affirm the university&rsquo;s commitment to free speech, &ldquo;explain the institution&rsquo;s legal obligations to provide a designated public forum for third parties outside of the campus community for their exercise of free speech rights,&rdquo; and remind students of &ldquo;resources and services available to them should [they] want to further discuss the speaker or event with someone.&rdquo;
&ldquo;All of the services referenced [in the posters and fliers] are always available to any student irrespective of the reason or cause,&rdquo; she explained.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="https://www.twitter.com/matt_noyes_">@matt_noyes_</a>

SUNY Albany offers safe spaces after 'Sin Awareness Day'

We don&rsquo;t listen. We try to firebomb right-wing rhetoric at Stanford students rather than taking a more nuanced position. We are conservative crybabies.
Stanford&rsquo;s more vocal&nbsp;Review-haters don&rsquo;t hesitate to hurl abuse in our direction whenever we register an opinion on literally anything&mdash;from ethnic theme dorms, to a humanities core, to the Paris Climate Accords. In their eyes, we are one-sided and exclude every viewpoint that could possibly disagree with ours.
So what happened when two&nbsp;Review&nbsp;members arrived at an open meeting on prison divestment, to listen and learn and contribute our own perspectives?
We were thrown out.
Last week, a group called Students for the Liberation of All People (SLAP) sent an email to campus mailing lists with the subject line &ldquo;Call to Action! Stanford continues to support mass incarceration.&rdquo; SLAP&rsquo;s letter called for the managers of Stanford&rsquo;s endowment to stop investing in private prisons, companies that invest in private prisons, or companies that provide services to or benefit from the labor of private prisons.
Private prisons are nationally controversial. They appear in newspapers almost daily. Their role in perpetuating mass incarceration, as well as the lack of evidence that they are cheaper than governmental prisons, have earned them many critics &ndash; from the left and the right. They are as close to a textbook open political issue as can exist.
I was curious to learn more about the issue. So on Wednesday, I walked into a SLAP meeting at the Nitery with a fellow editor. We sat down and prepared to listen.
This didn&rsquo;t last for long. Before long, someone in the room recognized my fellow editor as a member of the&nbsp;Review&nbsp;and told him to leave the room.
He explained that he was there out of curiosity. Two nights before, the&nbsp;Review&nbsp;had heatedly discussed private prisons. Editors and writers were deeply conflicted on whether SLAP and SU Prison Divest's missions were worthwhile. Many&nbsp;Review&nbsp;members argued against the prison industrial complex and agreed with the divestment movement. On the economic and symbolic value of divestment, the debate had ended, as many&nbsp;Review&nbsp;conversations end, with no clear verdict.
&ldquo;This is not a safe space for you,&rdquo; one leader unambiguously replied.
As soon as he left the room, the leaders went on to discuss how inclusive the group would be. If any person in the room disagreed with a proposed group decision, the decision would be immediately vetoed.
But apparently, if you dared to write for a newspaper advocating for such horrifying things as mandatory study of Plato, you weren&rsquo;t worthy of inclusion.
After my fellow editor was expelled, I decided to stay in the room. Since I had no plans to speak in the meeting or to publish anything negative about the organization, I assumed that my presence would be tolerated.
Not so. After my fellow editor left, leaders asked me if I was a journalist. I avoided the question by responding that I study computer science (which is true). Unsatisfied, they proceeded to Google my name. As soon as they saw my name as an editor on the&nbsp;Stanford Review&nbsp;website, a chorus of voices demanded that I leave the meeting.
Though the meeting was fairly secret, it was not restricted to members of the organization. The email had stated the meeting was open to anyone interested in joining. And we were not kicked out for being journalists per se. Another student who explained that she wrote for STATIC, a left-wing activist publication, was welcomed into the meeting with approving nods.
Instead, we were expelled because of our beliefs.
Like everyone else in the room, I believe in spaces where anyone&mdash;regardless of race, gender, or political affiliations&mdash;should feel safe to express their views. And I respect the organization&rsquo;s right to ask disrespectful or malicious members to leave a meeting.
But this was not a community center or peer counseling session where participants deserve to be affirmed; this was a political meeting designed to organize against the university. Even though the meeting was not publicized, alternative viewpoints should not have been silenced.
And despite being members of the&nbsp;Review, my fellow editor and I have never published anything negative about campus activist movements. In fact, I&rsquo;ve written positive reviews of activist events. We don&rsquo;t even identify as &ldquo;conservative.&rdquo;
Students for the Liberation of All People&rsquo;s characterization of a &ldquo;safe space&rdquo; was laughably exclusive. It&rsquo;s clear that their safe space tolerates only those who would not think about challenging the group norm.
If activist groups such as SLAP want to truly be &ldquo;inclusive&rdquo;and gain widespread support for the causes they care about, they should appeal to politically moderate or apathetic students and avoid alienating those on the other side. Campus activists tend to espouse causes&mdash;such as promoting racial equality, ending mass incarceration, and opposing fossil fuels&mdash;that naturally evoke sympathy in Stanford students. However, listening only to other radical students who completely agree will only alienate moderates and provoke defensive responses from conservatives.
In my three and a half years at Stanford as a female student of color, this was by far the least safe I have felt in a room. I walked into the meeting hoping to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for activist groups, and walked out determined to publish this article.
This article was <a href="https://stanfordreview.org/unsafe-space-the-glaring-intolerance-of-stanford-activists/">originally published</a> in The Stanford Review, a conservative student newspaper affiliated with the Leadership Institute's Campus Leadership Program. Its articles are republished here with permission.
Follow The Stanford Review on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/stanfordreview">@StanfordReview</a>

A journalist for a left-wing activist publication was not expelled from the meeting, which was advertised as being open to anyone who was interested.

Unsafe Space: The glaring intolerance of Stanford activists

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) at Kent State University held an &ldquo;Anti-Safe Space&rdquo; event Wednesday, during which members dressed in diapers.
With the help the Young Americans for Liberty Chapter (YAL), TPUSA members set up a baby guardrail, child-oriented activities, and dressed in baby attire, much to the consternation of their liberal classmates.
In response to the demonstration, anonymous students posted flyers criticizing TPUSA. One flyer noted that Turning Point&rsquo;s founder Charlie Kirk writes for Breitbart, a &ldquo;neo-nazi/white supremacist (alt-right) newspaper,&rdquo; another contrasted TPUSA&rsquo;s support for free speech with its <a href="http://www.professorwatchlist.org">Professor Watchlist</a>, and a third flyer called TPUSA&rsquo;s demonstration &ldquo;embarrassing.&rdquo;
<img src="../img/CROBlog/10001/WM8.jpg" alt="" width="403" height="498" /><img src="../img/CROBlog/10001/WM5.jpg" alt="" width="343" height="500" />
When asked about the event, Kent State TPUSA President Kaitlin Bennett said, &ldquo;the idea . . . was to show how ridiculous safe spaces are.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We were being ridiculous and absurd on purpose to showcase how adults look when they say words hurt their feelings,&rdquo; she told Campus Reform.
Bennett feels that the outcome of the event was generally positive, noting that TPUSA &ldquo;got so many people talking and a lot of people loved our props.&rdquo;
While there was some backlash to the event, Bennett believes that &ldquo;[t]he majority of people who didn't like it were the SJW keyboard warriors who stalk TPUSA at Kent State&rsquo;s Twitter.&rdquo;
Maggie Pusateri, a freshman in the TPUSA chapter, believes &ldquo;liberals saw the event solely through emotion, as usual, rather than through reason.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Yes, it could be taken offensively, but the reason we do events like this is to get people's attention, not because we believe they actually wear diapers or anything!&rdquo;
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ezrahkatz">@ezrahkatz</a>