Free Republic

For generations of future diplomats and cabinet officials educated at Harvard’s renowned John F. Kennedy School of Government, orientation day has come with a name placard that the students carry from class to class, so their professors can easily call on them. When Diego Garcia Blum, 30, got his placard last fall, the first-year graduate student immediately took a Sharpie to it, writing “He/Him” next to the big block letters of his name. Other students did the same thing, writing “She/Her” and “They/Them.” “Yup! Day 1,” Mr. Garcia Blum, recalled, adding, “That’s when I thought, the students are ahead of...

There is a new twist to the neverending Operation Varsity Blues saga. A Georgetown student caught up in the college admissions scandal is suing the university over his expulsion. To be more specific, he wants to be able to keep his college credits and transfer to another school. A rising senior, his lawsuit claims he is being denied due process by Georgetown University and he seeks to stop the expulsion.Adam Semprevivo, 21 years old, is the son of a wealthy Los Angeles business. Stephen Semprevivo pleaded guilty to paying $400,000 to get his son admitted to Georgetown University. That...

Georgetown University has rediscovered its Catholicism. The nation’s oldest Catholic school, the flagship of Jesuit education in America, has been a sad topic among American Catholics for some time now. Crucifixes removed from classrooms, a lay president, pro-abortion activity, a general embarrassment at religion. Indeed, over the years, Georgetown has been perhaps the clearest example of what many such schools practice: the whipsaw of “Catholic tradition,” in which the strongest declarations of Catholic identity come from the fund-raisers, the alumni association, and the public-relations office—all the people trying to sell the university in a tight economic situation that requires a...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Two editors at the University of Illinois student-run newspaper were suspended Tuesday for their decision to run a series of cartoons that have sparked outrage and violence around the Islamic world. Editor-in-chief Acton H. Gorton said the Daily Illini's publisher suspended him and the newspaper's opinions sections editor, Charles Prochaska, for two weeks pending the outcome of an internal investigation. "I'm very disappointed. I think this is nothing more than a cover-up," Gorton said. Daily Illini managing editor Shira Weissman would not comment on the situation Tuesday. A telephone message left with the newspaper's publisher, Mary Cory,...

Controversial and conservative are not two adjectives you would apply to the historically black Philander Smith College. But you would apply them to best-selling author and conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who spoke at the school Thursday night. It`s a surprise to some students and neighbors, but Philander Smith President Dr. Walter Kimbrough says that`s exactly why he invited her to speak. "I want to engage people who`re cutting edge, a little edgy, makes them thing and can also be entertaining at the same time," said Kimbrough. He adds that he wants the college to be a bigger part of the...

Harvard University and Georgetown University each announced yesterday that they had received $20 million donations from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, a Saudi businessman and member of the Saudi royal family, to finance Islamic studies. Harvard said it would create a universitywide program on Islamic studies, recruit new faculty members in the field, provide more support for graduate students and convert rare Islamic textual sources into digital formats to make them widely available. "For a university with global aspirations, it is critical that Harvard have a strong program on Islam that is worldwide and interdisciplinary in scope," said...

Censorship, Free Speech and Free Press in the University Bankhead Historical Symposium 2005 – Sponsored by the UA Department of History Thursday Evening, October 13: 7:30-8:30 p.m. “Banned in Bama,” Reception and exhibition of censored works, W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, Hackberry Lane. Free admission. Opening remarks by Louis A. Pitschmann, Dean of The University of Alabama Libraries. Friday Morning, October 14: 8:00-9:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast Ferguson Center, 3rd floor 9:00-9:05 a.m. Official Welcome (Ferguson Forum) Hank Lazer, Poet, Professor of English, and Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Programs and Services, University of...

Professor's case exposes bias By Robert L. Shibley University of Oklahoma professor is suing the university for removing him from the geology department and moving him to a basement office. Tenure hasn't been all it's cracked up to be for University of Oklahoma professor David Deming. Sure, he still has a job, but it wasn't enough to keep him out of the basement. Deming's situation is a perfect example of what's wrong with today's academic establishment. The modern academy is too often characterized by political and intellectual conformism and a willingness to silence people who don't just go along to...

Kenneth Starr, former independent counsel and current dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law, outlined a vision for a morally, centered approach to the practice of law on Friday. The keynote speaker in this year’s Carl M. Williams Speaker Series on Law and Ethics, Starr said that law should be driven by the principles of integrity, dignity of all people, civility, excellence and compassion in an hour-long speech in the Yellowstone Ballroom of the University of Wyoming Union. “The culture of ‘right doing’ is thoughtful. It’s deeply analytical but it’s driven by principle and grounded in a moral vision...