Revisiting the Founding Debates

Posted on March 2, 2022 by | Leave a comment

There are still islands of intellectual diversity at the University of Virginia. One of them is an active Federalist Society. On March 4 & 5, the society is hosting an event, “The Federalists Vs. the Anti-Federalists: Revisiting the Founding Debates.” States the event summary:

Many who study the Founding focus only on The Federalist Papers. Of course, the Federalists “won” in that they supported the eventually ratified Constitution. But the Anti-Federalists were the other half of the story. Their concerns framed the debate. And, although they “lost,” they are responsible for our Bill of Rights. This symposium will provide an opportunity to revisit the founding debates and discuss the arguments for and against our Constitution.

The symposium will host six debates/panels on significant constitutional issues: Continue reading →

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Posted in Intellectual diversity

UVa Needs Facts and Reason, Not an Opinion Survey

Posted on March 2, 2022 by | 1 comment

by Charles L. Weber, Jr.

Recently Jim Bacon argued that the University of Virginia needs to conduct another Climate Survey to compare the results with the one conducted in 2018. He argued as follows:

The premise of the Ryan administration is that making African-Americans feel more welcome at UVa requires rooting out the racism endemic in the old system, and the only way to extirpate that racism is to make “anti-racism” (as defined by leftists) the university’s number-one, all-consuming preoccupation. If that premise is correct, then one would expect African-Americans to give higher scores in a survey given today.

But there is a different view: that the obsession with race feeds the sense of minority victimhood, grievance and alienation, and encourages minorities to be hyper-sensitive in their interactions with others. In this view, the predictable result is that Blacks will feel less welcome and experience less belonging — precisely the opposite of what President Ryan wants to achieve.

There is only one way to find out: conduct another survey.

It’s high time we find out whether the sweeping changes implemented by [President Jim] Ryan are having the desired effect.

Color me skeptical. Continue reading →

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Decline of the Honor System: UVa Edition

Posted on February 28, 2022 by | 3 comments

by James A. Bacon

In elections this week, University of Virginia students will vote on a measure to reduce the punishment for honor-code violations (lying, cheating, stealing) from expulsion to a two-semester suspension. At least 10% of the student body must participate in the referendum, and of those who vote 60% must vote in favor.

The honor code is administered by students, not the university administration, and it has evolved over time as cultural values have changed. But faculty, administrators and the Board of Visitors traditionally have buttressed the system. For decades, stirring introductions of the honor code were a central part of the student orientation. Benefactors endowed the alumni association with a multimillion-dollar fund to support the system. To this day, the Board of Visitors mission statement lists preservation of the honor code as one of the board’s core duties.

The system has eroded badly. Continue reading →

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Posted in Honor code

Alumni Are Mad As Hell — and They’re Organizing!

Posted on February 28, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Peter Finch in iconic mad-as-hell scene from “Network”

by James A. Bacon

College alumni, to borrow the classic phrase from the 1976 movie Network, are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore. Unlike the fictional TV newsman played by Peter Finch, who had no idea how to channel his frustration, alumni groups around the country are organizing to push back against the relentless assault on free speech and diversity of thought in American universities.

Woke leftists are deeply entrenched in higher education, but alumni who attended a two-day conference organized by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) and the Alumni Free Speech Alliance (AFSA) are stoked. The movement is spreading, and alumni are taking heart, knowing that they aren’t isolated and alone.

Groups from eleven universities have joined AFSA, and several more are in the process of creating viable organizations. Alumni from dozens of other universities have expressed an interest in launching their own initiatives. Meanwhile, AFSA has forged valuable alliances with well-resourced national organizations such as ACTA and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) that stand ready to help. Continue reading →

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Sign Up for The Jefferson Council Annual Meeting

Posted on February 28, 2022 by | 2 comments

Members and friends of The Jefferson Council,

I am sending out a reminder to please sign up for our April 5 annual meeting and dinner at Alumni Hall in Charlottesville. We’ve got 72 signed up so far but I’d like to fill up the Alumni Hall capacity of 200. We can do that, but as I told my sales teams during my multi-decade banking career: “It’s not about the quality of your sales pitch, it’s about your ability to close the deal!” I need you help to sign up and encourage friends to join us.

Please do not wait any longer to register. The invitation is attached and the instructions on how to register/pay online are highlighted below. If you follow my line-by-line payment instructions you will have paid and been automatically registered.

Mail checks to:

The Jefferson Council
c/o Wilgis, Darrell & Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 401
Riderwood, MD, 21139-0401

See you April 5……and Wahoo-wah!

Warm regards,

Thomas M. Neale
University of Virginia Class of 1974
Treasurer and Co-Founder

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UVa Needs a Follow-Up Campus Climate Survey

Posted on February 21, 2022 by | 9 comments

by James A. Bacon

In 2018, during the last months of the Teresa Sullivan presidency, the University of Virginia conducted an extensive survey — polling some 6,000 students, faculty and staff — to provide guidance for ongoing “institutional transformation.” In a key question, respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement that they felt “comfortable” with the “climate for diversity and inclusiveness.”

The mean score was a 4.0, which corresponded to an answer of “somewhat agree.” There was significant variation in the responses, however. Respondents identifying as Asian or Asian American felt the most comfortable at UVa. African-Americans felt the least comfortable, giving a mean score of 3.27, meaning that a majority disagreed with the statement with various degrees of intensity.

What do we make of that finding? Does the unhappy response of African-Americans support the view that UVa still suffered from systemic racism in 2018? Alternatively, does it reflect the fact that African-Americans were primed by the academic sub-culture to be acutely sensitive to what they perceived as slights, insults and injustices? Continue reading →

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Posted in Race, Equity and Diversity, Transparency

Gardner Discusses the DE&I Takeover at UVa

Posted on February 18, 2022 by | 3 comments

Jefferson Council board member Joel Gardner participated yesterday in a panel discussion about the proliferation and growth of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) offices in universities across the country. The discussion, sponsored by the National Association of Scholars, also features John Sailer, a NAS research associate, and Scott Yenor, a Boise State University faculty member.

For those not familiar with what’s happening at UVa, Gardner provides a succinct overview. Even if you are, his remarks are well worth watching.

— JAB

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Posted in Race, Equity and Diversity

Who’s “Marginalized” at UVa? Political Conservatives, That’s Who.

Posted on February 18, 2022 by | 2 comments

Source: “2018 UVA Diversity and Inclusion Climate Survey”

by James A. Bacon

What does it tell you about the freedom of speech and expression at the University of Virginia when in 2018 one-fifth of the university community (students, faculty and staff) described itself as various degrees of conservative and three-fifths identified as various degrees of liberal — a three-to-one ratio — but two years later donations to Democratic PACs and candidates outnumbered those of conservatives by a 27-to-one ratio?

UVa liberals were nine times more likely to donate to Democrats than UVa conservatives were to Republicans. Does that describe the world you know?

What explains the discrepancy? Here’s a working hypothesis: people who described their political beliefs in a university-conducted poll, “The 2018 UVA Diversity and Inclusion Climate Survey,” retained their anonymity. They feared no retaliation. By contrast, anyone contemplating giving money to GOP PACs or political candidates are by law reported to the Federal Election Commission, and their contributions are public record. Such donors would have to weigh the possibility that they would be declared enemies of leftist academic orthodoxy and be set upon by the Twitter Outrage Mob. Continue reading →

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Posted in Leftist orthodoxy

Is It Even Possible to Get More Lopsided Than This?

Posted on February 18, 2022 by | 3 comments

by James A. Bacon

Two years ago, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan issued remarks outlining his vision for making UVa an institution that is both “great” and “good.” In his view, a critical strategy for achieving that goal was recruiting and retaining the “best people,” whether students faculty, or staff.

“To do this we must – absolutely must – be a community that is diverse, inclusive, and equitable,” he said. “Diverse because talent exists all around the globe and within every demographic, and because the very best ideas emerge from the consideration of diverse viewpoints and perspectives.”

UVa had ceased being an institution that valued politically “diverse viewpoints and perspectives” years before Ryan came on board. But while he has made modest progress in boosting the demographic diversity of the institution during his first four years in office, he has done nothing to help expand the range and diversity of thought.

To the contrary, Ryan’s signature initiatives will assuredly squeeze out whatever remnants of viewpoint diversity might remain. On matters of social justice — the most consuming controversies of our day — UVa is fast approaching the intellectual diversity of 15th-century Spain under Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada. Call it “Inquisition Lite” — heretics aren’t burned at the stake. Continue reading →

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Posted in Leftist orthodoxy

No CRT to See Here. Move Along Now.

Posted on February 9, 2022 by | 2 comments

Click to view more legible image.

The University of Virginia paid $32,500 to Critical Race Theory popularizer Ibram Kendi to discuss “racial equity” for an hour. The university contracted with Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, according to an agreement obtained by The Daily Wire through the Freedom of Information Act.

The virtual event took place April 21 last year, and 876 people attended.

“The University of Virginia welcomes speakers from a broad array of perspectives to our Grounds every academic year and we often do pay speakers fees or other compensation,” UVA spokesperson Brian Coy told The Daily Wire. “Offering our community access to a diverse set of speakers and points of view is an important part of our academic mission.”

Oh, really? Continue reading →

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Posted in Leftist orthodoxy