July 4, Again
Below is the twelth recycling of a short statement celebrating July 4 that I published first in The Nation July 15, 1991, unchanged from the version I posted here last year. ——— Following is the eleventh recycling of a blog post I first posted, here, twenty years ago, and subsequently ten different times over the […]
Beyond Bakke
I have a review essay, “Beyond Bakke,” in the just-published Spring 2023 issue of the National Association of Scholars journal, Academic Questions. It is available online here. I argued more forcefully in an older draft that the Court could reach an equitable result (in the now older sense of fair and just) in the pending […]
UVa Men’s Tennis: There They Go Again!
First, STOP READING! There is a pre-requisite for reading this post. Do not read another word here until you re-read (you did read it last year, right?) UVa Men’s Tennis: A Dramatic, Perhaps Unique, National Championship! from almost exactly one year ago. Even assuming you did read it a year ago you’ve probably forgotten it by now […]
From Affirmative Action To DEI
There was a time, not very long ago, when it was regarded as insulting, even racist, to describe someone as an “affirmative action hire,” even though everyone knew when affirmative action hires were in fact affirmative action hires. That seems to have changed. “Notes of a DEI Search Chair,” which appears in this morning’s Inside […]
Wokery At UNC: If Balanced is Conservative, Then Unbalanced Must Be …
Inside Higher Ed reports this morning: Confusion Over a New Unit at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s board chairman told Fox News a new school would provide equal opportunity for right- and left-of-center views. Faculty, caught off guard, have expressed concerns, while the provost says it’s not what it sounds […]
Stanford’s Words For The Woke
Stanford wants to improve its — and by implication, our — language. When the British say, “Can I have a word?,” that’s generally a request for a chat in private. Here, when a student is told, “The principal wants to have a word with you,” the kid knows he’s in trouble. In the current instance, […]
Martin Luther King, Redux Redux …
On a number of Martin Luther King days past I have posted version of the following. Since these comments still seem relevant, I post one version, linking others, here: On a past Martin Luther King day, several years ago, I noted (“Dishonoring Martin Luther King, Jr.”) that one of the saddest commentaries on the sorry […]
“Equity”: Disparate Impact, Unhinged
Long-time correspondent, former western newspaper editor Linda Seebach, comments on my recent Stanford post that “A lot of the mischief has been enabled by “disparate impact” as a legal justification for lawsuits. Maybe that needs to go too.” That is such a good point that I want to address it in a post rather than replying to […]
Affirmative Action Pro And Con
An old and good friend sent the following partial comment on my essay about affirmative action at Stanford linked in my last post: I remain a supporter of diversity on campus, because I think that there is an important difference between keeping members of a group out due to prejudice and taking pains to admit […]
Affirmative Action At Stanford, Then And Now
Stanford has been much in the news lately because of its woefully woke list of words that one should not use for fear of offending someone, like “American” or “stupid” (maybe that was listed to protect the list from criticism), but there is also other news from my alma mater that is equally discouraging. I […]
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