Category: Education

Bill Would Ensure Patriotic Groups Can Appear in Ohio Schools

The Center Square
Ohio state Representative Roy Klopfenstein with a Boy Scout

Two Ohio lawmakers want to make sure state schools follow federal law and allow groups like the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts to be present during the school year.

Proposed legislation in the House of Representatives requires schools to allow U.S. Title 36, which permits patriotic organizations to provide information to students. Those organizations could be the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, 4-H, Future Farmers of America, Civil Air Patrol, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and many other groups.

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Feds Refuse to Drop $37 Million Fine, Lawsuit Against GCU Despite Audit Finding No Fault with Christian School

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Grand Canyon University campus

A state auditor’s office recently completed a review that found no proof there is any wrongdoing on the part of Grand Canyon University, but two federal agencies are continuing with their campaigns against the Christian university despite the findings.

The Arizona State Approving Agency, an arm of the state’s Department of Veteran Services, issued a determination Feb. 20 that risks identified by “court actions by the government” could not be substantiated, which means the private nonprofit’s students can still use GI bill funding to pay tuition.

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Commentary: The Inspiring Front Lines of the Modern Homeschool Revolution

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Home School Family

When she was a young girl, Sandra Day O’Connor began her education at home. Her early years of schooling on an Arizona ranch were sitting at the kitchen table with her mother, learning to read, and taking long nature walks.

I read this, and this scene of serenity, this future Supreme Court Justice, beginning her education at home, formed an image in my mind of what might be possible.

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Ohio Auditor Takes over School District Facing $11 Million Deficit

The Center Square
Keith Faber

State Auditor Keith Faber placed a southwest Ohio school district in fiscal emergency Friday after it projected an operating fund deficit of nearly $11 million.

A fiscal analysis by the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services Section certified a projected operating deficit of $10.8 million for the Mt. Health City School District in Hamilton County, near Cincinnati. The figure represents 26% of the district’s general revenue funds for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

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Middle School Libraries Feature LGBTQ, Gender Ideology Books as Legislation to Allow Arizona Parents to Challenge ‘Inappropriate’ Selections Stalls

Debra McClure
Mohave Middle School SUSD

As legislators continue discussing ways to address questionable content in school libraries, books promoting LBGTQ and gender ideology are readily available to children as young as 11 years old in a Scottsdale Unified School District middle school.

“Mohave Middle School offers 11-year-olds a book that encourages irreversible medical transition,” and that the book targets “pre-teens” and “promotes the idea that a girl can change into a boy,” Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity said in a Twitter (X) post on Tuesday.

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‘Ban on Book Bans’ Included in Education Bill Passed by Minnesota DFL in Senate

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Library Books

A proposed statewide “ban on book bans” in public schools and libraries is just one of about 100 new provisions contained in a DFL-backed omnibus education policy bill that passed off the Senate floor this week.

SF3567 is sponsored by Democratic Sens. Steve Cwodzinski of Eden Prairie and Mary Kunesh of New Brighton. It passed on a 35-31 vote Tuesday, with Sen. Jim Abeler of Anoka casting the lone vote for Republicans.

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Commentary: Third Largest Teachers’ Union Faces Demise of Its Own Making

RealClearWire
United Teachers of Dade

In a frantic attempt to preserve its monopoly over the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, attorneys for the union currently representing the district’s 24,000-plus teachers and support staff are relying on a strategy that has the potential to backfire and leave its members without workplace representation altogether.

On March 18, United Teachers of Dade (UTD), using an argument that would invalidate its own petition, asked a hearing officer with Florida’s Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) to reject a competing union’s bid to participate in a forthcoming election to determine the bargaining representative for the South Florida educators.

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California’s Fast-Food Minimum Wage Hike Could Spell Trouble for Public Schools

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Kids being served lunch at school

Two policies backed by Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom could place serious strain on California’s already fiscally unhealthy public schools.

California’s new minimum wage law, which took effect Monday, guarantees a wage of at least $20 an hour for workers at fast food chains with 60 or more locations across the country, The Associated Press reported. The new law, however, does not apply to food service workers in the state’s public schools, forcing them to compete in a more expensive labor market just as schools are preparing for an increase in demand for food workers due to the state’s new universal free lunch program.

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Teachers Could Carry Firearms Under Proposed Legislation Set for Tennessee Senate Vote

Tom Pappert
Teacher Gun

Tennessee teachers could soon be allowed to carry firearms while on school property. The State Senate is poised to vote on legislation allowing faculty and staff to carry concealed weapons if they are licensed, trained, and undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Tuesday to advance SB 1325, which would authorize school faculty or staff members “to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds subject to certain conditions, including obtaining an enhanced handgun carry permit and completing annual training.”

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Vanderbilt Confirms It is Considering Building New Campus in Florida

Peter D'Abrosca
Stephen Ross Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt University confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Wednesday that it is considering building a new campus in Florida.

“We are assessing an opportunity to expand Vanderbilt graduate programs in business and computing in South Florida,” Vanderbilt’s Senior Media Relations Specialist Julia Jordan told The Star. “We will share details as they become available.”

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Youngkin Vetoes Bill Mandating Climate Change and ‘Environmental Literacy’ in Virginia Schools, Acts on 103 More Bills

Tom Pappert
Teacher Student Learning

Governor Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday announced a veto of legislation that would have mandated “environmental literacy” education across the commonwealth’s schools.

The governor vetoed HB 1088, which would have mandated the Virginia Board of Education to create or purchase “instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy that are based on and include peer-reviewed scientific sources.”

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Commentary: National Council of Teachers of English Hosts Seminar on How to Teach ‘Gender Queer’

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Maia Kobabe

The National Council of Teachers of English, a professional development organization, hosted remote training to instruct K-12 teachers on how to teach the controversial book “Gender Queer” in their “classrooms, libraries, and communities.”

The NCTE, which boasts 25,000 members around the United States, hosted a panel including “Gender Queer” author Maia Kobabe and an “LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee” to discuss how to incorporate the pornographic book into school curriculum.

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Harvard Sociologist Defended Against Plagiarism Accusations: ‘Bogus Claims’

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Harvard Assistant Professor of Sociology Christina Cross

Colleagues are coming to the defense of a Harvard University sociologist who was recently accused of plagiarism, arguing the claims are bogus and part of a larger attack on black female scholars in higher education.

Award-winning Harvard University Professor Christina Cross is under fire over allegations of plagiarism in a complaint first reported in mid-March by conservative education activist Christopher Rufo in City Journal.

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Scottsdale Parents Uncover Assignments, Classroom Materials Pushing Gender Ideology on Arizona’s Children

Debra McClure
High School students

Scottsdale parents have uncovered gender ideology propaganda used in the Scottsdale Unified School District.

Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity, a grassroots organization calling for transparency in education, has a “Parent Discoveries” page on its website, where it posts examples of gender ideology content parents have found in schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD).

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Commentary: Society’s Dangerous Embrace of Stupidity

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Tattooed man in a flowered shower cap

Stupidity is what our schools are about. They do not teach young people about the glory of Melville, if they teach Melville at all, but about how Melville does or does not fit into some gridwork of identity politics, so that the work of art and intelligence itself, Moby-Dick, is left on the shore like a beached whale, dead and stinking, while onlookers in their stupidity hold their noses and pass by.

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Professor: Sex Too Intertwined with ‘Colonial’ Views about ‘Nature’

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Dr. Kim Tallbear

Upcoming Princeton University lecturer Dr. Kim Tallbear lists running a “sexy performance laboratory” among her credentials.

Tallbear (pictured above), a professor at the University of Alberta in Canada, is scheduled to give the talk “Why is sex a ‘thing’? Making relations against a Colonial world” on April 1 for Princeton’s annual Meredith Miller Memorial Lecture.

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Commentary: The Side of Homeschooling People Don’t Talk About Enough

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Mother with Child

As a veteran homeschooler, I am well aware of what a marathon this lifestyle can be. There’s no break when you live and work in the same place.

It’s time to take a deep breath and assess the situation. Burnout is a normal part of homeschooling. Everyone experiences it at one time or another, and it’s often associated with feelings of being distracted, overworked, and overwhelmed.

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Poll: Voters Don’t Think Schools Should Hide Gender, Name Changes from Parents

The Center Square
Teacher in Class

Nearly two-thirds of voters think parents should be informed if a student wants to change their name or pronoun at school.

According to The Center Square Voter’s Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, the majority of likely voters say they disagree with allowing schools to affirm a student’s gender change without notifying parents.

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McMaster Signs Bill to Help Improve South Carolina Student Reading

The Center Square
South Carolina Reading

Gov. Henry McMaster signed a measure to help ensure students read at their appropriate grade levels.

S. 418 builds on the Read to Succeed measure lawmakers passed a decade ago and requires the South Carolina Department of Education to implement a “scientifically based reading instruction” approach to reading education. The program includes professional development, administering universal screeners and summer reading camps.

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Georgia Association of Educators Pushes Woke Social Justice Activist Curriculum

Debra McClure
Students in Class

The Georgia Association of Educators is advancing far-left gender ideology, Critical Race Theory, and social justice activist curriculum for members of its organization.

The Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), an affiliate of the National Educators Association (NEA), promotes racial justice education materials from various sources, including those offered by NEA, whose organization claims that racism is “systemic” and “is so deeply rooted in our history, culture and institutions that there’s no escaping it.”

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Vanderbilt Graduate Assistant Claims University Denied Bathroom Breaks to Anti-Israel Protesters in ‘Inhuman and Disgusting’ Display

Tom Pappert
Vanderbilt students pro-Palestinian protest

Students at Vanderbilt University staged a sit-in that led to arrests on Tuesday amid unrest over the institution’s refusal to allow the Student Government Senate to consider joining the anti-Zionist Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that seeks to isolate Israel.

Vanderbilt University graduate assistant Amar Latif Qazi told The Tennessee Star that the First Amendment rights of the university’s students were infringed after Vanderbilt refused to allow a vote following a petition, reportedly signed by 600 students, which sought to amend the Vanderbilt Student Government Constitution in order to join the BDS movement.

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Commentary: The Plague That Besets Our Schools Is Extensive

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Students in classroom

The year, now a quarter old, reveals that the country’s rapid slide into educational purgatory is moving apace. Leading off the grossness parade is a school in Oklahoma where students lick and suck the armpits and toes of their fellow students in the name of charity. (This may garner a shrug in San Francisco, but Oklahoma?!)

While no district personnel were directly involved, video footage from Deer Creek High School in Edmond, OK, showed mid-teens participating in and watching the disgusting events unfold.

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Poll: Voters Want Schools to Focus on Basics Instead of Critical Race Theory

The Center Square
Kids getting on school bus

The vast majority of people think schools should focus on traditional subjects like math, reading and science, and a majority also say critical race theory should not be taught, a new poll shows. 

According to The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive, most surveyed said they want schools to focus on core subjects instead of hot-button topics like critical race theory.

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Scottsdale Parents Group Launch ‘American Pride’ Project in Response to Woke Literature in Public School Libraries

Debra McClure
School Library

Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity member Jill Dunican was interviewed on The Conservative Circus w/ James T. Harris podcast on Thursday, where she spoke about the organization’s American Pride Library initiative to donate “wholesome” and “patriotic” books to 29 schools in Arizona’s Scottsdale Unified School District.

Scottsdale Unites For Educational Integrity is a group of parents, teachers, administrators, and community members within the Scottsdale Unified School District who advocate for parental rights in education, curriculum transparency, and academic achievement. Jill Dunican is part of the organization’s parent-led launch of The American Pride Library project, which seeks to counter left-leaning ideologies by offering pro-American and age-appropriate books to its district libraries.

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‘Cruel’: Franklin and Marshall Faculty Denounce ‘Transphobic’ Lia Thomas Teammate Speech

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Paula Scanlon

A speech by former William “Lia” Thomas teammate Paula Scanlan promotes “dehumanizing and cruel,” views according to a letter signed by Franklin & Marshall College affiliates.

The letter, signed by more than 125 professors, administrators, and staff, criticizes the speech planned for Wednesday and hosted by the campus Young Americans for Freedom and the national Young America’s Foundation.

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Arizona State University Paid Ibram Kendi $35,000 for 60-Minute Speech

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Ibram Kendi

Boston University Professor Ibram Kendi took in $35,000 for a 60-minute speech, according to a recently released contract.

Arizona State University sent the contract to The College Fix on March 20 in response to a public records request filed in October 2023. The university never responded to a November 2023 message asking for an update nor provided any other updates up until last week.

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ASU Students Earn College Credit for Helping Illegal Immigrants at Charity Accused of Aiding Border Crossings

Tom Pappert
University of Arizona faculty volunteers at Casa Alitas

Students at Arizona State University (ASU) have the ability to enroll in a program that allows them to provide support services to illegal immigrants serviced by a Catholic Charities organization in exchange for school credit.

A university website reveals that any student enrolled in an ASU Health Sciences program and some students from the ASU School of Social Work are eligible to “provide aid to migrants looking for a better life” at Casa Alitas in what the university calls the MILAGRO Collaborative.

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Parent Takes Legal Action to Preserve English as the Primary Language in Arizona Classrooms

Debra McClure
Creighton Elementary School District

A Phoenix-area parent filed a lawsuit against Creighton Elementary School District on March 19, 2024, for using a dual language program, accusing the district of violating a law that requires students learning English to be taught in English-only classrooms throughout the school day. The lawsuit was part of a broader effort to uphold English as the primary language used in Arizona classrooms.

According to the lawsuit, parent Patricia Pellett, whose “son is a student currently studying at Scottsdale High School,” is suing Creighton Elementary School District for allegedly violating Proposition 203, which Arizona voters approved “by margin of over 60 [percent]” in 2000. The lawsuit states that the “purpose of Proposition 203 was that children should no longer be taught in bilingual or dual language classes, where they are taught part of the day in Spanish. Instead, the purpose of Proposition 203 was that children should be taught the entire school day in English, so that they would quickly become proficient in English.”

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‘Politically Weaponized’: Republicans Criticize Federally Funded Plan to Have Students Register Voters

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Students registering to vote

Republican leaders are responding with skepticism to the Biden administration’s plans to hire students to register voters and work in polling places.

New Department of Education guidance states Federal Work-Study funds “may be used for employment by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal public agency for civic engagement work that is not associated with a particular interest or group.”

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Third Arizona Educator in Maricopa County Arrested for Sex Offenses Against Students

Tom Pappert
Alyssa Todd

An educator in Buckeye was arrested on Wednesday was arrested for having an illegal sexual relationship with a minor student, marking the third arrest of a former Maricopa County teacher for sexual offenses against students.

The Buckeye Police Department (BPD) confirmed the arrest Alyssa Todd, who was employed as a coach and teacher at the Odyssey Institute for Advanced and International Studies (OIAIS) High School when police claim she sexually abused a 15-year-old male student.

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Georgia’s Private Schools Promote Activist Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resources

Debra McClure
Pace Academy

Some private Georgia schools continue to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion resources, featuring materials on white privilege, social justice, and racism that are made available to students, faculty, and parents.

Despite the recent backlash in Georgia public schools for using Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) content in classrooms, some private schools continue promoting books, articles, websites, workshops, and guest speakers in what many now call Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) programs.

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Grand Canyon University Student Says She was ‘Silenced’ About ‘Biased’ Econ Textbook

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Grand Canyon University campus, Essentials of Economics textbook

A Grand Canyon University student says she has not been allowed to offer her opinions in class while her econ textbook is full of them.

Elizabeth Olson sent excerpts of the book, “Essentials of Economics” by Gregory Mankiw, to The College Fix and a syllabus showing it is being used for assignments and discussions throughout the course at the private Christian Arizona university.

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Proposal would Halt Taxpayer Money to Medical Schools Promoting Racial Bias

The Center Square
Reps Greg Murphy, Brad Wenstrup, and Burgess Owens (composite image)

Educating from the podium and advocating for the inclusion of all, congressmen led by North Carolina’s Dr. Greg Murphy and Ohio’s Dr. Brad Wenstrup on Tuesday introduced legislation that would halt taxpayer money from going to medical schools promoting racial bias.

Multiple speakers, both Black and white and at least one saying she’s neither Republican nor Democrat, drove home the message directly and indirectly that health care is about the patients and their outcomes. Collectively, they explained how the best care comes from the best in education, that all can access it, and the promotion of “critical race theory-based woke philosophy based on DEI” will put Americans’ lives at risk.

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Texas Schools Pull $8.5 Billion from BlackRock over ESG

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Texas State Board of Education Chairman Aaron Kinsey

The Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) is pulling $8.5 billion from the investment firm BlackRock over its use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies.

The board informed the investment firm that it was being terminated as the manager of the Navarro 1 Fund in a Tuesday letter, which it provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The divestment represents the largest from the private firm, according to Fox Business Network.

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Analysis: South Carolina Teachers Earn Less than Two Decades Ago

The Center Square
Teacher with Students

A new report shows that schools nationwide, including in South Carolina, are having trouble filling teacher positions, with salaries being a primary cause.

An analysis from MyElearningWorld.com found that new teachers nationwide earn nearly 20% less than they did about two decades ago, taking inflation into account. South Carolina’s findings align with the national findings, with Palmetto State teachers earning 22% less.

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Florida Lottery Transferred $2.45 Billion to K-12 Education in 2023

The Center Square
Teacher in Class

The Florida Lottery has become a crucial part of funding for education in the Sunshine State, and according to a recent report from the Florida Auditor General, it continues to grow each year.

In late January, the AG released the financial audit of the Florida Lottery, whose mission is to maximize financial revenue for the benefit of education “in a manner consistent with the dignity of the State of Florida and the welfare of its citizens.”

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Analysis: New Georgia Teachers Earn Less than Two Decades Ago

The Center Square
Student with Teacher

A new report shows schools nationwide, including in Georgia, have trouble filling teacher positions, with low salaries being a primary cause.

An analysis from MyElearningWorld.com found that — even accounting for inflation — new teachers nationwide earn nearly 20% less than they did about two decades ago. Georgia’s findings align with the national findings, with Peach State teachers earning 20% less.

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World-Renowned Epidemiologist Fired from Harvard After Refusing COVID Vaccine

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Martin Kulldorff and Harvard Medical School

World-renowned infectious-disease epidemiologist and biostatistician Martin Kulldorff is no longer a professor at Harvard Medical School after refusing the COVID vaccine because he had infection-acquired immunity.

Refusing the vaccine is a decision that lost him his appointment at a Harvard-affiliated hospital at the time several years ago — and this month led to his termination from the Ivy League school.

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North Carolina College Forces Athletes to Watch ‘Only Whites are Racist’ Video

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Students in a seminar teaching them that "only whites are racist"

Davidson College alumni are calling for change after student athletes recently were required to watch the video “I’m Not Racist … Am I?” which labels all white people as racists.

The Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought and Discourse, an alumni-run free speech organization, exposed and denounced the video after learning the North Carolina institution forced student athletes to watch it this semester.

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