13 August 2021
Long-time readers of this blog (at least those of you with still serviceable memory) will recall seeing an embarrassingly large number of posts over the years charting daughter Jessie’s rather dramatic academic progress (if I do say so myself, which I do …) — skipping high school; graduating from Bryn Mawr at 17; Caltech Ph.D in Applied Physics at 23; one of Forbes Magazines “30 under 30 Innovators in Science” ; and rising “IBM Rock Star.”
Well, enough about Jessie. Or not. Through an old friend who’s not only read the above posts but actually met Jessie, I was invited to write a short piece on what it was like trying to hold on to her leash for Planned Man, a new online “men’s magazine” that appears to be aiming at becoming an un-woke version of Esquire or Playboy (but without the pictures). It appeared this morning:
“I Was Raised by a Gifted Child”
11 August 2021
Thanks to the Progressive Republic of Oregon, we now know what “equitable” means.
A few days ago Governor Kate Brown (D, of course) signed Senate Bill 744 eliminating proficiency requirements for high school graduation. As a result, the Oregonian reports, “For the next five years, an Oregon high school diploma will be no guarantee that the student who earned it can read, write or do math at a high school level.”
Charles Boyle, the governor’s deputy communication director, explained in an email to the Oregonian that the new graduation standards will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color. Leaders from those communities,” Boyle explained, “have advocated time and again for equitable graduation standards….”
Boyle leaves some questions unanswered — are “Latino,” “Latina,” and “Latinx” really three separate “communities” (assuming “Latinx” is anything at all)? Are “Indigenous” and “Tribal” really two” — but at least he has clarified what Democrats mean by “equitable” standards. They are not standards that apply equally to all but the absence of standards. Oregon reveals just how low the lowest common denominator can be forced to go.
4 August 2021
On Minding The Campus I have a new, longish article criticizing an unpersuasive defense of affirmative action in the New Yorker by Nicholas Lemann, former dean of the Columbia School of Journalism. Anyone who happened to read it last night (such as the always vigilant Roger Clegg) will have to read it again since a long insert […]
4 July 2021
Following is a recycling of a much-recycled post that was last posted here July 4, 2019. Things have gotten worse since then. …. 17 years ago, for the first time, here, I recycled an old, short piece I’d written on “Patriotism” published in The Nation, July 15, 1991. Yes, that Nation, with which in a […]
8 June 2021
I have a new article in the Summer 2021 issue of the National Association of Scholars journal, Academic Questions. It argues, among other things, that the new emphasis on “equity” threatens affirmative action as much as it does the increasingly old-fashioned principle prohibiting the state from benefitting or burdening individuals based on their race.
31 May 2021
On Instapundit Glenn Reynolds quotes a New York Times article calling for the end of race-blind auditions for orchestras: “If ensembles are to reflect the communities they serve,” the article asserts, “the audition process should take into account race, gender and other factors.” To which Reynolds responds: No one ever argues that sports teams, or […]
15 April 2021
The following ad appeared in Inside Higher Ed’s Diversity Insider emailed April 13. Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer The Ohio State University The Ohio State University is seeking a Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer A Assistant Dean? Is writing and speaking non-standard English […]
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