Education

Texas’ ban on university diversity efforts offers a glimpse into the future in GOP-led states

Published

8 months ago

April 1, 2024

IAM

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The first clue was poor lighting and empty offices.

Other changes affected Nina Washington, a senior at the University of Texas, when she returned from winter break to her favorite place to review. The words “Multicultural Center” were faraway from the wall, erasing efforts that began in the late Eighties to serve historically marginalized communities on campus. The center’s employees left and student groups disbanded.

“Politics, behavior and emotions are going back to the way they used to be,” said Washington, who, as a black woman, felt the most significant thing was a sense of community.

A University of Texas at Austin student leaves the space that housed the school’s “Multicultural Center” on January 29, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The void at the heart of the nearly 52,000-student campus is one in all many changes happening on Texas college campuses, where one in all the nation’s most radical bans on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives went into effect on Jan. 1.

At least five other states have passed their very own bans, and Republican lawmakers in at the least 19 states are implementing various restrictions on diversity initiatives that they hope will mobilize voters this election yr.

With greater than 600,000 students enrolled at greater than 30 public universities across the state, the Texas rollout offers a large-scale glimpse into what lies ahead for public higher education without initiatives to make minorities feel less isolated and white students higher prepared to a skilled profession that requires effective work with people from various backgrounds.

At the flagship campus of the University of Texas at Austin, the state’s second-most populous public university, only 4.5% of the student population is black and 25.2% is Latino – numbers some students fear will decline in a measure of attempting to adapt to an environment of fear about what they may say and do.

Law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott prohibits public institutions of upper education from influencing hiring practices based on race, sex, color or ethnic origin and prohibits the promotion of “differential” or “preferential” treatment or “special” advantages for people based on those categories . Training and activities conducted “with respect to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation” are also prohibited.

Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton, who authored the bill, said in an emailed comment Tuesday that DEI efforts claim to be intended to extend diversity, “but upon careful examination, it appears that they are intended to instill policy and promoting cancel culture in our colleges and universities.”

Time will tell. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, whose nine members are appointed by the governor, is required to report back to lawmakers every two years on the ban’s impact on admissions, academic progress and graduation rates for college students by race, gender and ethnicity.

University of Texas at Austin students proceed to make use of the space that housed the school’s “Multicultural Center” after the name was faraway from a wall, Jan. 29, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

To comply with the law, cultural identity centers, which admissions offices promoted to draw minorities, are currently closed. References to “diversity” and “inclusion” have been faraway from university web sites, replacing them with “access” and “community engagement.” Employees were assigned to recent roles.

“People want to keep their jobs, but many of us have been trained in diversity, inclusion and equity and hired specifically for this purpose,” said Patrick Smith, vice chairman of the Texas Faculty Association.

Professors are afraid, editing their syllabi and watching their speeches, pushing the boundaries of compliance, Smith said.

As for the multicultural student union center on the Austin campus, the university announced it is going to consider how best to make use of the space “to further build community for all Longhorns.”

Meanwhile, although the law clearly exempts academics, uncertainty about its scope has professors and students wondering comply.

“Knowing that your speech is being monitored and basically censored if you do a job like I do is a strange feeling,” said Karma Chavez, a professor of Mexican-American and Latino studies at the university.

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The Latino Faculty Association, of which Chavez is co-chair, has been banned from meeting during office hours or using campus spaces without paying a fee. They cannot even communicate via university email, and university-affiliated groups cannot co-sponsor events with them.

The restrictions mean Chavez finds herself meeting or counseling a student before she talks about race or ethnicity because she’s undecided what she will be able to say or when.

“I don’t think I’m self-censoring. I think I was censored by the state legislature,” Chavez said.

University officials have shut down a group intended to supply resources to students who qualified for the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Chavez said the DACA group didn’t specifically help with any of the classifications of individuals, so “it says how broadly and broadly they interpret the law.”

Some groups of scholars who’ve been barred from college funding struggle with the financial burden of maintaining their community identity and continuing their cultural traditions.

University of Texas Senior CFO Christian Mira, CFO of Queer Trans Black Indigenous People Of Color, said the group has lost its space at the multicultural center and is aggressively raising funds through alumni, local supporters and community outreach. They hope to proceed to support the vibrant student community by hosting signature events, including a block party, leadership institutes, and prom, although they should not sure where.

“College itself is a difficult experience, so having people around you that you can rely on to create that kind of community made students feel safe, made them feel like they could succeed on campus,” Mira said.

Alexander De Jesus, who attends UT-Dallas and is a DEI supporter amongst Texas students, said they prepared for months in various ways, equivalent to by more clearly promoting that anyone can use the clothing closet frequented by students in transition .

“It was also stressful having to tell other students, ‘Hey, keep your head up,’” De Jesus said. “It’s hard to say that when you see an atmosphere of fear developing and when you see people who are rightly irritated by traditional paths or policies, or people who don’t listen to them.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Education

Mississippi College changes name and eliminates football program

Published

14 hours ago

November 21, 2024

IAM

high school, NIL deals, Mississippi college

Mississippi College embraces its Christian ideology with a name change.

Mississippi College, a non-public institution, is changing its name to Mississippi Christian College. The decision was approved by the Mississippi Board of Supervisors on November 18.

The university can be eliminating its Division 1 football team in an effort to prioritize academic offerings. In an announcement, the university cited the upcoming bicentenary because the inspiration for the changes.

Mississippi Christian College wants to construct on its Christian ideology, in line with President Bake Thompson.

“These transformational and necessary changes are critically important to the future of this institution. As we look ahead to the institution’s bicentennial in 2026, we want to ensure that MC is a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to Christ for another 200 years.”

The college is rededicated to making a space where Christian education stays a priority.

“The institution may even undergo restructuring. A brand new structure will likely be introduced, which can mix the College of Christianity and Art with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Pedagogy will change its name to the College of Pedagogy and Human Sciences. The chancellor was charged with evaluating the potential consolidation of a limited number of educational departments on campus.

Mississippi Christian Athletic Director Kenny Bizott reaffirmed his commitment to former student-athletes.

“We will support our current student-athletes who wish to continue their education at MC, as well as those who wish to transfer,” Bizott added.

Many may view these changes as extreme, but Mississippi Christian believes that every latest organizational change will help the institution fulfill its core functions.

Another Mississippi institution can be within the news for its failures on the legislative level. reported the Mississippi State Senate no payment Legislative Services Office (LSO) attorney Kristie Metcalfe is paid commensurate along with her peers.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi LSO on Metcalfe’s behalf. An office investigation found that Metcalfe was earning half the salary of white LSO lawyers. The investigation also found that Metcalfe is the one non-white worker employed within the office’s 34 years of operation. Race discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com

Education

Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries, including Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and Maya Angelou

Published

1 week ago

November 13, 2024

IAM

Florida book bans, Florida school libraries, books pulled from Florida schools, Florida school book bans, Toni Morrison book bans, Maya Angelou book bans, George M. Johnson book bans, Richard Wright book bans, LGBTQ book bans, queer book bans, Black book bans, theGrio.com

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.

According to the newest information, all of them have been withdrawn from the shelves of some Florida schools list developed by the Florida Department of Education and containing books removed by local school districts.

Recent changes in state law have made it possible for fogeys and residents to take this motion challenge books to school libraries and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books were restricted of their schools. Florida continues to steer the nation in withdrawing books from school libraries, in accordance with an evaluation by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.

“Restricting access means limiting the freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students are losing the opportunity to access books that reflect their own life experiences, to access books that help them learn and to empathize with people who… have different life experiences.”

The list, published for the 2023-2024 school yr, includes titles by American literary icons similar to Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, in addition to books which have turn into top targets for censorship across the country as a consequence of LGBTQ+ characters, discussions about gender and sexuality and descriptions of sexual encounters, e.g. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maja Kobabe. Supporters of conservatism have described such content as “pornographic.”

The list of books removed from libraries also includes Holocaust accounts similar to “The Diary of Anne Frank: A Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” It’s an analogous story with the graphic novel, an adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s groundbreaking work on censorship and surveillance.

“Everywhere from Toni Morrison to Alice Walker to Slaughterhouse-Five to George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges within the state. “If you take the time to look through this list, you will see that there is a problem with… this movement.”

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In an announcement to the Associated Press, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education maintained that no books have been banned in Florida and defended the state’s efforts to remove “sexually explicit material” from schools.

“Once again, far-left activists are promoting the book ban scam to Floridians. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material,” spokeswoman Sydney Booker said.

The list shows that the number of book withdrawals varies widely across the state, with some districts reporting no restrictions and others reporting hundreds of titles pulled from shelves. Farrell of the Florida Freedom to Read Project said that based on the group’s evaluation of public records, the department’s report is an undercount since it doesn’t include books removed in consequence of an internal staff review, only those withdrawn in consequence of a grievance filed by a parent or resident.

Farrell believes that almost all Florida parents want their children to have broad access to literature.

“We live in a country where parental rights should be recognized, heard and taken into account,” Farrell said. “We are asking for accountability and an accurate record of the impact of these laws on our children and what is available to them.”

Schools have restricted access to dozens of books by Stephen King, a master of the horror genre known for bestsellers similar to “It” and “Pet Sematary.” Clay County officials also found his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” inappropriate for college kids.

King, who spends part of the yr in Florida, talked about attempting to get his books out of students’ hands, urging readers to run to the closest library or bookstore.

“What the hell?” In August, King posted on social media reacting to the choice of some Florida schools to drag his books from shelves.

Multiple school districts in Florida have filed legal challenges for restricting students’ access to books, including Escambia County, which is being sued by PEN America and Random penguin housethe biggest publisher within the country.

Nassau County School District in September settled lawsuit brought by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” an image book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Under the terms of the settlement, the district needed to return three dozen books to the shelves.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Education

Issa Rae meets with Georgia law students

Published

2 weeks ago

November 8, 2024

IAM

Rae will speak to students about legal issues related to her success.

Georgia State University College of Law announced that Issa Rae will meet with students to debate the legal elements of her successful profession as a part of the course “The Legal Life of Issa Rae.”

On November 7, the producer-actress will hold a hearing at Rialto Art Center. The visit is the culmination of a course exploring Rae’s decades-long profession within the entertainment industry. Rae’s profession provides a wealth of legal diversity to explore as her profession extends beyond visual entertainment.

The classes are held as a part of the “Legal Life…” series. The series was created by George State University law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory.

As a professor at Georgia State College of Law, Ivory curated a series that examined the legality of maintaining a prestigious profession. As reported, Rae is a course subject this semester BLACK ENTERPRISES.

The creator’s team worked with Ivory to take an in depth take a look at the contracts that helped Rae secure her deals.

“With the support of her team, we will also have the unique opportunity to analyze her real-world deals and discuss how her approach to deals is shaping today’s entertainment landscape. We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity,” Ivory told .

It was classy access for 10 years value of contractual agreements to be analyzed.

“This is the first class where every contract was an actual contract with the artist,” Ivory said. “Students can see how real deals actually happen and what real entertainment lawyer Issa Rae has been doing over the last 10 years.”

Ivory, a professor and Fulton County commissioner, believes that the language of the law is vital and that the power to see the language in connection with a noteworthy product allows students to beat the barrier of unfamiliarity.

“You have to look at what people are actually doing and what is happening at the moment. The more familiar they become with the language, the faster they will be able to master it and start representing clients.”

According to Ivory, Rae’s family and business partners were instrumental in checking out the complicated details of her business. The course was attended by “Rae’s mother, siblings, network executives and members of her staff.”

The longtime artist began her profession on YouTube with “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The show’s success led to a collaboration with host Larry Wilmore and a multi-show deal with HBO. Outside of television, Rae is a successful actress and producer of many shows including (2022). She also created her own media company HooRae media and music label Raedio.

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com